The Festival of Locarno 2014, the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, the Festival do Rio, the Vladivostok International Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Biennale: these are just some of the festivals for which French director Eugène Green’s movie, “La Sapienza”, has been selected in the last two months.
The film rights for Canada and the United States have also been purchased by Kino Lorber, which will be distributing the movie in the States at the beginning of 2015. In France it will be distributed by Bodega and, in Italy, by La Sarraz Pictures, which – after the experience it has gained in the diffusion of arthouse documentaries – will be making its debut in the distribution of fiction movies.
“La Sapienza” tells the story of the trip to Italy of Parisian architect Alexandre. The first stop is Stresa where, along with his wife, Alienor, he casually meets Goffredo and Lavinia, two young locals. They are brother and sister: the former is about to study architecture, the latter suffers from a nervous illness.
Alienor chooses to stay with the girl while Alex- andre and Goffredo begin a journey towards Turin and Rome.
In fact, the title of the movie refers to one of the most extraordinary projects realized by Borromini: the church of St. Ives at La Sapienza in Rome.
As they cross the “boundless museum” that is Italy, for Alexandre and Goffredo this will become a journey inside themselves.
La Sarraz Pictures, which produced the film (along with France’s Mact Productions), was founded in 2004 by Alessandro Borrelli.
It has already produced 14 documentary movies (6 of which for theatrical distribution), and 2 features for the cinema – apart from “La Sapienza”, “Seven Works of Mercy” by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio. It is currently working on the theatrical production of Sergio Basso’s second movie “Tell me who I am”, set entirely in Nepal.
A member since 2011 of the ACE (Atéliers du Cinéma Européen), Borrelli was selected in 2012 by European Film Promotion for “Producers on the move” during the Cannes Film Festival and, in September 2014, he took part, along with 9 other European producers, in the Toronto co-production Lab.
This is the first time that a movie by Eugene Green, director and dramatist, expert in Baroque music and theater, has been distributed in Italy: it will go on general release at the end of November, following a path that will involve the presence of the director and the organization of a series of events linked to the themes covered in the movie.
Realized in collaboration with Rai Cinema, “La Sapienza” is part of the “Schermi di Qualità- Quality Screens” project.
