Your staying power with Pietro Castellitto’s genre-adjacent non-thriller Enea will depend on your appetite for well-heeled Romans blathering on tirelessly about the encroaching emptiness inside them. An overlong, windy film that purports to investigate the hypocrisy, shallowness and moral decay of wealthy Italians but feels too embedded in that world to have much bite, this is a soulless bit of self-indulgence that seems far too pleased with itself. It’s full of flashy technique and ostentatious stylistic flourishes but has almost nothing of note to say about the supposed burdens of privilege.
The writer-director-lead actor’s father, Sergio Castellitto, among his many screen credits starred for three seasons in the psychotherapist role on the Italian version of In Treatment. That provides a winking in-joke for domestic audiences in his casting here as another shrink, Celeste, the title character’s despondent father, who generally has his head too deep in books to look at life.
The writer-director-lead actor’s father, Sergio Castellitto, among his many screen credits starred for three seasons in the psychotherapist role on the Italian version of In Treatment. That provides a winking in-joke for domestic audiences in his casting here as another shrink, Celeste, the title character’s despondent father, who generally has his head too deep in books to look at life.
- 9/7/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
About 20 minutes pass in “Enea” before someone asks the young, handsome, splendidly attired title character what he does for a living, during which time audiences are likely to be wondering the same thing. This, to be fair, is not a negligent omission in writer-director-star Pietro Castellitto’s script, which tells us early on that Enea, the elder son of a wealthy Roman family, ostensibly manages a high-end sushi restaurant, atop an assortment of more underhand dealings. What he actually does, however, is a question less easily answered in this slickly mounted but stultifying portrait of privilege and ennui among Italy’s silver-spoon set, which feels more empathy for its pampered, spiraling protagonist than most viewers are likely to muster.
Three years ago, Castellitto premiered his directorial debut “The Predators” in Venice’s Horizons sidebar, winning the section’s screenplay prize. A dark comedy examining social disparity in the Italian capital,...
Three years ago, Castellitto premiered his directorial debut “The Predators” in Venice’s Horizons sidebar, winning the section’s screenplay prize. A dark comedy examining social disparity in the Italian capital,...
- 9/5/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Being an independent producer was never easy. But these days, it’s near impossible. Even before the dual writers and actors strikes, changes in the international film and TV market had made life tough for the indies. Old models of art house moviemaking have been ravaged by a combination of decline in the specialty box office, the collapse of ancillary revenue for home entertainment and TV licensing, and the more recent pullback by streaming companies, who have begun to back fewer, and more mainstream, movies.
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Giorgio Diritti’s biopic “Hidden Away,” about crazed primitivist painter Antonio Ligabue, was the big winner at Italy’s 66th David di Donatello Awards, the country’s top film prizes.
The Davids were held with an in-person ceremony aired from two venues amid a strong spirit of restart as Italian movie theaters gradually begin to reopen.
“Hidden Away,” which was the frontrunner with 15 nominations, scored seven statuettes including best picture, director and actor honors won by Elio Germano who tackles “the fiendishly difficult role” of the self-taught artist “with customary gusto,” as Variety critic Jay Weissberg noted in his review.
The best actress statuette went to Sophia Loren for her role as Madame Rosa, a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor, in Netflix Original “The Life Ahead,” directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. The Italian icon’s return to the big screen after a decade had been snubbed by the Oscars earlier this year.
The Davids were held with an in-person ceremony aired from two venues amid a strong spirit of restart as Italian movie theaters gradually begin to reopen.
“Hidden Away,” which was the frontrunner with 15 nominations, scored seven statuettes including best picture, director and actor honors won by Elio Germano who tackles “the fiendishly difficult role” of the self-taught artist “with customary gusto,” as Variety critic Jay Weissberg noted in his review.
The best actress statuette went to Sophia Loren for her role as Madame Rosa, a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor, in Netflix Original “The Life Ahead,” directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. The Italian icon’s return to the big screen after a decade had been snubbed by the Oscars earlier this year.
- 5/11/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Movie theaters started to gradually reopen in Italy on Monday, serving up Oscar-winning titles such as “Minari” and “Mank” in a fraction of the country’s venues, just as Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease.
For the moment, it’s a few mostly arthouse venues in Italy’s biggest cities that are becoming active again, while Italian multiplexes remain closed until mid-May when Uci Cinemas, which is the country’s top exhibitor, has announced they will be back in business.
The cinema re-openings are allowed to go ahead on the basis of pre-ordered ticketing, distanced seating, obligatory mask-wearing inside the venues, and no popcorn.
Italy’s gradual easing of restrictions also sees museums reopening to visitors, with reservations required. Restaurants and bars in most Italian regions are allowed to serve people at outdoor tables for both lunch and dinner, although Italy’s 10 p.m. curfew remains in effect at present, though...
For the moment, it’s a few mostly arthouse venues in Italy’s biggest cities that are becoming active again, while Italian multiplexes remain closed until mid-May when Uci Cinemas, which is the country’s top exhibitor, has announced they will be back in business.
The cinema re-openings are allowed to go ahead on the basis of pre-ordered ticketing, distanced seating, obligatory mask-wearing inside the venues, and no popcorn.
Italy’s gradual easing of restrictions also sees museums reopening to visitors, with reservations required. Restaurants and bars in most Italian regions are allowed to serve people at outdoor tables for both lunch and dinner, although Italy’s 10 p.m. curfew remains in effect at present, though...
- 4/26/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italian producer Domenico Procacci, whose Fandango shingle is developing Elena Ferrante’s “The Lying Life of Adults” for Netflix, has several new films in the pipeline, including chiller “Pantafa” toplining Kasia Smutniak (“Devils”) as a strong-willed mother trying to protect her haunted young daughter.
“Pantafa,” which takes its cue from an ancient Italian legend involving an evil spirit that stifles women in their sleep, has just ended principal photography. Pic is directed by Emanuele Scaringi, who has long worked with Fandango in various guises: as writer, creative producer (“Bangla”), and director of graphic novel adaptation “The Armadillo’s Prophecy,” Scaringi’s feature film debut that went to Venice. He also directed TV crime series “L’Alligatore” for Rai.
“Fandango has never made a horror film in 30 years [of our existence] because I’m personally neither a big fan [of this genre] nor an expert,” Procacci tells Variety. But Scarigni “really believed in this project, so I went with it,...
“Pantafa,” which takes its cue from an ancient Italian legend involving an evil spirit that stifles women in their sleep, has just ended principal photography. Pic is directed by Emanuele Scaringi, who has long worked with Fandango in various guises: as writer, creative producer (“Bangla”), and director of graphic novel adaptation “The Armadillo’s Prophecy,” Scaringi’s feature film debut that went to Venice. He also directed TV crime series “L’Alligatore” for Rai.
“Fandango has never made a horror film in 30 years [of our existence] because I’m personally neither a big fan [of this genre] nor an expert,” Procacci tells Variety. But Scarigni “really believed in this project, so I went with it,...
- 3/31/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Italian filmmaker is back in the director’s chair with a thriller led by Edoardo Pesce and Massimo Popolizio, who investigate the disappearance of two youngsters. After I peggiori and Gli uomini d'oro (nominated at the Nastri d'Argento Awards and sold in numerous territories by Intramovies), Vincenzo Alfieri is returning with a thriller packed full of plot twists, intitled Il confine, on which filming commenced today and is set to unfold in various locations across the Roman countryside. Leading the cast are Edoardo Pesce (who co-starred in Dogman and recently appeared in The Guest Room and The Time of Indifference) and Massimo Popolizio. A remote village on the edge of the woods, a rave, two young people...
As Italy’s film and TV industry forges ahead after bearing the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, the Filming Italy — Los Angeles fest, which is a bridgehead between Italy and Hollywood, is pulling out all the stops to drive and promote the country’s restart effort.
After Filming Italy miraculously managed to hold its sister shindig as a physical edition on the island of Sardinia last summer, the upcoming March 18-21 Los Angeles event will be mostly online. But going virtual has just prompted Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca, a longtime Italian industry promoter, to double her efforts.
This year the former Taormina Film Festival general manager is serving up twice the number of titles — a selection of more than 50 features, TV skeins, docs and shorts — and a marathon medley of 25 master classes, starting with Edoardo Ponti, director of Oscar-buzzed Sophia Loren-starrer “The Life Ahead,” in conversation with Diane Warren,...
After Filming Italy miraculously managed to hold its sister shindig as a physical edition on the island of Sardinia last summer, the upcoming March 18-21 Los Angeles event will be mostly online. But going virtual has just prompted Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca, a longtime Italian industry promoter, to double her efforts.
This year the former Taormina Film Festival general manager is serving up twice the number of titles — a selection of more than 50 features, TV skeins, docs and shorts — and a marathon medley of 25 master classes, starting with Edoardo Ponti, director of Oscar-buzzed Sophia Loren-starrer “The Life Ahead,” in conversation with Diane Warren,...
- 3/15/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Twenty-eight year old newcomer Pietro Castellitto debuts with this assured, sharply scripted black comedy about class, wildly different families and the individuals that comprise them. It was frankly shocking to learn the Director of this film is so young, as the talent onboard, the sophistication of the script and the style throughout indicate veteran-status skill. Normally Directors cut their teeth with short films but Pietro’s experience stems from his eight or so acting roles, including in The Predators, where he plays an unhinged intern. Other characters include a grifter that visits both worlds, a Director whose life is on the rocks, and a Doctor who saves a gangster's mother. Just some of the outlandish, well realised madcap ensemble drawn into this web. The Predators is...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/26/2020
- Screen Anarchy
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Sunday announced new measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 that fall short of a total lockdown, but include shuttering the country’s movie theaters starting on Monday through Nov. 24, barring further complications.
Though the government’s decision was expected – as coronavirus infections in Italy rose on Sunday to a new daily record of 21,273 infections and 128 deaths – the country’s exhibitors organization Anec immediately protested the forced closures of cinemas, firing off an open letter to the prime minister voicing their “disapproval” and underlining the move’s “devastating impact” for their business.
The new measures announced on Sunday also involve closing live theaters, gaming halls and gyms outright, while bars and restaurants must close after 6Pm. A nightly curfew will also be in place.
Italy, which was initially the European country hit hardest by the pandemic, and the first to go into lockdown in March,...
Though the government’s decision was expected – as coronavirus infections in Italy rose on Sunday to a new daily record of 21,273 infections and 128 deaths – the country’s exhibitors organization Anec immediately protested the forced closures of cinemas, firing off an open letter to the prime minister voicing their “disapproval” and underlining the move’s “devastating impact” for their business.
The new measures announced on Sunday also involve closing live theaters, gaming halls and gyms outright, while bars and restaurants must close after 6Pm. A nightly curfew will also be in place.
Italy, which was initially the European country hit hardest by the pandemic, and the first to go into lockdown in March,...
- 10/25/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The first major award of 2020, and in particular, the 2020 fall film festival season, has now been given out. The Venice Film Festival announced their prize winners, with the top prize, known as the Golden Lion, going to Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland. This cements the movie as an early player, though it’s obviously still early. However, taking the Golden Lion is an excellent feather in its cap, as well as something to build on in the months to come. In all likelihood, this is only the first bit of feting for the flick. Read on to see all of the award winners out of Venice… In addition to Nomadland’s big win, the most notable prize, in terms of the Academy Awards and award season in general, was Vanessa Kirby taking the Volpi Cup (which is their Best Actress category) for her powerful turn in Pieces Of a Woman. In fact,...
- 9/13/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Vanessa Kirby wins best actress Coppa Volpi for Pieces Of A Woman.
Chloé Zhao’s US drama Nomadland starring Frances McDormand has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, which held its awards in a socially-distanced ceremony on Saturday evening (September 12).
The Silver Lion – Grand Jury prize went to Michel Franco’s Mexican-French feature New Order, about a high society wedding which is interrupted by protesters. Franco was present in Venice to accept the award, which was presented in front of a half-full Sala Grande, as part of the measures in place to combat the...
Chloé Zhao’s US drama Nomadland starring Frances McDormand has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, which held its awards in a socially-distanced ceremony on Saturday evening (September 12).
The Silver Lion – Grand Jury prize went to Michel Franco’s Mexican-French feature New Order, about a high society wedding which is interrupted by protesters. Franco was present in Venice to accept the award, which was presented in front of a half-full Sala Grande, as part of the measures in place to combat the...
- 9/12/2020
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“Nomadland” has received the Golden Lion Award as the best film of the 2020 Venice International Film Festival, a jury headed by Cate Blanchett announced on Saturday.
The Searchlight drama, a simultaneous premiere by the Venice, Telluride and Toronto festivals, was directed by Chloe Zhao and stars Frances McDormand as a woman who travels through the American West in a van after losing her job and her home. Apart from McDormand and David Strathairn, almost all of the actors in the film are actual “nomads” that Zhao cast on her own travels through the area.
“Nuevo Orden” (“New Order”) by Mexican director Michel Franco won the Silver Lion, the festival’s second-place award, while acting prizes went to Vanessa Kirby for “Pieces of a Woman” and Pierfrancesco Favino for “Padrenostro.”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa was named the festival’s best director for “Wife of a Spy.”
Ahmad Bahrami’s “The Wasteland” won the...
The Searchlight drama, a simultaneous premiere by the Venice, Telluride and Toronto festivals, was directed by Chloe Zhao and stars Frances McDormand as a woman who travels through the American West in a van after losing her job and her home. Apart from McDormand and David Strathairn, almost all of the actors in the film are actual “nomads” that Zhao cast on her own travels through the area.
“Nuevo Orden” (“New Order”) by Mexican director Michel Franco won the Silver Lion, the festival’s second-place award, while acting prizes went to Vanessa Kirby for “Pieces of a Woman” and Pierfrancesco Favino for “Padrenostro.”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa was named the festival’s best director for “Wife of a Spy.”
Ahmad Bahrami’s “The Wasteland” won the...
- 9/12/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Venice Film Festival, which reinvigorated the fall festival season with a physical event that began on September 2 in Italy, concluded on Saturday with its annual awards ceremony. See the full list of winners and watch the live stream below.
Led by president Cate Blanchett, the jurors for the main competition included Austrian director Veronika Franz, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg (“The Souvenir”), Italian writer and novelist Nicola Lagioia, German filmmaker Christian Petzold, actor Matt Dillon (“Crash”), and French actress Ludivine Sagnier.
Together, they awarded the festival’s top prizes, including the Golden Lion, which last year went to “Joker” under jury president Lucrecia Martel. This year’s Golden Lion went to “Nomadland,” which received a rapturous reception out of the Toronto International Film Festival as well this week, and looks to be headed straight for Oscar contention.
Meanwhile, in the Orizzonti, or Horizons, section running parallel to the main competition,...
Led by president Cate Blanchett, the jurors for the main competition included Austrian director Veronika Franz, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg (“The Souvenir”), Italian writer and novelist Nicola Lagioia, German filmmaker Christian Petzold, actor Matt Dillon (“Crash”), and French actress Ludivine Sagnier.
Together, they awarded the festival’s top prizes, including the Golden Lion, which last year went to “Joker” under jury president Lucrecia Martel. This year’s Golden Lion went to “Nomadland,” which received a rapturous reception out of the Toronto International Film Festival as well this week, and looks to be headed straight for Oscar contention.
Meanwhile, in the Orizzonti, or Horizons, section running parallel to the main competition,...
- 9/12/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
On the final night of the Venice Film Festival, the awards ceremony of the official selection is currently in progress.
Prizes will be handed out in the virtual reality and debut feature contests, before winners in the Horizons section, under the jury presidency of French filmmaker Claire Denis, are announced. Finally, Competition jury president Cate Blanchett will lead the award presentations in the festival’s most prestigious bracket, with Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Michel Franco’s “New Order” among the acclaimed titles hoping to take the Golden Lion.
Fill list of winners below, updated as they are announced:
Horizons
Best Actress: Khansa Batma, “Zanka Contact”
Best Actor: Yahya Mahayni, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Best Screenplay: “I Predatori,” Pietro Castellitto
Best Short Film: “Entre tú y milagros,” Mariana Safron
Lion Of The Future
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: “Listen,” Ana Rocha de Sousa
Virtual Reality...
Prizes will be handed out in the virtual reality and debut feature contests, before winners in the Horizons section, under the jury presidency of French filmmaker Claire Denis, are announced. Finally, Competition jury president Cate Blanchett will lead the award presentations in the festival’s most prestigious bracket, with Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Michel Franco’s “New Order” among the acclaimed titles hoping to take the Golden Lion.
Fill list of winners below, updated as they are announced:
Horizons
Best Actress: Khansa Batma, “Zanka Contact”
Best Actor: Yahya Mahayni, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Best Screenplay: “I Predatori,” Pietro Castellitto
Best Short Film: “Entre tú y milagros,” Mariana Safron
Lion Of The Future
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: “Listen,” Ana Rocha de Sousa
Virtual Reality...
- 9/12/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The term “predator” can mean a number of different things. Obviously, there’s the definition that relates to animals in nature, the hunter after the prey. And in the #MeToo era, there’s the more nuanced definition about people in power preying on those without. Then you have the idea of what a predator is that is discussed in the upcoming film, “I Predatori (The Predators).”
Read More: 2020 Venice Film Festival Preview: All The Must-See Films To Watch
In honor of “I Predatori” debuting at this year’s Venice Film Festival, in the Horizon section, we are thrilled to give our readers an exclusive look at a clip from Pietro Castellitto’s new film.
Continue reading ‘The Predators’ Exclusive Clip: Labelling Food Is Brilliant Idea In Pietro Castellitto’s Venice-Bound Film at The Playlist.
Read More: 2020 Venice Film Festival Preview: All The Must-See Films To Watch
In honor of “I Predatori” debuting at this year’s Venice Film Festival, in the Horizon section, we are thrilled to give our readers an exclusive look at a clip from Pietro Castellitto’s new film.
Continue reading ‘The Predators’ Exclusive Clip: Labelling Food Is Brilliant Idea In Pietro Castellitto’s Venice-Bound Film at The Playlist.
- 9/10/2020
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Wife of a SpyThe programme for the 2020 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Gia Coppola, Lav Diaz, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Alice Rohrwacher, Gianfranco Rosi, Frederick Wiseman, Chloé Zhao, and more.COMPETITIONIn Between Dying (Hilal Baydarov)Le sorelle Macluso (Emma Dante)The World to Come (Mona Fastvold)Nuevo Orden (Michel Franco)Lovers (Nicole Garcia)Laila in Haifa (Amos Gitai)Dear Comrades (Andrei Konchalovsky)Wife of a Spy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)Sun Children (Majid Majidi)Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó)Miss Marx (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Padrenostro (Claudio Noce)Notturno (Gianfranco Rosi)Never Gonna Snow AgainThe Disciple (Chaitanya Tamhane)And Tomorrow The Entire World (Julia Von Heinz)Quo Vadis, Aida? (Jasmila Zbanic)Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesThe Ties (Daniele Luchetti)Lasciami Andare (Stefano Mordini)Mandibules (Quentin Dupieux)Love After Love (Ann Hui)Assandria (Salvatore Mereu)The Duke (Roger Michell)Night in Paradise (Park Hoon-jung)Mosquito...
- 8/3/2020
- MUBI
While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride, the 2020 Venice Film Festival is moving ahead as planned and will be the world’s first major film festival since Sundance and Berlin at the start of the year. Venice 2020’s main selection will be split into three sections: Venezia 77 (aka the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. The titles selected for the main competition will compete for the Golden Lion, which was awarded last year to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
- 7/28/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
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