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Rocco Siffredi, the retired global porn star whose life story inspired Netflix’s recent series “Supersex,” is to star in “Blue,” an Italian drama set in the erotic social media world.

Shooting is underway in Italy’s central Marche region on the film, which according to promotional materials revolves around a young female student named Luce contending with “tough choices” as she navigates the deceptive world of erotic websites and social media. The indie film is directed by first-timer Eleonora Puglia.

Italy’s PiperFilm is handling international sales and will release “Blue” in Italy.

Alongside Siffredi, the “Blue” cast also includes young Italian actresses Alexia Cozzi — who plays Luce — and Shaheen Barletta (“Prisma”). Siffredi plays Luce’s father.

“Blue” is a co-production between Italy’s Camaleo Film and Poland’s Agreswyna Banda, with support from the Marche Film Commission and Lazio Cinema International.

Siffredi, who has made roughly 1,400 hardcore films,...

To have and to hold, forever in history.

Dino Risi’s 1961 historical comedy “Una Vita Difficile” charts the history of Italy’s economic slumber and subsequent boom post-wwii. Never released in the U.S., the film now makes its New York City debut at Film Forum with a new 4K restoration.

IndieWire exclusively premieres the trailer for the Rialto Pictures feature, with the restoration carried out at Vdm by Studiocanal.

In 1944, Roman student and ex-army lieutenant Silvio Magnozzi (Alberto Sordi) is on the run from the Germans. Elena (Lea Massari) saves Silvio’s life by killing a German soldier, and the duo becomes lovers, with their romance spanning decades and numerous locations.

The classic of commedia all’italiana stars one of Italy’s biggest box office attractions, Sordi, opposite Massari, in the story of an on-again, off-again, then on-again relationship told against 17 years of Italian history — from the last year...

Francesca Archibugi’s ’The Hummingbird’ stars Nanni Moretti, Berenice Bejo and Pierfrancesco Favino.

Italy’s Fandango Sales has signed a raft of deals on Francesca Archibugi’s upcoming film The Hummingbird and Paolo Taviani’s Leonora Addio, plus made six additions to its Marché line-up.

The Hummingbird has sold to Spain (Karma Films), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Benelux (Cineart), Bulgaria (Cinelibri) and Former Yugoslavia (McF Megacom). The film stars Nanni Moretti, Berenice Bejo and Pierfrancesco Favino and was produced by Fandango with Les Films des Tournelles, Orange Studio and Rai Cinema.

Berlinale competition title Leonora Addio has been sold to Portugal (Leopardo...

After Blue (Paradis sale)The lineup for the 2021 festival has been revealed, including new films by Bertrand Mandico, Axelle Ropert, Abel Ferrara and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEBeckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino)Free Guy (Shawn Levy)Heat (Michael Mann)Hinterland (Stefan Ruzowitzky)Ida Red (John Swab)Monte Verità (Stefan Jäger)National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis)Respect (Liesl Tommy)Rose (Aurélie Saada)Sinkhole (Kim Ji-hoon)The Alleys (Bassel Ghandour)The Terminator (James Cameron)Vortex (Gaspar Noé)Yaya e Lennie — The Walking Liberty (Alessandro Rak)Tomorrow My Love (Gitanjali Rao)Lynx (Laurent Geslin)Zeros and OnesCONCORSO INTERNAZIONALEAfter Blue (Paradis sale) (Bertrand Mandico)Al Naher (The River) (Ghassan Salhab)Espíritu sagrado (The Sacred Spirit) (Chema García Ibarra)Gerda (Natalya Kudryashova)I giganti (The Giants) (Bonifacio Angius)Jiao ma teng hui (A New Old Play) (Jiongjiong Qiu)Juju StoriesLa Place d'une autre (Secret Name) (Aurélia Georges)Leynilögga (Cop Secret...

Name and focus changes for every section, which are now all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.

The ninth Rome Film Festival (Oct 16-25) has revealed a diverse line-up including the Italian premieres for potential awards contenders including David Fincher’s Gone Girl. the world premiere of Takashi Miike’s As the Gods Will and Burhan Qurbani’s We are Young, We are Strong and European premiere of Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind, Toronto hit Still Alice and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.

This year for the first time the award-winners in each section of the programme will be decided by the audience on the basis of votes cast after the screenings.

Each section has changed name and focus for 2014 and are all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.

Italian comedies Soap Opera and Andiamo a Quel Paese bookend the line-up.

Full line-up

Cinema D’Oggi

World premiere

• Angely...

In the spirit of spring, Dino Rici’s tragicomedy Il Sorpasso from 1962 has been given a vibrant rebirth courtesy of Criterion. Rarely seen and largely forgotten in recent years, Il Sorpasso retains many structures of the classic road movie, seasoned with glimpses of the era’s growing sense of rebellious dissatisfaction. Over the years, it has proven to be an influential work; its descendant branches laced throughout any analysis of the classic film genre of wandering heroes. Artistically, Il Sorpasso may not rank among the best of the category, but its seductive amalgam of bildungsroman, social commentary and cautionary tale make for a compelling and infectious watch.

Il Sorpasso’s unlikely odyssey orbits around the burgeoning friendship between Bruno (Vittorio Gassman), a zesty 40 year old raconteur and Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a quiet, bookish law student half his age. Bruno dashes about the ancient streets of Rome in a battered Lancia...

Ambi Pictures, the Rome-based film production and finance company, has formed a new international sales division.

Following a trial run at the Efm in Berlin ealier this month, Ambi will now handle worldwide sales on the films it produces, starting with the recently completed action thriller Sights of Death, which was financed and produced by Ambi and stars Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen.

Abmi bosses Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino said: “We feel we are in a great position to grow the company, establish a significant footprint in the global film arena and ultimately build a strong brand as we bring high quality commercial feature films to the marketplace.”

The move will dovetail with its burgeoning production arm, which plans to produce eight feature films in 2014.

Ambi Pictures, which launched late last year, are currently working on the Barry Levinson-directed drama The Humbling, starring Al Pacino...

Company launched last September is also producing upcoming pictures from Gabriela Tagliavini and Marco Risi.

Fledgling production and film finance group Ambi Pictures has revealed first images for its upcoming sci-fi film Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen.

The production, directed by Alessandro Capone, has just wrapped its shoot in Rome.

Set against the backdrop of 2047, the film pits Baldwin and Glover as rebels against Hauer, Anderson and Madsen as the unscrupulous military personnel of a tyrannical central confederate government.

This is Ambi’s first trip to the Efm. The Rome-based company was founded last September by Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi with the aim of making three to four films a year, involving local and international talent and at varying budgets.

Iervolino, 25, who entered the film business in his teens, formerly operated under the Iervolino Entertainment banner until it was rolled into Ambi last year...

Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Ambi Pictures is producing.

The ensemble cast of Tre Tocchi will feature Marco Giallini, Francesca Inaudi, Luca Argentero, Massimiliano Benvenuto, Leandro Amato, Ida Di Benedetto, Vincenzo De Michele, Gilles Rocca, Antonio Folletto and Emiliano Ragno.

Marco Risi is directing the Italian dramedy, which is being produced by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s new Ambi Pictures.

Shooting starts this month in Rome.

Tre Tocchi weaves together the stories of six friends who are united by two of their greatest passions – soccer and acting.

‘Copper’ Will Make UK Debut Streaming On LoveFilm LoveFilm has acquired UK rights to Cineflix series Copper. The series follows Vikings as the second to debut in the UK exclusively via the streaming service, bypassing traditional broadcasters. Netflix competitor LoveFilm will make the show available for streaming starting Friday. Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Anastasia Griffith star in the period police drama co-created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos. Copper airs on BBC America in the U.S. Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi Launch Ambi Pictures Italian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi have partnered to launch indie production and finance entity, Ambi Pictures. Headquartered in Rome, The company aims to “serve as a top-tier supplier of mainstream projects for both the studios and major independent distributors worldwide”. Ambi said today it will pursue “Hollywood talent and international stars” and back three to four films per year at various budget levels.

Italian producer Andrea Iervolino is partnering with Monika Bacardi to launch film production and finance company Ambi Pictures.

The Rome-based outfit will aim to make “commercial films for a worldwide audience.”

The company announced plans to work with Hollywood talent and international stars, financing three to four films per year at various budget levels.

The first projects from the company will be Gabriela Tagliavini’s romantic comedy Devil May Care (to start shooting in November) and Marco Risi’s football dramedy Tre Tocchi, which will shoot later this month. Both will shoot in Italy.

Iervolino’s credits include The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist.

Bacardi is the widow of Lord Luis Bacardi of the family-run spirits business.

Ambi also plans to be involved in distribution through sister company AI Entertainment, which Iervolino started in 2011.

• The N.I.C.E. Festival (New Italian Cinema Event) is celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year with yet again another group of eclectic Italian films. N.I.C.E. has helped nurture new Italian filmmakers from obscurity to world wide recognition boosting a list of filmmakers including Marco Risi, Antonio Capuano, Matteo Garrone, Pappi Corsicato, and Silvio Soldini, among others. N.I.C.E. holds events in New York, San Francisco, Moscow, Amsterdam and soon in Philadelphia. This year’s festival is filled with diversity and these filmmakers surely will become known in Italy and abroad in the coming years. A short film plays with each film. For more information regarding all of these films and the organization that runs the event go to: www.nicefestival.org. The independent film theater the Quad Cinema @ 34 West 13th Avenue in New York City is the venue to see all of these films.

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Paramount Pictures has acquired feature film rights to the Italian-language feature "Three Wives" (Tre Moglie) for studio-based Tollin/Robbins Films to produce. The film, directed by Marco Risi, was released in 2001 and produced by Sorpasso Films. As the film opens, three men pull a heist on the bank where they work, and their three abandoned wives, all from very different backgrounds, set out to track down their husbands. The film is being produced by Tollin/Robbins and executive produced by Amanda Klein and Michael Nash of Primal Pictures. The deal was negotiated on behalf of the producers by Paula Corvino, president of Intra Films. The acquisition marks the second project the studio has picked up for Tollin/Robbins in the past week. Paramount on Thursday optioned feature film rights to Michael Bamberger's yet-to-be published nonfiction book "Wonderland", which Tollin/Robbins is producing with MTV Films (HR 5/15).

Rai Cinema

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- At the risk of sounding like a cultural imperialist, I must advise American producers to take note: This Italian comedy about three wives searching for their fugitive husbands is rife with remake possibilities, if not necessarily for the quality of its execution than for its high-concept scenario. Directed by Marco Risi, son of the great Italian director Dino Risi, "Three Wives" (Tre Mogli) is an entertaining lark featuring a trio of expert comic performances and terrific exotic locations. The film was showcased at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

The title characters -- elegant, high-class Beatrice (the beautiful Francesca d'Aloja); high-strung, neurotic Bianca (the hilarious Iaia Forte); and sexy punk rocker Billi (one-named actress Silke) -- are informed by the police one New Year's Eve that their three husbands, who all worked together at the same bank, have absconded with $5 million in bank funds. A year later, Beatrice figures out that her spouse might be in Buenos Aires, Argentina, so she gets on a plane in pursuit, only to be followed by the other two wives and a mysterious and bumbling photographer named Amadeo (Claudio Gregori).

Slapstick complications ensue as the three women pursue their husbands through a variety of far-flung locales, with their initial antagonism toward one another predictably giving way to mutual affection and respect. Romance is also in the cards, with Bianca discovering orgasmic bliss with a sexy tango instructor and Billi falling for the lovable Amadeo.

While the screenplay's characterizations and situations never stray too far from cliche, Risi's skillful direction keeps things moving at an agreeably bouncy and entertaining pace, and the lead performers deliver engaging comic performances. Adding to the overall effect are the terrific locations, including the gorgeous vistas of Patagonia and a tiny town at the southernmost tip of South America.

Quick American casting tip: Think Sigourney Weaver, Sandra Bullock and Courtney Love.