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VENICE 2007 Critics’ Week / Italy

La ragazza del lago, between Dürrenmatt and Simenon

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The first Italian film to be announced at the Venice Film Festival is La ragazza del lago by Andrea Molaioli, and is part of the programme of the International Critics’ Week (SIC).

The debut by the former assistant to Nanni Moretti, Carlo Mazzacurati and Daniele Luchetti, who already screened in Venice with the documentary Bandiera rossa, borsa nera, convinced the SIC selection committee with his capacity to use the noir genre to recount the country’s existential and social unease. However, more than a detective story, La ragazza del lago promises atmospheres more akin to Dürrenmatt and Simenon.

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Based on Karin Fossum’s novel Don’t Look Back, the film transfers the action from the Norwegian fjords to the Italian provinces – near the city of Udine, where Commissioner Sanzio (Toni Servillo) is investigating the disappearance of a little girl – and the anxieties of a small community. Servillo is flanked in the film (written by Sandro Petraglia) by Fabrizio Gifuni, Valeria Golino, Omero Antonutti and Anna Bonaiuto.

La ragazza del lago was produced by Indigo Film in collaboration with Medusa Film (which will release the film on September 7), with a contribution from MiBAC and collaboration from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission.

For producers Francesca Cima and Nicola Giuliano, Molaioli is the latest discovery after Eros Puglielli, Roberto Dordit and, above all, Paolo Sorrentino, whose new film Il Divo, starring Servillo as political leader Giulio Andreotti, they are also producing.

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(Translated from Italian)

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