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A filmmaker with an affinity for the dark, Daniel Espinosa caught international attention with 2010 Swedish thriller “Easy Money.” Hollywood was immediately and understandably intrigued by his capacity to make us care about shady criminal types, and for his part, the Chilean-born, Sweden-based director couldn’t resist the lure of making an American studio movie. Or three. Alas, each paycheck took Espinosa farther from his core strength: finding the humanity in morally compromised characters. Now, in a hard swing from ill-advised snabba cash project “Morbius” in 2022, “Madame Luna” can be seen either as penance or simply a return to form. Either way, this tense, tragic contemporary immigrant drama makes infinitely better use of his instincts.

Where Espinosa’s past four credits allowed him to work with an enviable roster of English-speaking stars — Denzel Washington, Tom Hardy, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jared Leto — this smaller, more sociological character study gives him a chance...

Netflix’s next Italian originals will be pairs of series and feature films from the likes of Stefano Mordini, Alessandro Genovesi and Cristina Comencini.

The projects were unveiled at a See What’s Next event in Rome today, in front of several stars, directors and stars.

Tinny Andreatta, Vice President of Italian Content at Netflix, said the orders showed the streamer remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.” Netflix opened an Italian office in May last year.

Namely, pics are Cristina Comencini’s Il Treno dei Bambini and Fabbricante di Lacrime from director Alessandro Genovesi. TV shows comprise Storia della mia Famiglia and Adorazione.

Il Treno dei Bambini is based on Viola Ardone’s bestselling novel pf the same name and is billed as as an “epic and poignant film” set in post-war Italy...

Exclusive: Wild Bunch International has made an eleventh-hour addition to its European Film Market slate, signing international sales on Swedish Morbius director Daniel Espinosa’s upcoming drama Madame Luna.

Inspired by real-life events, the film follows an Eritrean refugee who gets stuck in Libya and becomes a notorious human trafficker known as “Mama Luna” with deep ties to the Italian Mafia.

When she is forced to flee to Italy due to a change in fortunes, she experiences the same hardships endured by the people she exploited.

Desperate to find a way out of the situation before she is recognized and brought to justice, she forms a bond with a younger version of herself.

The film was shot in Sicily and Calabria last August and September and is now in post-production.

Wbi has teased a first image of newcomers Meninet Abraha and Hilyam Weldemichael, who are both of Eritrean origin, in...

His new film Monte to be screened out of competition.

Iranian director Amir Naderi (Vegas, Manhattan by Numbers) is to receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival(August 31-Sept 10), dedicated to a personality who has made an original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.

The prize has previously been awarded to filmmakers and actors including Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Al Pacino and, last year, Brian De Palma.

Naderi will be awarded the prize in a ceremony to be held September 5 in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema), before the world premiere of his new film Monte, which plays out of competition.

The film - shot on location in Italy in the mountains of the Alto Adige and Friuli regions - is set in 1350 and tells the story of a man who makes every attempt to bring the sunlight into his village, where his family is barely able to survive...