‘Freaks vs. the Reich’ Director Gabriele Mainetti Shooting Rome-Set Kung Fu Movie (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, known internationally for genre-bending titles “They Call Me Jeeg” and “Freaks vs.
the Reich,” is shooting a kung fu movie set in Rome’s multi-ethnic Piazza Vittorio quarter. Cameras have just started rolling in Rome on Mainetti’s yet-to-be titled third feature that will see him riff on martial arts movie tropes, following his fresh takes on a 1970 Japanese cartoon series in “Jeeg,” and then on the Nazi hunter film genre in “Freaks.” Vision Distribution will be launching sales on the film at the Cannes Marché du Film.
Set in the cosmopolitan melting pot of Rome’s Piazza Vittorio hood, Mainetti’s latest work will see two very different souls intersect.
One is the son of an indebted local restaurant owner who disappeared with his lover. The other is a young mysterious woman who has just arrived in the Italian capital in search of her missing sister. “United by fate, the two will find themselves catapulted into the slums of Rome’s criminal underbelly,” reads the synopsis. “To survive they will have to fight side by side in an overwhelming no-holds-barred adventure, challenging armies of ruthless criminals, but above all, ancient prejudices, and cultural diversity.” The Rome-set kung fu movie stars Chinese martial artist Liu Yaxi, who was Liu Yifei’s stunt double in Disney’s “Mulan,” alongside Italy’s Enrico Borello (“Lovely Boy”), Sabrina Ferilli (“The Great Beauty”), Marco Giallini (“Perfect Strangers”) and Luca Zingaretti (“Montalbano”).
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