Last November Rai Uno broadcast “Enrico Piaggio”, the TV movie in which Alessio Boni plays the inventor of the Vespa, which was also filmed in Pisa. The movie was produced by Rai Fiction and Movieheart with the support of the Toscana Film Commission’s Bando Mecenate (Open Call) created to “assist the realization of human stories and episodes linked to Tuscany, also inspired by events that actually happened, which are capable of promoting values of a universal nature that will enthrall viewers”.
Moreover, Mecenate aims to support productions “whose stories place the unique landscape-environmental features of the regional context at the center”, like “Made in Italy” the directorial debut by English actor James D’Arcy, produced by HanWay Films, with the participation of the Italian Palomar which, using the face of Liam Neeson, will take the image of Monticchiello (where it was filmed last spring) around the world (At AFM the film was sold in over 25 territories). The film tells the story of a bohemian English artist who returns to Italy with his son with whom he has had no contact for years in order to sell a house that they have both inherited from their late wife and mother.
True to its name, Mecenate or Maecenas, which proposes to “support productions whose landscape, cultural and artistic elements are able to generate forms of social and economic development also through the strong role played by client and sponsor”, has also funded three projects to be realized in 2020: “Margini”, an educational comedy by Niccolò Farsetti produced by Disparte with Rai Cinema, set in Grosseto; “Il signor Zhang”, which the John Snellinberg collective will film in Prato, produced by Yanez Film; and “Twinky Doo’s Magic World”, a horror action movie set in the Magic World amusement parks, originating from the Twinky Doo muffin brand, realized by the Liaconi Digital Studios in Livorno which has already received a lot of recognition on international markets for this project.
In November, Livorno was also the set of another Palomar production: “Andrà tutto bene” by Francesco Bruni. In Florence, art is the master with a documentary about Modigliani produced by Arte France, and the first 3D videogame dedicated to an Italian museum which was released in October: “The Medici Game: Murder at Palazzo Pitti” was realized for the Gallerie degli Uffizi by Sillabe in co-production with Opera Laboratori Fiorentini-Civita dall’associazione TuoMuseo. The game has been launched in leading digital stores and can also be downloaded for IOS and Android from the official page www.themedicigame.com, in 7 languages, Italian, English, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese.
