Actualités

Italy has just hosted Summit for US and French producers, is taking major delegation to Tokyo Film Festival and will be Country in Focus at Berlinale’s EFM.

Italy has embarked on a major campaign to promote its filmmakers and movies around the world and to attract international productions to the country.

Last week, the country hosted the Audiovisual Producer’s Summit in Trieste, inviting leading US producers and studio executives as well as a significant French delegation to meet with Italian producers and industry figures. This follows Italy being the guest of honour at Mexico’s Guadalajara Film Festival in June.

Nicola Maccanico with Anne-Katrin Titze on current Cinecittà productions: “Joe Wright, Roland Emmerich and Luca Guadagnino.” Photo: Sally Fischer

I met with Nicola Maccanico to discuss the significant expansion of Cinecittà Studios under his leadership on the morning of the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema luncheon at The Leopard at des Artistes, attended by The Hummingbird (Il Colibrì) director Francesca Archibugi, Tommaso Ragno, Margherita Mazzucco (star of Susanna Nicchiarelli's Chiara and Saverio Costanzo’s My Brilliant Friend), directors Michele Vannucci (Delta), Niccolo Falsetti (Margins), Monica Dugo, and Fireworks (Stranizza d’Amuri)) director Giuseppe Fiorello with his stars Gabriele Pizzurro and Samuele Segreto.

Nicola Maccanico on Luca Guadagnino: “Bones and All! His last movie, I think is a masterpiece.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Inside Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, Nicola joined me for a conversation on the robust state of Italian cinema and the current international productions going on at Cinecittà,...

After the release of 2017’s “Darkest Hour,” filmmaker Joe Wright was living the dream. His film was nominated for six Oscars (winning two), and it appeared he was going to enter the conversation as one of the best filmmakers working today. Unfortunately, the drama surrounding his follow-up (“The Woman in the Window”) overshadowed the actual content (which itself wasn’t beloved) and led to perhaps one of the lowest points in his acclaimed career.

Continue reading ‘M. Son of the Century’: Joe Wright Describes His Benito Mussolini Series As “Quite Outlandish” at The Playlist.

Exclusive: When I pull up to the home that Robert Downey Jr and his wife and producing partner Susan share in Malibu, there are the trappings you would expect from the house owned by Hollywood’s best paid actor. The small fleet of cars, all tarped; the expanse of Pacific Ocean viewable from most anywhere on the grounds, a small staff that runs the house. But there are also the mischievous aspects you expect from Downey. There is that wooden blocking dummy in the barn that has raised bruises a plenty as Downey spent the last decade closing in on his black belt in the Chinese martial art Wing Chun. There’s the bright yellow front door that is as cheery and inviting as the spacious interior. The rooms are adorned by an undoubtedly pricey artwork collection, but there is nothing show-offy; the bathroom, for instance, features a medley of framed photos,...