RAI Cinema International Distribution has recorded Cannes sales with new works by veteran Italian writers Mario Martone and Gianni Amelio, as well as promising newcomer Irene Dionisio, who is set to take her bow in Venice.
“Trick” (first look image above), starring Toni Servillo (“Gorgeous Beauty”), is the latest feature from director Martone, who entered competition at Cannes with “Fuori” last year. Set in Naples, Trick was picked up by Benelux (Paradiso Films), Brazil (Orta Film), Switzerland (Morandini), Greece (Dream Team Film), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes) and Bulgaria (Cinelibri) after a teaser presentation at the Cannes Marché du Film.
Amelio’s “No Pain” was headlined by Valeria Golino and Alessandro Borghi (“The Eight Mountains”).
In Bulgaria it was acquired by Beta Film and in Switzerland by Morandini.
Up-and-coming director Irene Dionisio’s sophomore drama Idda, whose 2016 debut Pawn Street started at Venice Critics Week, was sold by RAI Cinema to Bulgaria through Beta Films and then to Brazil’s Alta Film. Starring Italy’s rising female stars Tecla Insoria (The Art of Joy) and Romana Maggiola Vergano (There’s Still Tomorrow), Idda tells the story of two childhood friends, now in their 30s, who discover something while hiking Mount Etna in Sicily.
The Sound of Something New, a new concept film from Perfect Strangers director Paolo Genovese, continues to sell well, attracting attention from France (Moonlight), Bulgaria (Betafilm), Brazil (Alterfilm), Switzerland (Morandini) and the Baltic States (Latvian theatrical distribution SIA). This follows previously announced Cannes pickups for Something New in Spain (Karma Films), Poland (Aurora Films), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Greece and Cyprus (Dream Team Films), Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia (Kino Mediterrane).
RAI Cinema International Distribution has also begun picking up Green World, a new ecological documentary by Oscar-nominated Kosakovsky (Gunda, Aquarela), co-produced with Italian botanist Stefano Mancuso, a pioneer in the plant neurobiology movement, which has been acquired by Bulgaria’s Beta Films.
Gabriele Muccino’s latest feature film, Things We Don’t Say, whose Hollywood credits include The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, has secured deals in Australia and New Zealand (Palace), Brazil (Alterfilm), India (Book My Show), Romania (Transylvania Pictures), the Baltic States (Best Picture), Switzerland (Morandini), Cyprus and Greece (Dream Team Pictures) and Poland (Aurora Pictures). Portugal (Leopardo) and South Korea (Il Media).
Roberta Torre’s documentary “Le Angelesse”, about female inmates in a Milan prison preparing to perform Christmas carols inside the prison, and offering some backstory as to why they are there, has been purchased by Beta Films for Bulgaria.
A Good Day, a comedy directed by and starring Fabio De Luigi, was screened in Australia and New Zealand (Palace), Switzerland (Morandini) and onboard (Spafax: Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan and Oman).
Additional sales to the RAI Cinema catalog include Alessio Rigo de Rigui and Matteo Zoppis’s surreal westerns “Heads or Tales” and Elisa Amoruso’s “Beloved,” which were acquired by Alta Film for Brazil, and Gabriele Salvatores’ “Napoli New York,” which Moonlight picked up for France.
