FGV/The return of the Invisible Boy
Filming has started on the sequel to ‘The Invisible Boy’, directed once again by Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores, written by Alessandro Fabbri, Ludovica Rampoldi and Stefano Sardo, and produced by Indigo Film with Rai Cinema, in collaboration with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission. Starring in the movie, alongside the now 16 year old “invisible boy”, Michele Silenzi (Ludovico Girardello), is his twin sister Natasha (Galatea Bellugi), whose existence is revealed at the end of the first chapter of the saga. The cast also includes Ksenia Rappoport, Noa Zatta, Ivan Franek and Valeria Golino.
“What convinced us to continue was not just the response and appreciation shown by our young audience, it was also that we still had a lot of love for our invisible boy; we wanted to continue to follow his adventures as a sixteen year old adolescent. He has grown up and had to face the difficulties of being ‘special’ in the normal everyday world”, explains the director, Gabriele Salvatores.
Filming started on the first of August and will continue, almost entirely in Trieste, for 12 weeks. The movie will be released in 2017 and will be distributed by 01 Distribution.
TRENTINO/ Being in 3D
In June and July the Val di Fiemme and the Val di Fassa provided the set for ‘I’m’, the 3D feature film directed by Anne-Riitta Ciccone, produced by Adriana Trincea Cinema in co-production with Frame Film Berlin with the support of Rai Cinema and the Trentino Film Commission.
The cast includes Guglielmo Scilla, Mathilde Bundschuh, Paz Vega, Julia Jentschm and Piotr Adamczyk.
Also in June and July, the Italian-German director, Renzo Carbonera, filmed his first work in the municipality of Luserna-Lusérn. ‘Resina’ stars Maria Roveran, Anita Kravos and Thierry Toscan and is produced by Oneart Produzioni, with the contribution of Rai Cinema and the Trentino Film Commission and with the collaboration of the municipality of Lusérn
TUSCANY/A long Wave of Drama
Summer has brought a wave of dramas to the coast of Tuscany, all filmed with the support of the Toscana Film Commission.
Over one million viewers of the third series of the TV drama ‘I delitti del Bar Lume’, are awaiting with trepidation the sequel to the story which was filmed this summer over a period of eight weeks on the Island of Elba, in Marciana Marina, which was transformed into the fictional town of Pineta, on the Tuscan coast, between Pisa and Livorno – the setting of the famous series made by Sky Cinema in co-production with Palomar, directed by Pisan Roan Johnson (for the third consecutive year).
Pisa, with its historical city center and avenues running along the banks of the river Arno, was the protagonist, at the end of July, of the drama produced by Cattleya for Raiuno: ‘Tutto può succedere 2’ directed by Lucio Pellegrini. This is the Italian remake of the famous US series ‘Parenthood’, created by Jason Katims, successfully broadcast by NBC for around five years.
From October, the Tuscan director Francesca Archibugi, will be filming the Raiuno drama ‘Romanzo famigliare’ for around 5 weeks in Livorno, produced by Wildside and starring Giancarlo Giannini, Guido Caprino and Vittoria Puccini. The locations include the Fortezza Vecchia-Old Fortress, the Venice district as well as the canals, piazzas and the most beautiful streets of central Livorno.
CAMPANIA/The Faces of Naples
The tender and cruel face of Naples returns to Venice with ‘Indivisibili’ by Edoardo De Angelis, selected for the Giornate degli Autori (the protagonists are singing Siamese twins whose shows provide an income for the whole family), and ‘Robinù’, the documentary devised and directed by Michele Santoro dedicated to the baby-bosses who have managed to impose a new law of Camorra for the control of the drugs market.
‘Robinu’ will be presented on Wednesday 7 September, in the new non-competitive section Cinema nel Giardino- Cinema in the Garden.
This fall is promising to be very lively for the Campania region in terms of sets supported by the Film Commission Regione Campania: filming is planned to start at the end of October in Naples on Rupert Everett’s movie ‘The Happy Prince’ about the last years of Oscar Wilde’s life (an international co-production with Palomar as the Italian partner), and filming is already underway in Naples on ‘La Parrucchiera’ by Stefano Incerti (production: Mad Entertainment).
LIGURIA/Bordighera becomes Nice
The Riviera Ligure di Ponente has been transformed into 1930s-40s Nice for the set of the film ‘La promessa dell’alba’ based on Romain Gary’s autobiographical novel set in the 30s-40s in Lithuania, Poland, France, Africa and the United Kingdom, which tells the story of an unusual relationship between a mother and son. Previously brought to the big screen in 1971 by Jules Dassin, today it is filmed by director Eric Barbier and stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pierre Niney and Alexander Picot. It is produced by Jerico and Nexus Factory and distributed by Pathé (estimated release date January 2017).
Nice was reconstructed after a series of visits organized by the Genova-Liguria Film Commission.
In particular, the old town of Bordighera, which has been very well preserved, hosted the French crew which was joined by numerous local technicians, actors and extras for almost two months (for the prep and filming). The interventions carried out included recreating the Pension Mermonts, the main set of the film. Ventimiglia also hosted some days of filming.
LAZIO/ All the films of Venice
‘Il più grande sogno’ by Michele Vannucci will be presented at Venice in competition in the Orizzonti section. The film tells the story of Mirko (Mirko Frezza) who, straight after his release from prison, is elected President of the Local Neighborhood Committee and decides to dream up a different lifestyle for the whole suburb in which he lives. Winner of the Solinas Experimenta award, the film is produced by Giovanni Pompili’s Kino Produzioni, with the economic contribution of the MiBACT- Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in collaboration with Laser Film, Upupa srl and with the support of the Roma Lazio Film Commission. The foreign sales are handled by True Colors.
In ‘Orizzonti’ the Roma Lazio Film Commission is also supporting the short directed by Chiara Caselli ‘Molly Bloom’, whilst the ‘Venezia Classici’ section will be presenting ‘Perché sono un genio’ by Steve della Casa and Francesco Frisari. The list ends with ‘Orecchie’ by Alessandro Aronadio in the ‘Biennale College’ section.
PUGLIA/A Co-production Forum
Edoardo Winspeare’s latest movie, ‘La vita in comune’, is shot in Puglia, set in the imaginary municipality of Disperata, produced by Saietta Film (Edoardo Winspeare,Gustavo Caputo, Alessandro Contessa) with Rai Cinema and written by Winspeare himself and Alessandro Valenti.
Not just locations: the seventh edition of the Euro Mediterranean Co-production Forum organized by the Apulia Film Commission will be held in Trani from 27 to 29 October 2016. A packed program of meetings and an exchange of best practices between producers aimed at promoting the co-production processes of film projects (partially funded and awaiting further coverage) that have links with Europe and with the Mediterranean, and directing them towards choosing Puglia as a location for their audiovisual projects.
New for the VII edition are the two sections: Italia-Italy aimed at audiovisual projects by national producers looking for foreign co-producers, and Estero-Abroad, directed towards the audiovisual projects of producers from anywhere in the world who are looking for Italian co-producers or line producers.
“For us the Co-production Forum”, says the President of the Apulia Film Commission Maurizio Sciarra, “represents an unmissable rendezvous, so much so that this year we have decided to finance it using internal resources while we are waiting to bring it into the new European calendar. To make it possible for producers from all over the world to meet up as well as those in Italy who are looking for partners for stories that require locations in Puglia, is the best way to promote our region abroad and to assist the internationalization of Italian productions”.
PIEDEMONT/Ulysses in Turin
Filming came to an end at the beginning of August, in Turin, on ‘Ulysses-A Dark Odyssey’ by Federico Alotto, with an international cast that includes Danny Glover (‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘The Color Purple’) and Udo Kier, famous for his association with Lars Von Trier, alongside Turin’s own Andrea Zirio (who also wrote the story-line and screenplay together with Alotto and James Coyne), Anamaria Marinca, Cassandra Gava, Gianni Capaldi, Jessika Polski and Christopher Jones.
The story is inspired by Homer’s classic where the protagonist is a career soldier who returns from the front carrying the marks of war on his body and in his soul: the Odyssey of his journey takes him to a Turin of corrupt and psychedelic beauty, surrounded by enchanting creatures, inner demons and dreamlike figures that accompany him up until his last, inevitable choice.
The locations include the Quadrilatero, the Murazzi del Po, the ‘Cacao’ venue, the Hotel Golden Palace, the ‘Bunker’ venue, and various interiors of private apartments, the main one being in Pino Torinese.
“A totally Turin-based film in terms of the location and production”, points out Francesca Leon, the Councilor responsible for Culture at Turin City Hall, “but with an international breadth and cast”. The film is produced by Turin’s Adrama srl with tax credit consultancy provided by FIP Film Investimenti Piemonte, supported by the Film Commission Torino Piemonte and made in association with the Banca del Piemonte.
Adama is a startup run by 5 young people from Turin (Andrea Zirio, Federico Alotto, Vanina Bianco, Alessia Pratolongo and Thomas Tinker) –with the collaboration of entrepreneur Alberto Sola, the “business angel” who believed in the project right from the early stages. It is estimated that the spin-off effect of the film on the Piedmont region could exceed € 400,000.
Paolo Damilano, President of the FCTP, also emphasized the significant involvement of local professionals and the fact that the movie represents “an ambitious challenge for up-and-coming talents raised in the region through the experience with short features, independent productions and the many sets activated in recent years”.
