Nick Vivarelli International: Last News

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Emanuele Crialese broke out with 2002 Cannes Critics Week winner “Respiro,” followed by “Nuovomondo” and “Terraferma,” which both scooped prizes in Venice. He’s back on the Lido with his ambitious, boldly personal drama “L’immensità.” Set in 1970s Rome, the film features Penélope Cruz as the mother of two children, one of whom is a 12-year-old named Adriana who wants to change her name and gender identity and convince everyone that she is male. In his director’s note, Crialese calls “L’immensità” a memory-based film for which he needed the necessary time, distance and self-awareness to make. Though not strictly autobiographical, it is based on the director’s personal experience transitioning. As Crialese tells Variety, Adriana’s character is a representation of himself.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Production has just started at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios on “Finalmente L’alba” the new film by “My Brilliant Friend” director Saverio Costanzo. It is set during the 1950s when the famed filmmaking facilities were known as Hollywood on the Tiber.  This high-end costume drama – the title of which translates as “Finally, Dawn Has Come” – features a stellar cast comprising Lily James (“Pam & Tommy”), Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”), Rachel Sennott (“Shiva Baby”), Willem Dafoe, and Italian newcomer Rebecca Antonaci. “Finalmente” is the journey over the course of a long and intense night of an aspiring young Italian actress, played by Antonaci. In the Cinecittà studios of the 1950s, she experiences some memorable hours that will mark her transition to full blown womanhood.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Minerva Pictures has taken international sales on veteran director Pupi Avati’s Dante Alighieri biopic “Dante” starring Sergio Castellitto as the Florentine bard. Minerva will be introducing “Dante” to buyers at the Venice Film Festival’s informal market and then at Rome’s MIA Market in October. Pic is set for release in Italy on Sept. 29 via RAI Cinema’s 01 Distribution.  Over the course of his long career, Avati has shot more than 40 films in a wide range of genres, including the cult horror pic “The House with Laughing Windows”; romancer “The Heart Is Elsewhere,” which went to Cannes; the biopic “Bix” about American trumpet player Bix Beiderbecke; psychological drama “Giovanna’s Father” with Alba Rohrwacher; and the 2019 thriller “Il Signor Diavolo,” to name a few. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent When Angelina Jolie read Alessandro Baricco’s short novel “Without Blood” — the basis for her next directorial effort — the Italian fable about the brutality of war and healing in its aftermath had an immediate  therapeutic effect.  “I read it right as I was going through the beginning of a very dark time in my life. I read it in the month that followed my divorce [from Brad Pitt in 2016],” recalls Jolie, who shot the adaptation at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. “It had the effect on me that it’s had on so many people,” Jolie says, noting that the blurb on the cover says that the book is about the complexity of the human condition.  

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival once again looks like the place to launch the heavy hitters of awards season. As the world’s oldest film festival —unspooling on the island of Lido —  celebrates its 90th year, it serves up a dazzling display of goods and stars, starting from its opener, Noah Baumbach’s black comedy “White Noise” — with Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Jodie Turner-Smith expected on the red carpet — to an impressive array of arthouse auteurs screening their latest. Assembling the 2022 Venice lineup has been a long and complicated process for festival topper Alberto Barbera and his team. They started viewing submissions in November, several months earlier than usual, so in some cases they had to take the plunge without knowing what else would become available by showtime. The Venice selection process was further hampered by the ongoing pandemic, which continues to disrupt delivery dates and distribution schedules. “I admit that it’s been the most challenging year,” Barbera says. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Abel Ferrara says casting Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio, the Italian monk who gained rock-star status among the Catholic faithful, coincided with a point in the actor’s life “where he connected very deeply with Pio’s journey in the film.” “Padre Pio,” which is among titles set to launch next week from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori, will see LaBeouf back on the big screen after the actor — best known for his roles in the Transformers and Indiana Jones franchises — took a break from acting in 2020 following allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett. The singer, known as FKA twigs, sued LaBeouf for sexual battery and emotional distress.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Crash” director Paul Haggis and his Italian attorney appeared in court in Brindisi, southern Italy, on Wednesday to answer questions and attempt to prove his innocence in a preliminary hearing probing an unidentified woman’s allegations of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury.Haggis, 69, made no comment as he entered the court with attorney Michele Laforgia at the courthouse in Brindisi, a port town in the region of Puglia, on the “heel” of the Italian boot.They left the courthouse after several hours of questioning by judge Vilma Gilli. They are now awaiting the judge’s decision later today on whether to set Haggis free pending further investigation; or, instead, have him jailed or continue to be held under house arrest in a hotel in the nearby town of Ostuni.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Culture Minister Enrico Franceschini has announced plans to widen the window between a movie’s theatrical release date and the time it can drop locally on a streaming platform.The move comes after producers and distributors sounded alarm bells about their struggle to get audiences back into movie theaters.Speaking to the Italian industry gathered in Rome’s presidential Quirinale Palace ahead of the David di Donatello Awards — the country’s top prizes being held on Tuesday — the minister vowed to put in place new windowing regulations that will replace the current 90-day window established in March.He did not specify how wide Italy’s new window will be. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco and Giampaolo Letta, who heads Mediaset’s Medusa film unit, over the weekend launched a joint appeal in newspaper Corriere della Sera lamenting that Italy lags behind other top European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office recovery and urging the government to come to the rescue.The two top Italian industry execs noted that Italy is the only major European territory where box office in 2021 was was down, compared with 2020.The Italian industry has been contending with the harsh fact that the county’s box office in 2021 plunged more than 50%, compared to the average annual recent pre-pandemic intake, to €170 million ($192 million) in grosses for the year and 25 million admissions.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Game of Thrones” producer Frank Doelger, after executive producing “The Swarm” through his Berlin-based Intaglio Films, now has two new high-end shows for the international pipeline in the pipeline: “Concordia” and “Doing Good.”During a panel at the Series Mania TV festival Doelger described “Concordia” as “a series about a 21st century community which uses cutting edge AI technology to see if it can create a fairer, safer, society.” Twenty years after this community has been a huge success, “countries around the world are approaching the founders of this social engineering experiment to found similar communities in their countries,” he added.And, “as they research the twenty-year history of this community, they discover that this instance of utopia has provided safe homes for immigrants and thousands of refugees seeking a better life. But they also discover the dark secret that led to its founding.” Doelger — whose Intaglio is a joint venture between German outfits Beta Cinema and ZDF Enterprises — said  “Concordia” will start shooting in September.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“More Than I Remember,” an animated short directed by Amy Bench and designed by Maya Edelman — who was born in Kiyv and came to the U.S. at 13 as a refugee — is having its premiere Friday at the SXSW fest in Austin.The timely pic, which delves into humanitarian and refugee issues, particularly as they relate to minors fleeing conflict, is set in southeastern Congo where militia attacks on the Banyamulenge, a persecuted minority, have led to the destruction of hundreds of villages and the displacement of over 200,000 people.It’s the story of a 14-year-old named Mugeni who, after waking up to the sounds of bombs, finds herself completely alone since her family has scattered to the surrounding forests, inadvertently leaving her behind.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian multi-hyphenate Nicolò Bassetti is an urban planner and director, whose doc “Into My Name,” screening in Berlin’s Panorama Documentary section, provides an eye-opening look at the universal challenges of gender transition.The doc features Nico, Leo, Andrea, and Raff, whose ages span from their mid-20s to mid-30s, and come from different parts of Italy. They start their gender transition at different times in their lives within a tight-knit group of friends in the central Italian city of Bologna.“Into My Name,” which is being supported by Elliot Page, stems from Bassetti’s personal experience with the gender transition of his child, Matteo.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Suits,” the hit U.S. TV show created by Aaron Korsh, is getting a high-end Arabic adaptation that will play on prominent West Asia satellite pay-TV and streaming service Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) and Egyptian broadcaster UMS.NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group, has teamed up with Cairo-based media production company TVision and OSN, as well as Egypt’s UMS, to produce the Arabic redo of the show.