The new detective-drama Maltese, produced by Rai Fiction with Palomar, and in partnership with the German ZDF Enterprises and Dramedy Productions was presented at Cannes MipTV.
Kim Rossi Stuart plays the part of Dario Maltese, a Roman detective transferred to1970s Sicily, in the midst of mafia wars and before the period of the famous anti-mafia pool of magistrates. As underlined by the screen players Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli the setting is only apparently traditional:” of course the main references are La Piovra and Il Commissariat Montalbano, but we also wanted to adopt a different perspective: direction and soundtrack are modern and characters are more deeply portrayed”. Luca Milani, who attended the screening as representative of Rai Fiction (together with Nicola Serra for Palomar), described Maltese as “one of the best products of the season”.
Also the German partners, who appreciate very much Italian audio-visual industry, are very happy: ” in the last years, with such productions as I Medici, Gomorra, 1992 and Il Giovane Montalbano, Italy has reached excellent levels”. One of the leading roles has been given to a German actress, Rike Schmid, who plays the part of photographer Elisa Ripstein, born in Stuttgart but of Sicilian origins. Her character, as Schmid said, is clearly based on the photographer Letizia Battaglia, as well as the character played by Francesco Scianna is inspired by some great anti-mafia journalists such as Mauro De Mauro, Mario Francese, Mauro Rostagno and Giuseppe Fava.
Maltese, directed by Gianluca Maria Tavarellim will be screened in Italy starting from next May on Rai Uno.
