email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

CANNES 2015 Competition / Italy

Moretti, Sorrentino, Garrone: "In it together for Italian film"

by 

- The three directors will be returning to the Croisette where they will be competing with Mia madre, Youth, and The Tale of Tales respectively

Moretti, Sorrentino, Garrone: "In it together for Italian film"
Paolo Sorrentino, Nanni Moretti and Matteo Garrone

“We’re delighted and proud to be representing Italy in competition at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. We’re very aware that it’s a big opportunity for us and Italian film in general”. This joint declaration, signed by Matteo Garrone, Nanni Moretti and Paolo Sorrentino was published straight after the programme for the 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival was announced in Paris. "Our films, each in its own way, try to take a personal approach to reality and film; we hope that our presence at Cannes will inspire Italian directors who try to take less obvious, more unconventional approaches to their work".

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Nanni Moretti, who returns to Cannes after winning the Palme d’Or in 2001 with The Son’s Room [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, will be competing with Mia madre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile
]
, which is due to hit Italian screens today under distribution by 01 Distribution. The film is a co-production between Il Sacher Film and Fandango with Rai Cinema and French production companies Le Pacte and ARTE France Cinéma (see news article).

Meanwhile, after the successes of Gomorra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Domenico Procacci
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
and Reality [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
, both of which won the Grand Prix, Matteo Garrone also returns to Cannes, with his new film The Tale of Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
, which will be released in Italy on 14 May and distributed by 01 Distribution.  

The film tells three stories based loosely on three fairytales from “The Tale of Tales” by Giambattista Basile, a great Neapolitan writer of the seventeenth century. Set in different regions of Italy, in mysterious landscapes and places which have, up until now, remained secret, the film – shot in English – has an international cast, which includes Salma HayekVincent CasselToby Jones and John C. Reilly, along with Shirley HendersonHayley CarmichaelBebe CaveStacy MartinChristian Lees, Jonah Lees and Guillaume Delaunay, with the participation of Alba Rohrwacher and Massimo Ceccherini.

"I decided to step into Basile’s world – explains Garrone – because his fairytales have that blend of fiction and reality that has always characterised my work. The stories in “The Tale of Tales” describe a world which brings together life’s oppositions: the ordinary and the extraordinary, the magical and the mundane, royalty and commoners, terribleness and pleasantness". 

The screenplay for the film was developed by Garrone himself, with Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti and Massimo Gaudioso. The photography is by Peter Suschitzky, who is famous for his work with David Cronenberg, and the music by Academy Award-winning Alexandre Desplat, in this his second time working with Garrone after Reality. The film was edited by Marco Spoletini, whilst the sets were designed by Dimitri Capuani and the costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini. With a budget of approximately 14.5 million, the film was produced by Garrone’s Archimede, Le Pacte and Rai Cinema, together with Jeremy Thomas, the producer of The Dreamers [+see also:
trailer
interview: Bernardo Bertolucci
film profile
]
by Bernardo Bertolucci, for Recorded Picture.

The third and final Italian in competition is Paolo Sorrentino, who won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2008 with Il Divo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicola Giuliano
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
interview: Philippe Desandre
film profile
]
. After winning an Oscar with The Great Beauty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile
]
, Sorrentino is back with Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile
]
.Among the cast members are two-time Academy Award winner Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda.

The film was thought up and written by Paolo Sorrentino and is an Italian-French-British-Swiss co-production: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca, Cima and Carlotta Calori for Indigo, in collaboration with Medusa Film, in association with Barilla G. and R. Fratelli S.p.A. and BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas for Italy; Barbary Films, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma for France; Number 9 Films for the United Kingdom; C-Films for Switzerland.

Behind the photography is Luca Bigazzi, with editing by Cristiano Travaglioli, music by David Lang, set design by Ludovica Ferrario and costume design by Carlo Poggioli. Youth is due to hit Italian theatres in May 2015 and will be distributed by Medusa Film.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Italian)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy