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Exclusive:Rome-based sales outfit True Colours has picked up Italian director Franco Maresco’s Bravo Bene! (Un Film Fatto Per Bene), which will premiere in Venice’s main competition in September.

Maresco was previously in Venice competition with Mafia Is Not What It Used To Be (2019), and won the special jury award in Venice Horizons for 2014’s Belluscone.

The film is produced by Lucky Red, Dugong Films and Eolo Film Productions, and will be released in Italy by Lucky Red.

Bravo Bene! tells the story of Maresco himself filming a picture about legendary Italian actor, poet and director Carmelo Bene which...

Italian producers have welcomed the return of international productions including Christopher Nolan’sThe Odyssey, Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection Of The Christand Ridley Scott’sThe Dog Stars to the country as new stricter rules for accessing Italy’s 40% tax credit have been clarified by the government.

“International productions are back,” Stefano Massenzi, head of acquisitions and business affairs at Lucky Red, confirmed toScreen.“We’re about to start an executive producer [job], and we’re seeing other Italian companies do the same.”

Confusion has swirled around the status of the Italian tax credit for months as the government conducted a review...

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman) has cast a who’s who of French stars for his next feature, Parallel Tales.

Gallic A-listers Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Virginie Efira (Benedetta), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) and Pierre Niney (The Count of Monte-Cristo) are set to headline the French-language feature, alongside Adam Bessa, an up-and-comer nominated for a French César as best newcomer this year for his turn in Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail. The film will also feature a cameo from French film legend Catherine Deneuve.

Parallel Tales is set to begin shooting in Paris this fall, marking Farhadi’s first French feature since 2013’s The Past starring Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo. The film is being set up as a French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production, Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red, and André Logie’s Panache Productions and Gaëtan David’s La Compagnie Cinématographique. U.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has announced his next film, four years after winning the Cannes Grand Prix in 2021. The Oscar-winning director will helm “Parallel Tales,” also known as “Histoires Parallèles,” with Isabelle Huppert and Vincent Cassel starring. Farhadi is set to begin production in Paris in fall 2025, with a release in France planned for spring 2026.

“Parallel Tales,” which will be a French-language film, brings Farhadi back to France after he previously filmed 2013’s “The Past” there. The “Parallel Tales” cast marks the first collaboration between iconic French stars Huppert and Cassel, who will also be joined by Virginie Efira, Pierre Niney, Catherine Deneuve, and “Ghost Trail” breakout Adam Bessa. No other details on the plot are available at this time.

The film will be an official French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production in France, Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red in Italy, and André Logie’s Panache Productions...

Asghar Farhadi is set to direct the French-languageParallel Talesin Paris later this year, with a cast led byIsabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa.

Catherine Deneuve is also set to star.

The film is being produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production in France with Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red in Italy, and Andre Logie’s Panache Productions and Gaetan David’s La Compagnie Cinematographique in Belgium.

Anonymous Content will co-produce the film from the US.

Charades is handling international sales and will introduce the film to buyers at Cannes next month.Bessa was namedaScreenArab Star...

Asghar Farhadi has united a strong cast for his next feature Parallel Tales, with Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa all set to star.

Parallel Tales (French title: Histoires Parallèles) is scheduled to shoot on location in Paris this autumn, and is aiming for a theatrical release in France in spring 2026 via Memento Distribution. French icon Catherine Deneuve will also make an appearance in the film, which is produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy with Farhadi and David Levine.

The plot has not yet been disclosed. French-language Parallel Tales is a co-production between Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production in France,...

Asghar Farhadi will shoot his next film Parallel Tales in Paris this coming fall, with Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa in the cast.

It is the Oscar-winning Iranian director’s first feature since A Hero, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021.

Parallel Tales marks Farhadi’s second French-language film after The Past with Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo, who won Best Actress award for her performance at Cannes in 2013.

The feature will be produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside Farhadi and David Levine. Mallet-Guy has worked with Farhadi on all of his films starting with and since The Past, having originally connected with the director as the French distributor of his earlier titles including About Elly and A Separation.

The film is an official French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production in France, Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red in Italy, and André Logie...

Twelve years after making his French-language directorial debut with “The Past,” two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is set to return to Paris for his next film, “Parallel Tales.”

The film, whose plot remains under wraps, brings together a powerful French cast, including Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”), Virginie Efira (“Benedetta”), Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan”), Pierre Niney (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) and Adam Bessa (“Ghost Trail”). Iconic French actor Catherine Deneuve will also make an appearance in the film.

Produced by long-time collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside with Asghar Farhadi and David Levine, the prestige project will be launched by Charades and UTA Independent Film Group at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Charades will handle international sales, while UTA Independent Film Group will rep U.S. rights. Farhadi is set to begin production on “Parallel Tales” in Paris this fall.

The Iranian director’s most recent film, “A Hero,” earned the Grand...

Exclusive: Juliet Stevenson has boarded Anton Corbijn’s thriller Switzerland starring Helen Mirren as crime novelist Patricia Highsmith as shooting gets underway in Rome, sources close to the production have confirmed.

She joins Mirren, Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon), who was also confirmed this week, as well as previously attached Alden Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer).

Truly Madly Deeply star Stevenson was seen most recently in the series Mozart: Rise of Genius and Professor T. Details of her role have not been revealed. It is the first time she will appear with Mirren on the big screen.

The movie has been adapted by Australian writer Joanna Murray-Smith from her play of the same name, revolving around Patricia Highsmith’s encounter with an ambitious young literary agent, played by Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer).

It is 1995, as Highsmith lives out her final days in seclusion in the Swiss Alps with only her cats for company.

When...

Patricia Highsmith wrote 22 novels (plus many short stories) and is best known for her psychological thrillers – including the five-book series that followed the character Tom Ripley, who has been brought to the screen several times over the decades, most recently in a Netflix series called Ripley. Now, Variety has revealed that Highsmith and her Ripley stories are at the center of a thriller called Switzerland, which stars Helen Mirren (1923) as the author and is now filming in Rome, Italy.

Mirren is joined in the cast by Alden Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer) and Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon).

Based on a play by Joanna Murray-Smith, who has also written the screenplay, Switzerland tells a fictional story that sees Mirren playing Highsmith at a time when the aging queen of thrillers is fading away in Switzerland. A young literary agent named Edward (Ehrenreich), tries to coax her out of retirement to pen one...

Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon) has joined the cast of Anton Corbijn’s thriller Switzerland starring Helen Mirren as crime novelist and Tom Ripley creator Patricia Highsmith.

Sources close to the production have confirmed her casting as filming gets underway in Rome, ahead of moving to northern Italy, Switzerland and London.

The movie has been adapted by Australian writer Joanna Murray-Smith from her play of the same name, revolving around Patricia Highsmith’s encounter with an ambitious young literary agent, played by previously attached Alden Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer).

Set in 1995, an ageing Patricia Highsmith is living a secluded existence in the Swiss Alps with only her cats for company.

When a pushy young man turns up at her residence, sent by her New York publisher to persuade her to write a final book in her best-selling Tom Ripley series, it becomes clear he is on a more sinister mission.

Producers...

Shooting is underway in Rome on Anton Corbijn’s thriller “Switzerland,” starring Helen Mirren as American crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, with Alden Ehrenreich (“Oppenheimer”) and Olivia Cooke (“House of the Dragon”) confirmed to have joined the cast.

The hotly anticipated film – which takes its cue from Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels – marks the first feature in more than nine years from the Dutch photographer-turned-director. Corbijn is known for helming music videos for U2, Coldplay and Nirvana as well as films including “Control,” the biopic about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, as well as “A Most Wanted Man” and “The American.”

The fictional “Switzerland” story sees Mirren playing the aging queen of thrillers fading away in Switzerland, where a young literary agent named Edward (Ehrenreich), tries to coax her out of retirement to pen one last installment of her popular “Ripley” series. It soon becomes clear that the charming agent is on a more sinister mission.

Nearly 10 years after its launch, Italian sales company True Colours is branching out from feature films into the TV content space under the new management of Elliot Gustin-Hollman, formerly with Paris-based distribution powerhouse Newen Connect.

The move into TV sales is being made by True Colours – which is co-owned by Italy’s Indigo Film and Lucky Red – after these companies increasingly ventured into scripted dramas over the past decade. And these Italian shows, made by indie producers, need to be sold outside of Italy with the proper dedication and curation.

“Ten years ago we saw the opportunity to start a film sales company and it paid off,” said Indigo Film partner Carlotta Calori, adding that True Colours has become a reliable international film distributor not just for them but for other Italian producers. And “over in time, even for producers outside Italy.”

“Now we are looking to do the same thing with TV shows,...

Italy’s Lucky Red is to be honoured with the best international innovation distribution award 2024 at the third International Film Distribution Summit, which takes place October 15-17 in Cologne, Germany.

Headed by Andrea Occhipinti, independent distributor Lucky Red’s activities also span exhibition, production, sales and streaming.

It runs the Circuito Cinema, a cinema chain with 40 cinemas and 126 screens, including several theatres in Rome, Florence and Bologna.

Sales outfit True Colors’ was launched in 2015 by Lucky Red, and Indigo Film as a global distributor for Italian films. Digital arthouse cinema platform MioCinema was created in 2020.

Recent Lucky Red releases include The Boy And The Heron,...

Federation Appointment

Federation Stories U.K. has appointed Beth Warin as the new head of development for the company. Warin will work alongside Polly Williams, managing director, and will be responsible for the company’s international drama production slate.

Warin joins from the BBC where she was drama commissioning executive, supporting commissioning editors Jo McClellan and Gaynor Holmes editorially across their slates including “Lockerbie” and “The Night Manager” Season 2.

Federation Stories’s recent credits includes “I, Jack Wright,” a British family drama series created by Chris Lang and starring John Simmy. The banner also has projects in development with broadcasters in the U.K., the US and Europe.

Created three years ago, Federations Stories is the U.K. office of European production studio Federation Studios. The U.K. outpost was set up by two former eOne executives Arielle Gottlieb and Williams. Gottlieb exited the company in February as part of a restructure.

The 2024 Venice Film Festival is a good time for a discussion of hot entertainment industry topics between sector players and experts with THR Roma.

So, the Venice festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera, Eagle Pictures owner Tarak Ben Ammar and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti sat down with me to discuss the rise of artificial intelligence, the predominance of Netflix and the prospects of a lengthy crisis for Hollywood.

“It is quite clear that AI will change the rules of film production,” argued Barbera. “It is an extremely innovative tool, and it could be very useful to improve the way we write, shoot and post-produce a film, but there are a lot of concerns. The screenwriters are worried, the actors are worried about being replaced by AI, and I think that their concerns are valid.”

Ben Ammar said that writers and directors will remain invaluable and cannot be easily replaced.

After reaping the rewards of a protracted growth spurt, Italy’s film industry is facing a forced slowdown as the country’s right-wing government dithers with modifications they plan to make to several key regulations, most significantly to the country’s now stalled tax incentives for film and TV production.

At a packed protest event held earlier this month in Rome’s Cinema Adriano multiplex, industry figures from all sectors – including producers, writers, actors and big-name directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Marco Bellocchio – lashed out against having to wait endlessly for the government to approve new guidelines so production companies can apply for the 40% tax credits that basically drive the business. Some are also concerned that their projects might end up not complying with still murky new eligibility criteria.

“We are waiting for the new regulatory framework, and more importantly we need to know how much money the government will grant,...

In an unprecedented move, 21 unions as well as leading figures from the Italian cinema industry joined forces on Friday (April 5) to voice their concerns about challenges in accessing public funding that have brought film and high-end TV production to a standstill in the country.

“Never have I seen in my long career a unity such as this in the Italian industry,” veteran director Marco Bellocchio said on stage at a crowded event that filled several screening rooms of the Cinema Adriano in Rome. Directors such as Paolo Sorrentino, Paolo Virzì and Fabrizio Gifuni also attended, alongside several actors and producers.

Exclusive: Distributor-producer Lucky Red is one of Italy’s most respected independent film and TV companies. Run by former actor Andrea Occhipinti since 1987, the firm has released more than 500 titles and produced more than 50 films.

The company has worked with filmmakers including Paolo Sorrentino, Lars Von Trier, Wong Kar Wai, Ang Lee, Park Chan Wook, Michael Haneke, Francois Ozon, Hayao Miyazaki, the Dardenne brothers, Wes Anderson, Paolo Genovese, Denis Villeneuve, Paul Thomas Anderson, Pablo Larraín and Asghar Farahdi.

It has also released more obviously commercial titles such as Angel Has Fallen, Hustlers, Den Of Thieves and Hereditary, and had fruitful theatrical partnerships with companies such as Netflix, Universal and Studio Ghibli.

Since shortly before the pandemic, Lucky Red, which hasn’t been afraid to ruffle the occasional feather, has also increased its activity in TV and exhibition.

We sat down company founder Occhipinti and his longtime lieutenants Stefano Massenzi (Head...

Speakers at Screen round-table in Venice included Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti.

Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice hosted by Screen International and sponsored by the Saudi Film Commission.

In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite,...

Speakers at Screen round-table in Venice included

Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice sponsored by Screen International and the Saudi Film Commission.

In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite, All Quiet On The Western Front, Money Heist and Squid Game. However, programming at most cinemas...

Prime Video has unveiled has unveiled its latest slate of Italian original shows and films at a Presents event in Rome, including a remake of No Activity.

The streamer’s glitzy event revealed three new original scripted shows, two unscripted series and six movies, along with a number of returning shows. Among the scripted series is Antonia, the comedy-drama from Groenlandia and Fidelio we told you about earlier this morning in Europe.

Joining Antonia is another Groenlandia series, Niente da Segnalare, which is based on the Australian drama format No Activity.

The six-episode series follows two criminals waiting for an important shipment, two cops on stakeout ready to trigger a raid and two dispatch operators ready to send reinforcements. When the shipment doesn’t arrive, everyone is forced into an exhausting wait.

Valerio Vestoso is the director and Laura Grimaldi,...

Italian star author Robert Saviano, whose mob exposé “Gomorrah” spawned both Matteo Garrone’s eponymous prizewinning movie and the groundbreaking crime series that plays stateside on HBO, is making his directorial debut.

Saviano will direct “I’m Still Alive,” an animation adaptation of his graphic novel illustrated by Israeli artist Asaf Hanuka (“Waltz With Bashir”). “Still Alive” examines the anti-mob activist’s life under armed guard since being forced to live with police protection shortly after 2006 when Saviano’s account of the inner workings of the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate was published.

Just like Saviano’s graphic novel, “I’m Still Alive” will feature illustration’s by Hanuka, an Eisner-winning cartoonist who is known, besides “Bashir,” for his autobiographical strips “The Realist” and for graphic novel “The Divine.”

“I’m Still Alive” is being mounted as an international co-production between Naples-based Mad Entertainment and Lucky Red in Italy, GapBusters for Belgium,...

The 2022 Eurimages Co-Production Award will be awarded collectively to all Ukrainian producers in a show of solidarity in a year in which Ukraine’s film and TV industry have been devastated by the Russian invasion.

The prize, a joint initiative between the European Film Academy and Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, is normally given to an individual producer who has been active in terms of co-productions.

The award was created to acknowledge the decisive role co-productions play in fostering international exchange.

Past recipients have included Norway’s Maria Ekerhovd (2021), Luís Urbano (2020), Ankica Jurić Tilić (2019), the Netherlands’ Leonine Petit (2016), Italy’s Andrea Occhipinti (2015) and France’s Margaret Menegoz (2007).

“Exceptionally, this year’s Eurimages Co-Production Award is given to not one, but all producers of Ukraine, as an expression of strong appreciation for the growing quality of Ukrainian production in the past years, and as a sign...

Mia Market panel featured Cameron Bailey, Cecile Gaget, Carole Baraton, Marc Smit, Andrea Occhipinti and Susan Wendt.

The internationalisation of arthouse cinema came into the spotlight during a panel debate with leading industry and festival executives at the Mia market in Rome this week.

“For many years we had been very predominantly North American and European, but even the Oscars have changed, it’s a very international landscape for arthouse cinema,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Bailey was joined on the panel by Cecile Gaget, head of film at Wild Bunch, Carole Baraton, founder...

The number of Italian feature films finding a home outside of Italy doubled between 2017 to 2021, according to a new landmark study commissioned by local cinema body Anica.

Extracts of the research, conducted by Emilio Pucci at eMedia for Anica, were unveiled in a presentation at Rome’s Mia market on Wednesday.

The study’s preliminary findings suggested that between 96 to 118 Italian feature films were distributed outside of Italy in 2021, against between 43 to 52 in 2017. This, in turn, suggested that an estimated 49 of Italian features produced in 2021 had travelled outside of the country.

Pucci explained it was difficult to give exact data, as information was still being verified, so the report gives best and worst-case scenario estimates throughout.

Breaking the 2021 titles down by genre, 68 of the features were fiction features, 31 were non-fiction, and just 1 were animations.

“This is the first time this sort of work has been done,” said Anica General secretary Francesca Medolago Albani.

Italy’s International Audiovisual Market Mia is expecting a return to full force this year ahead of its eighth edition in Rome from October 11 to 15.

Speaking at a preview press conference on Thursday, director Gaia Tridente said the meeting had registered a 12 rise in attendance this year with accreditations still open, although she did not give precise figures.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mia welcomed 2,500 attendees in 2019, while there were 2,000 registered attendees in 2021 when travel was still restricted.

This year marks the inaugural edition for Tridente who was previously head of scripted at Mia.

Based around Rome’s historic Barberini Palace and the nearby newly refurbished Barberini Cinema, the event spans a traditional market, co-production meetings and a conference.

Expected guests include Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti, Netflix Emea TV boss Larry Tanz, Lionsgate TV Group president Sandra Stern and Fremantle COO and continental Europe CEO Andrea Scrosati as well as...

Click here to read the full article.

This year’s Cannes Film Festival marked the return of the theatrical blockbuster.

Following their Croisette premieres, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis helped reignite the post-covid box office. The former has earned 1.4 billion worldwide, including more than 700 million domestically. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is nowhere near that level, but with a 145 million domestic haul and a 270 million worldwide gross to date, it clearly shows the popcorn-munching crowd was hungry to return to cinemas, at least for big-budget studio releases with plenty of wiz-bang and razzle-dazzle.

Can Venice give the indie industry a similar push? The Venice Film Festival, which opens on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and runs through Sept. 10, kicks off the fall film season, traditionally the strongest quarter for “speciality” movies and art house fare. Venice’s 2022 lineup has plenty to appeal to indie audiences, from Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale with Brendan Fraser...

The David di Donatello Awards were held in Rome on Tuesday evening, the first time Italy’s equivalent to the Oscar has had a fully in-person ceremony in the pandemic era. Taking top honors was Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God which scooped Best Film and Director as well as Best Supporting Actress for Teresa Saponangelo and a tie for Best Cinematography. In the latter category, The Hand Of God shared the win with Freaks Out, a fantasy drama that likewise debuted in Venice.

Sorrentino’s autobiographical drama launched on the Lido last September where it won the Grand Jury Prize. A Netflix title, it went on to myriad festival and critics prizes and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best International Feature.

Freaks Out, directed by Gabriele Mainetti, also picked up prizes for Producer, Production Design, Hair and Makeup. Other titles to figure in the David di...

Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated autobiographical drama “The Hand of God” took top honors at Italy’s 67th David di Donatello Awards, winning best picture, director, supporting actress and tying for the best cinematography statuette.

Sorrentino’s Naples-set film about the personal tragedy and other vicissitudes that drove him to become a top notch film director had been the frontrunner along with young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out.”

“Freaks Out” won six prizes, including for its producer, Andrea Occhipinti, as well as cinematographer, set design, and effects.

The cinematography prize, which was a tie, was split between “Hand of God” Dp Daria D’Antonio, marking the first time this David goes to a woman, and Michele Attanasio for “Freaks Out.”

The Davids were held as a fully in-person ceremony at Rome’s Cinecittà studios just as the famed facilities undergo a radical renewal being...

Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Gabriele Mainetti’s “Freaks Out” lead the pack at the David di Donatello Awards this year with 16 nominations each.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Picture

“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo

“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino

“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore

“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti

“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone

Director

“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo

“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino

“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore

“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti

“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone

Debut Director

“The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice

“Maternal,” Maura Delpero

“Small Body,” Laura Samani

“Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis

“Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile

Producer

“A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — Rai Cinema

“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto...

The Italian theatrical release of Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” is sparking protests from some of the country’s exhibitors who claim the hand of Netflix is cutting them out of the hot title’s big screen bonanza.

“Hand of God,” a Netflix original film produced by Fremantle’s The Apartment, went out on 250 screens in Italy on Wednesday via local distributor Lucky Red, marking the pic’s first theatrical outing, roughly three weeks before its Dec. 15 streaming debut.

The release of Sorrentino’s hotly anticipated film marks the widest theatrical outing in Italy for a Netflix film to date, and also the longest window between a Netflix title’s theatrical and streaming launches.

Yet the streamer, and by extension Lucky Red, have come under fire from some Italian arthouse theater owners who claim they had agreements in place with the distributor to show “Hand of God,” and...

It has been a tricky period for theatrical, but as a panel of leading European (and American) film industry experts highlighted today, change has been in the post and the cinema biz will need to adapt to survive.

Speaking during an event at the Mia Market in Rome, Michael Weber, MD at German indie The Match Factory, argued that there are simply too many films being made.

“There is an unbalance between what is produced and what the market can absorb, even with all these platforms. This is something we all have to think about,” he commented. “The last 18 months was an acceleration of what we’ve seen before, we have tried to prepare ourselves for it. For us it’s about identifying films that can still find an audience.”

Weber pointed to his recent hit Drive My Car as an example of a film that ticks that box. The three-hour Japanese movie,...

The Italian director’s third, as yet untitled feature, was shot in one of the world’s deepest caves.

Lucky Red has snapped up Italian rights to Michelangelo Frammartino’s third feature (which is currently untitled) from Coproduction Office.

In post-production, it’s the director’s first film since The Four Times which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight in 2010.

Set in southern Italy, the film has been shot under extreme conditions, in one of the deepest caves in the world – 700 metres below the earth. It tells the story of how, in August 1961, speleologists from Italy’s north arrived on a Calabrian...

When Italian sales company True Colours launched from Rome’s Mia market five years ago, international prospects for cinema Italiano titles that were not directed by a handful of name auteurs, such as Nanni Moretti, Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino, had gotten rather dim.

Italian cinema was being sold around the world mostly by foreign sales outfits that had become the preferred global channel for many of Italy’s producers, partly because they provided minimum guarantees that helped close their budgets and that local sellers could not afford. The problem was that lots of exportable Italian product was being overlooked.

“There was a gap,” says veteran distributor-producer Andrea Occhipinti, head of Lucky Red. As a producer, Occhipinti adds, he was unhappy with how his movies were being handled internationally by non-Italian companies. So in 2015 Lucky Red joined forces with production company Indigo Film (“The Great Beauty”) and they formed True Colours.

Exclusive: Venice Film Festival hit Apples has scored more European distribution deals for Paris-based Alpha Violet.

Deals have closed with Lucky Red (Italy), Filmfreak (Netherlands), Fivia McF (Ex-Yugoslavia), New Horizon (Poland) and Filmladen (Austria).

Andrea Occhipinti, CEO, Lucky Red told us: “We were very impressed by Apples. It’s a strong and original film. We are happy to have a new author with Lucky Red; Christos Nikou will certainly make his way onto the international scene.”

The Greek dramedy, which was six years in the making, has already sold to Curzon for the UK and Ireland, Madman for Australia and Feelgood for Greece. CAA is repping U.S.

Also playing today in Toronto’s TIFF Selects program today, the film is set amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia and follows a middle-aged man who finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities.

The virtual debate, which took place on 18 May, saw the participation of four independent film distributors, alongside representatives of Europa Cinemas and Europa Distribution. The second Mia Audiovisual International Market online talk, entitled “(Re)Open for Business – Braving the Coronavirus Crisis: What's Ahead for Film Distributors and Cinemas?”, took place on 18 May and was organised in co-operation with Eave. The one-hour discussion, moderated by Screen International journalist Wendy Mitchell, saw the participation of four independent film distributors – Louisa Dent for Curzon-Artificial Eye (UK), Kim Foss for Grand Teatret and Camera Film (Denmark), Antonio Medici for Bim Distribuzione (Italy) and Andrea Occhipinti for Lucky Red (Italy) – alongside Europa Cinemas' international relations and events administrator, Fatima Djoumer, and Europa Distribution's managing director, Christine Eloy. Following the opening remarks by the moderator, the floor was given to Lucky Red's Occhipinti, who highlighted the importance of the recent MioCinema initiative...

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte over the weekend said Italian movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on June 15 as coronavirus lockdown restrictions lift. However, it remains to be seen how many cinemas will actually be operational by then.

While it’s unlikely many of Italy’s roughly 4,000 screens will be active next month, the country’s distributors and exhibitors are busy gearing up for summer releases and finding creative solutions for moviegoing to resume.

“In order to open movie theaters, audiences need to feel safe and relaxed” says Andrea Occhipinti, who heads Italian distributor-producer Lucky Red and is also chief of national arthouse theater chain Circuito Cinema.

“As exhibitors, we need to understand how many people will actually go (to the movies),” Occhipinti adds, pointing out that if theaters operate under 30% capacity “it will be a bit complicated economically.”

The other crucial challenge for Italy’s arthouse circuit in...

“The quarantine has rocked the status quo and accelerated some trends,” said Lucky Red CEO.

Rome-based producer and distributor Lucky Red and sister programming outfit Circuito Cinema are the latest arthouse players to launch a profit-sharing VoD streaming platform in response to the closure of cinemas due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

In collaboration with Italian cinema magazine MYmovies.it, the partners are gearing up to launch their new platform MioCinema on May 18 with French filmmaker Ladj Ly’s gritty Oscar-nominated, Cannes Jury Prize winner Les Miserables kicking off the programme.

Lucky Red had been due to release the film in...

European producers to trial AI software aimed at enhancing outcomes for features at script, rough-cut and fine cut stages.

The Paris-based European Producers Club (Epc) and Swiss artificial intelligence start-up Largo have pacted on an experiment to trial how artificial intelligence technology could be applied to European independent film productions, to support their development, financing and distribution.

“The studios have been using AI for a while but the technology has yet to be widely explored by Europe’s independent film production scene,” explained Alexandra Lebret, managing director of the Epc which gathers some 100 top producers from across Europe.

Under the initiative,...

The Venice Film Festival has embraced Netflix movies in its 2019 lineup, despite fierce criticism from local and European cinema bodies unhappy about the presence of the streaming giant on the Lido.

Netflix movies set to debut at Venice in main competition this year include Steven Soderbergh’s Panama Papers pic The Laundromat and Noah Baumbach’s Scarlett Johansson starrer Marriage Story, while David Michod’s The King, starring Timothée Chalamet, will debut out of competition. Amazon will be represented out of competition by Kristen Stewart pic Seberg.

The International Union of Cinemas (Unic), which reps cinema operators in 38 territories in Europe, immediately criticized Venice’s decision, stating this morning, “The inclusion of films in official selections that are within the reach of everyone – and not only that of streaming platform subscribers – benefits the audience as a whole. Where films are available solely on these platforms, or receive only a limited ‘technical’ release in cinemas,...

Netflix’s drama On My Skin also won three key awards.

Matteo Garrone’s Dogman won nine prizes from 15 nominations at Italy’s David di Donatello awards in Rome last night (March 27).

The drama, which first premiered at Cannes, won best picture, best supporting actor, best cinematography and best original screenplay.

Despite winning the prize at Cannes, its star Marcello Fonte missed out in the best actor category to Alessandro Borghi for his performance in Netflix’s drama On My Skin, which was eligible for the awards after it was briefly distributed in theatres. Alessio Cremonini’s drama based on...

Matteo Garrone’s gritty revenge drama “Dogman” was the big winner at Italy’s 63rd David di Donatello Awards, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars, taking home nine trophies Wednesday night from a field-beating 15 nominations.

Somewhat surprisingly, however, the sweep did not include a best-actor prize for Marcello Fonte, who had previously won that accolade at Cannes, where “Dogman” premiered, and more recently at the European Film Awards.

“Directing is important…but without great actors you don’t go anywhere,” said Garrone, who thanked Fonte and brought him up onstage.

“I started writing this movie 12 years ago,” Garrone added. “Then, while I was waiting to shoot ‘Pinocchio,’ I actually made it, and the result has gone beyond my expectations.”

Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age love story “Call Me by Your Name,” which went into the race with 13 nominations, left relatively empty-handed, winning awards for best adapted screenplay and original song.

To live under the shadow of a famous father must be very hard, especially so if you choose to follow in his footsteps; the fact that you’re born unto him is beyond your control, but to take the same path will bring a lifetime of comparisons, unjust or not. Such is the case with Lamberto Bava; toiling on some of Mario’s films as assistant director (and a couple of Argento’s as well) gave him the confidence to fly solo, and his second feature A Blade in the Dark (1983) is brimming with that confidence – and a bit of blood, too.

Released in its native Italy in August, Blade arrived stateside through Ascot Films, but not until ’86; perhaps this was done to capitalize on Bava’s success with the Argento-produced Demons from the previous year. Regardless of the reasoning, Blade holds its own as an impressive giallo from a...

Netflix’s plan to release “Roma” and two other films theatrically in North America and Europe was hailed in the U.S. as a major shift in strategy for the streaming giant. But the initiative was met with a scornful shrug in France, where exhibitors say it’s unlikely by itself to produce a reconciliation between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival. Film bodies in Italy and Germany, home to the Venice and Berlin fests, remain skeptical as well.

With six months to go before Cannes’ next edition, artistic director Thierry Frémaux says he believes a compromise can be found to welcome Netflix back on the Croisette. Last month, he and Cannes president Pierre Lescure met with Netflix content boss Ted Sarandos and film chief Scott Stuber at Frémaux’s Lumière Festival in Lyon, which screened “Roma” as part of a tribute to director Alfonso Cuarón. Netflix says talks are...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” will go out theatrically in Italy on about 50 screens as a three-day event release early next month before the film becomes available globally on Netflix.

Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna, known internationally mostly as a film archive and preservation body, has announced that its boutique distribution arm will handle the release of “Roma.” The move comes despite a call by several Italian art-house cinema organizations for exhibitors not to screen “Roma,” which launched in September at the Venice Film Festival and won the Golden Lion.

Though small, the “Roma” event release in Italy will cover all major cities, a representative for Cineteca di Bologna distribution said. It will screen on Dec. 3, 4 and 5, before its appearance on Netflix on Dec. 14.

The Italian “Roma” release is part of Netflix’s push for its biggest theatrical outing to date. The U.S. rollout started in New York and Los Angeles on Nov.

Netflix has become a big disruptor in Italy since launching half a dozen movies at the Venice Film Festival in September. Among the Netflix six were awards hopeful “Roma,” which won the Golden Lion, and local police-brutality drama “On My Skin,” which after the fest was released simultaneously online by Netflix and in 80 Italian theaters via distributor Lucky Red.

That day-and-date release outraged other Italian distributors, causing Lucky Red boss Andrea Occhipinti to resign as head of the national distributors’ association in September. His successor, Luigi Lonigro, chief of Rai Cinema’s 01 Distribution unit, worked with other industry representatives to draft new rules on release windows, which were unveiled this week. Italy will now enshrine into law the informal 105-day window between a film’s first theatrical screening and its availability on other platforms. Limited-release and under-performing titles can have even shorter lag periods – as little as 10 days. The law...

Andrea Occhipinti says distribution strategy of Venice title has created tension between me and the exhibitors.

Lucky Red president Andrea Occhipinti has stepped down as head of the national association of distributors (Anica) after the controversial day-and-date release of Venice title On My Skin in both theatres and Netflix.

The film, produced by Lucky Red, was distributed in Italian selected theatres on the same day of its Netflix premiere, September 12. The decision caused an uproar from the national associations of exhibitors who refused to screen it.

Occhipinti said in a statement: “I decided to step down because our choice to...

Andrea Occhipinti, President of Italy’s film distribution association Anica, has resigned following the drama surrounding the recent day-and-date release of police brutality pic On My Skin.

Occhipinti’s distribution and production outfit Lucky Red sold the film to Netflix before it was set for a contentious Venice Film Festival debut. The well-respected industry vet explained his Anica exit in a statement [translated from Italian], “I decided to resign because our choice of distributing On My Skin by Alessio Cremonini simultaneously in theaters and on Netflix has created many tensions between the theaters who have screened it (few) and those who have chosen not to (many). The success of the film has increased these tensions.

“Although there were precedents in Italy and there is a wider heated debate at an international level, I do not want a purely corporate choice to be considered as the position of Anica distributors, given my role. In...

Andrea Occhipinti, the head of Italy’s national distributors’ association, has resigned in the wake of a controversy prompted by the simultaneous theatrical and Netflix release last week of police-brutality drama “On My Skin,” following its Venice Film Festival premiere.

Occhipinti, chief of Rome-based production-distribution company Lucky Red, decided to step down as president of the distributors’ unit within Italy’s motion picture organization, Anica, because “On My Skin’s” release had “created plenty of tensions among exhibitors who programmed the movie (few) and those who chose not to (many),” he said in a statement.

“The film’s success [in movie theaters] increased these tensions,” added Occhipinti, who was one of the film’s producers.

Occhipinti had come under criticism from local exhibitors for participating in the simultaneous release of “On My Skin” in a handful of Italian theaters and on Netflix. Occhipinti called the strategy “a big opportunity,” but many distributors and...