David Di-Donatello: Celebs Rumors

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Toni Servillo, who played Roman socialite Jep Gambardella in Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning “The Great Beauty,” will appear as Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro, dubbed “the last godfather,” in upcoming drama “Iddu” directed by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (“Sicilian Ghost Story”). After being on the run for three decades, Messina Denaro was arrested in mid-January 2023 outside an upscale medical facility in Palermo, where he had been undergoing cancer treatment for a year under false identity.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sophia Loren is recovering from emergency surgery for a fractured hip following a fall on Sunday in her home in Geneva, Switzerland, according to Italian press reports. Italy’s most famous living movie star, who turned 89 on Sept. 20, suffered multiple fractures after accidentally falling at home on Sunday morning.

Iconic actress Sophia Loren was hospitalized on Sunday following a fall at her home in Geneva. The Italian star reportedly sustained fractures to her hip and femur, and underwent surgery with what has been described as a positive outcome.

Vanessa Redgrave To Be Feted At European Film Awards

Naman Ramachandran British actor Vanessa Redgrave will receive the European Lifetime Achievement award for her outstanding body of work at the European Film Awards. Hailing from an illustrious family of actors, Redgrave’s first lead in “Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment” (1966), by Karel Reisz, won her best actress at Cannes and scored BAFTA and Oscar nominations.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Adriano Valerio’s documentary “Casablanca,” which will world premiere on Thursday at Venice Days, has been acquired by Salaud Morisset for world sales. Variety has been given an exclusive clip from the film.

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the names who will join Damien Chazelle on the main Competition jury of its 80th edition, running Aug 30 — Sep 9.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor As far as history goes, you can’t get much more historical than Taormina for a film festival. The Antico Teatro (or Greek Theater) – where the latest films will be shown – dates back to 300 BC. More recently – as in a mere century or so – the Sicilian coastal town has proved an irresistible getaway for many, from Oscar Wilde to Greta Garbo. Born in 1955 as the Taormina and Messina Film Festival, the festival has frequently hosted many international stars of cinema, and intermittently distributed the Nastri Azzurri awards voted on by Italian journalists, and at others the David di Donatello, Italy’s equivalent to the Italian Oscars. Here are some key moments from its history. When Dickie fought with Liz: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had used Taormina as a getaway right at the beginning of their romance fresh from the set of “Cleopatra.” In 1967, they returned to Taormina to attend the film festival with Franco Zefferelli’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” for which Burton received the David di Donatello as best foreign actor. According to rumors, a blazing row on the terrace of their hotel – the San Domenico Palace – ended when Taylor conked Burton on the head with a mandolin.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Acclaimed Chinese auteur filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke has set “We Shall Be All” as his next feature directing project. It is his first in the five years since his “Ash Is Purest White,” which premiered in Cannes in 2018. Describing the project as a “dismantling of dystopia,” Jia says that the new film is set across the first two decades of the 21st century and tells the story of how a Chinese woman lives to herself in silence, celebrating the prosperous Belle Epoque with songs and dance. Some 22 years in the making, the film’s first elements were shot as far back as 2001. The balance will be filmed later this year. No release schedule has been indicated.

Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains and veteran Marco Bellocchio’s Exterior Night topped the 68th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “The Eight Mountains,” Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama about friendship, mountains and growing up, scored the top prize at Italy’s 68th David di Donatello Awards. Besides winning best picture, the film also scooped statuettes for best non-original screenplay, photography and sound. Given that the directors are not Italian, it was a particularly significant victory for “Mountains,” which was praised as “quietly magnificent” by Variety critic Jessica Kiang. The film, which is currently playing well on the U.S. arthouse circuit, tracks the decades-long friendship between two Italian boys named Pietro and Bruno — one from the city, the other a shepherd boy from the Alps.

The Passion Of The Christ producer, director and co-writer Mel Gibson is mourning Christo Jivkov, one of the stars of his 2004 blockbuster, who died Friday night in Los Angeles after a long private battle with cancer. He had just turned 48.

EXCLUSIVE: VMI Releasing has picked up North American rights to the fantastical WWII drama Freaks vs. the Reich (formerly Freaks Out), which won eight awards at the Venice Film Festival in 2021, including the Grafetta d’Oro for Best Film, and went on to land six David di Donatello Awards from the Academy of Italian Cinema the following year. The second feature from director Gabriele Mainetti (They Call Me Jeeg) will bow in theaters and on digital on April 28th.

Actor-producer Christo Jivkov, known for his starring role as John in Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster The Passion Of The Christ, died last night in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer. He was 48.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s David di Donatello Awards are launching an innovative ecological initiative under which they will monitor the environmental sustainability of productions in the running for the country’s top film prizes. The move is being touted as a first of this type by Davids organizers who are hoping it can become a game changer in prompting companies in Italy and across Europe to reduce the environmental impact of their film productions. To monitor the carbon footprint and other green aspects of movies submitted to the Davids, the organisation has forged a partnership with EcoMuvi, an Italian protocol that certifies a film production’s ecological sustainability from pre-product through post.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prominent arthouse sales company The Match Factory has closed multiple sales on Italian auteur Gianni Amelio’s Venice competition title “Lord of the Ants” ahead of its Venice premiere on Tuesday. The Match Factory has sealed deals on Amelio’s latest work – which is a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law – that will ensure the film’s theatrical release in: Australia/New Zealand (Palace Films); Japan (Zazie Films); Spain (Surtsey Films); Sweden (TriArt Film) and Greece (Ama Films). Further deals are in negotiation, the company said. Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray, was repealed in 1981.

Margarethe von Trotta To Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor At The European Film Awards German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th European Film Awards. von Trotta will receive the honor at a ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland, on December 10 where she will be an honorary guest. Born in Berlin and raised in Düsseldorf, von Trotta started her career as an actress, in theatre and appeared in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff before moving behind the camera in 1978 with The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, her solo debut as a director. In 1981, her film Marianne and Juliane about the “German Sisters” Christiane and Gudrun Ensslin won the Golden Lion in Venice as well as two German Film Awards and an Italian David di Donatello. Previous winners of the European Film Academy’s lifetime achievement award include Agnès Varda and Judi Dench.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGerman film director, screenwriter, and actor Margarethe von Trotta will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th European Film Awards. Set to take place on Dec.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMichele Vannucci’s “Delta” has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival. True Colours is handling world sales.The Po Delta in Italy is the setting of the clash between fishermen and poachers. Osso wants to save the river from overfishing at the hands of the Florians, a family on the run from the Danube.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentNetflix on Friday officially opened its Italian base in Rome, in a classy neoclassical building near the iconic Via Veneto, and announced a substantial slate of originals that stand as testament to what co-CEO Reed Hastings called the streaming giant’s “growing business in Italy.”“The breadth and variety of our Italian slate perfectly represents our ambitions,” said Hastings, who took the stage at the presentation’s conclusion. Hastings took the opportunity to note how pleased he is that Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” which Netflix produced, scooped top honors at Italy’s David di Donatello Awards, the country’s top film prizes, earlier this week.Netflix’s new Italian slate is headlined by a high-end English-language series adaptation of “The Leopard,” the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.

The David di Donatello Awards were held in Rome on Tuesday evening, the first time Italy’s equivalent to the Oscar has had a fully in-person ceremony in the pandemic era. Taking top honors was Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God which scooped Best Film and Director as well as Best Supporting Actress for Teresa Saponangelo and a tie for Best Cinematography. In the latter category, The Hand Of God shared the win with Freaks Out, a fantasy drama that likewise debuted in Venice.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPaolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated autobiographical drama “The Hand of God” took top honors at Italy’s 67th David di Donatello Awards, winning best picture, director, supporting actress and tying for the best cinematography statuette.Sorrentino’s Naples-set film about the personal tragedy and other vicissitudes that drove him to become a top notch film director had been the frontrunner along with young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out.”“Freaks Out” won six prizes, including for its producer, Andrea Occhipinti, as well as cinematographer, set design, and effects.The cinematography prize, which was a tie, was split between “Hand of God” DP Daria D’Antonio, marking the first time this David goes to a woman, and Michele Attanasio for “Freaks Out.” The Davids were held as a fully in-person ceremony at Rome’s Cinecittà studios just as the famed facilities undergo a radical renewal being implemented by former Sky and Warner Bros. executive Nicola Maccanico.Italian Culture Minister Enrico Franceschini took the stage at the start of the ceremony to reaffirm the Italian government’s support for the local film industry, shortly after announcing plans to widen the window between a movie’s theatrical release date and the time it can drop locally on a streaming platform.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Culture Minister Enrico Franceschini has announced plans to widen the window between a movie’s theatrical release date and the time it can drop locally on a streaming platform.The move comes after producers and distributors sounded alarm bells about their struggle to get audiences back into movie theaters.Speaking to the Italian industry gathered in Rome’s presidential Quirinale Palace ahead of the David di Donatello Awards — the country’s top prizes being held on Tuesday — the minister vowed to put in place new windowing regulations that will replace the current 90-day window established in March.He did not specify how wide Italy’s new window will be. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco and Giampaolo Letta, who heads Mediaset’s Medusa film unit, over the weekend launched a joint appeal in newspaper Corriere della Sera lamenting that Italy lags behind other top European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office recovery and urging the government to come to the rescue.The two top Italian industry execs noted that Italy is the only major European territory where box office in 2021 was was down, compared with 2020.The Italian industry has been contending with the harsh fact that the county’s box office in 2021 plunged more than 50%, compared to the average annual recent pre-pandemic intake, to €170 million ($192 million) in grosses for the year and 25 million admissions.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentCinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico, who is a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, is implementing a major upgrade and expansion of the iconic Rome studios where he recently installed Europe’s largest LED Wall on the lot near the large Studio 5 that was once Federico Fellini’s second home.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs they celebrate being held as a physical event, Italy’s upcoming 67th David di Donatello Awards epitomize the ongoing shift in generations and genres that is underway in Cinema Italiano. Leading the pack this year are seasoned auteur Paolo Sorrentino’s most personal film “The Hand of God” and young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out,” which is set in 1943 Rome and involves four “freaks” working in a circus when the Eternal City is bombed by Allied Forces.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPaolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Gabriele Mainetti’s “Freaks Out” lead the pack at the David di Donatello Awards this year with 16 nominations each.Here’s the complete list of nominees:PICTURE “Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo “The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino “Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore “Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti “Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario MartoneDIRECTOR “Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo “The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino “Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore “Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti “Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario MartoneDEBUT DIRECTOR “The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice “Maternal,” Maura Delpero “Small Body,” Laura Samani “Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis “Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile PRODUCER “A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — RAI Cinema “Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto Dina (Tempesta), Michela Pini (Amka) RAI Cinema “The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino, Lorenzo Mieli “Freaks Out,” Andrea Occhipinti, Stefano Massenzi, Mattia Guerra (Lucky Red) — Gabriele Mainetti (Goon Films) — RAI Cinema “Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori (Indigo Film) RAI CinemaACTRESS Swami Rotolo, “A Chiara” Miriam Leone, “Diabolik” Aurora Giovinazzo, “Freaks Out” Rosa Palasciano, “Giulia” Maria Nazionale, “Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter)ACTOR Elio Germano, “America Latina” Silvio Orlando, “Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage) Filippo Scotti, “The Hand of God” Franz Rogowski, “Freaks Out” Toni Servillo, “The King of Laughter”SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s True Colours has taken world sales on Italian director Mario Martone’s Cannes competition entry “Nostalgia,” starring Pierfrancesco Favino, who is known to Cannes audiences as the protagonist of Marco Bellocchio’s 2019 drama “The Traitor.”Set in Martone’s native Naples, “Nostalgia” sees Favino play the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back, he drowns into the memories of a distant life he spent in hometown.Martone will be returning to a Cannes competition berth with “Nostalgia” 27 years after his Elena Ferrante adaptation “L’amore molesto” (“Troubling Love”) launched in competition from the Croisette in 1995.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMunich-based sales agency Beta Cinema has closed sales to several major territories for stylish comic-book adaptation “Diabolik,” which is among the leaders in the race for Italy’s top film awards – the David di Donatello Awards – with 11 nominations. Beta Cinema will kick off presales on the film’s sequels in Cannes.“Diabolik” has been acquired by buyers in France (Metropolitan), Spain (Flins & Piniculas), and Latin America and Portugal (Sun Distribution Group).

Monica Vitti was the “Queen of Italian Cinema,” best known in the English-speaking world for her starring role in the spy spoof “Modesty Blaise.”Vitti began acting professionally in the 1950s and soon became well known in Italy. She became a muse of the great Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, starring in several of his films including “L’Avventura” and “La Notte.” After gaining fame in Italy and as a rising star in international film circles, Vitti was cast in the 1966 British spy comedy “Modesty Blaise.” She starred in her first English-language film as the title character, a criminal mastermind hired by the British Secret Service.

Monica Vitti has died at the age of 90 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.The Italian actress was one of the biggest stars in film in Italy, had played in a movie with the legendary Michael Caine and had a career spanning 30 years. Sadly, the European star endured dementia for two decades at the end of her life.The news has been reported by a number of Italian news outlets, which was initially announced by director Walter Veltroni on behalf of the late star's husband Roberto Russo, according to Deadline.The stunning blonde, who was known for her films with acclaimed director Michelangelo Antonioni, first graced screens in the 1950s, but her career really took off when she landed roles in big-screen movies such as L'Avventura and Red Desert in the 1960s.

Monica Vitti has died at the age of 90. The award-winning actress has passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Walter Veltroni, the former Mayor of Rome and a film critic, confirmed the news via a Twitter post.

Marta Balaga Currently shooting her upcoming Netflix series “Lidia,” about Italy’s first female lawyer, Lidia Poët, actor Matilda De Angelis was joined by her agent Gianni Chiffi for a masterclass at Torino Film Festival.“When we decided to open our agency in 2014, Matilda was the first person we met. She was about to begin her cinematic journey and if I hadn’t met her, I wouldn’t be here.

Italy’s David di Donatello Winners Winners have been crowned for the 21 David di Donatello awards, the Italian film awards ceremony. Hidden Away, Giorgio Diritti’s drama about Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, won Best Film and Director. Sophia Loren picked up best lead actress for The Life Ahead, while Elio Germano picked up best actor for Hidden Away. Sam Mendes’ 1917 scooped best foreign film. Special awards were presented to Monica Bellucci Targhe, Diego Abatantuono and Sandra Milo. You can see the full list of winners here.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGiorgio 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.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s David di Donatello Awards historically have been dominated by men in the key best picture, film, and producer categories. And this year is no exception.All told, out of a total of 145 movies vying for the top Italian film prizes 17 are directed by women, which amounts to a mere 12%.Women account for roughly 30% of the 1,578 voters for the Davids, which throughout their 66-year history have never seen a woman score the best director statuette.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDavid di Donatello Academy president Piera Detassis, who is also Hearst Italia’s film editor at large, is the first woman to head the organization behind Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars, which she has been busy overhauling and pushing toward greater gender parity. The current ratio of women among the academy’s 1,578 voters is roughly 30%, which marks a step forward, though there is certainly room for improvement.