What’s Next Italy: the MIA Film special program dedicated to Italian feature films in post-production.
What’s Next Italy was held on Wednesday, October 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Cinema Barberini and was moderated by Nick Vivarelli (Variety).
This year’s selection, which featured three first- and two second features, reflects the vitality and production capacity of the current Italian cinema like never before. Alongside well-known directors, there are debuts and young talents who already had the opportunity to direct second units and drama series.
This is the case of Lyda Patitucci, who directed three episodes of the series Curon and the second units on films such as Veloce come il vento and Primo Re by Matteo Rovere. Her first film as a director, Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi, is a high-tension action movie about two estranged brothers, involved in a robbery: one, as an undercover agent; the other, as a member of the gang. Among the cast: Isabella Ragonese, Andrea Arcangeli and Tommaso Ragno.
Patagonia is the debut feature film of the enfant prodige Simone Bozzelli, a former graduate from Naba and Centro Sperimentale, author of short films selected at international festivals and director of the music video I wanna be your slave by Måneskin’s. Simone is currently working on both his first long feature and on his first series as a director.
Giuseppe Battiston needs no introduction: the well-known actor who starred in many Italian films, makes his debut feature film: Io vivo altrove (What a Life!). Inspired by Gustave Flaubert’s Bouvard et Pécuchet, co-written with Marco Pettenello, the screenwriter of numerous films by Mazzacurati and Segre among others; the film tells the story of a friendship between two strangers, the only thing they have in common being their name and their desire to escape from the city.
After directing episodes of many series like, among others, Romulus, Sanctuary and Django, Enrico Maria Artale shoots El Paraíso, the story of a symbiotic and dramatic relationship between a Colombian woman and her 40-year-old son (played by Edoardo Pesce).
A group of rebellious teenagers, locked up in a prestigious clinic for young people coming from wealthy families, is the plot at the heart of Rossosperanza, Annarita Zambrano’s second feature, an Italy-France co-production.
With Superluna, Federico Bondi takes us to a small Italian town that has just been hit by an earthquake. The terror and despair of adults is counterbalanced by the wonder of a young girl who discovers for the first time a sense of community, sharing, friendship and the power of nature.
Marco Risi is back behind the camera with Il punto di rugiada (The Dew Point). A redemption story of two young troublemakers who are condemned to social services in a retirement home. Among the cast: Eros Pagni, Massimo De Francovich and Luigi Diberti, well-known Italian theatre actors.
What’s Next Italy, 2022 Official Selection
• Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi by Lyda Patitucci – Italy, 2022 (Action, Crime, Drama). Produced by Groenlandia with Rai Cinema.
• Io vivo altrove (What a life!) by Giuseppe Battiston – Italy/Slovenia, 2022 (comedy). Produced by Rosamont, Minimum Fax Media, Tucker Film, Rai Cinema, Staragara. International sales: Fandango Sales.
• El Paraíso by Enrico Maria Artale – Italy, 2022 (drama). Produced by Ascent Film and Young Films with Rai Cinema.
• Patagonia by Simone Bozzelli – Italy, 2022 (drama). Produced by Wildside, international sales: Vision Distribution.
• Il Punto di rugiada (The Dew Point) by Marco Risi – Italy, 2022 (drama). Produced by Fandango with Rai Cinema. International sales: Fandango Sales.
• Rossosperanza by Annarita Zambrano – Italy/France 2022 (drama). Produced by Mad Entertainment, Minerva Pictures Group, Ts Productions, Rai Cinema. International sales: Minerva Pictures Group.
• Superluna by Federico Bondi – Italy/Belgium 2022 (drama). Produced by Vivo Film with Rai Cinema and Tarantula.
