VMI Releasing Acquires Director Gabriele Mainetti’s Venice Prize Winner ‘Freaks Vs. The Reich’
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: VMI Releasing has picked up North American rights to the fantastical WWII drama Freaks vs. the Reich (formerly Freaks Out), which won eight awards at the Venice Film Festival in 2021, including the Grafetta d’Oro for Best Film, and went on to land six David di Donatello Awards from the Academy of Italian Cinema the following year.
The second feature from director Gabriele Mainetti (They Call Me Jeeg) will bow in theaters and on digital on April 28th. The film set in 1943 Rome opens on an artisanal circus owned by elderly magician, Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi).
The performers, essentially his adopted family, are a curious bunch: There’s Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo), a young beauty who’s electrically charged; the albino Cencio (Pietro Castellitto), who has the ability to control insects; the diminutive Mario (Giancarlo Martini), graced with magnetic powers; and Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), a strongman who’s covered from head to toe with hair.
As the Nazis begin to occupy their city, Israel recognizes their best chances for survival are to escape to America where they can continue their careers.
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