Last year, on 5 April, Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema, released the line-up for future Rai productions and gave positive feedback on the general trend of Rai films. Del Brocco, who is expecting to be reconfirmed after seven years of leading Rai Cinema, expressed his excitement at the work carried out so far. “In Italy, we are anxious for change. The results of recent years have been fantastic and significant”.
In figures, between 2010 and 2016, Rai Cinema produced 372 films, 182 of which were first and second features, for a total of 380 million euros. “Innovation and change are our key words. While respecting tradition”, said Del Brocco.
There are seven line-ups in total and they include a great number of productions. Our History combines films that retell Italian stories and includes Dogman, the newly announced film by Matteo Garrone, who paused the production of Pinocchio to work on the film based on the “canaro” case in Rome, Una Questione Privata by the Taviani brothers, Il Traditore by Marco Bellocchio (based on Buscetta, the Mafia informer), Il Signor Diavolo, a new horror by Pupi Avati, Capri-Batterie by Mario Martone and Io Sono Tempesta by Luchetti, based on Silvio Berlusconi.
Cinema of the Future, on the other hand, includes films made by young directors who are making their debut or are already established. The films include Cuori Puri by Roberto De Paolis, Look Up by Fulvio Risuleo (presented at MIA 2015), Jenish by Valentina Pedicini, Una Famiglia by Sebastiano Riso, Lazzaro Felice by Alice Rohrwacher, Figlia Mia by Laura Bispuri, Martin Eden by Pietro Marcello, L’Intrusa by Leonardo di Costanzo and Sicilian Ghost Story by Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia.
Coming of Age is the area dedicated to coming-of-age stories and includes films like Il Ragazzo Invisibile 2 by Gabriele Salvatores, I Figli della Notte by Andrea De Sica and Otzi e il mistero del tempo by Gabriele Pignotta.
Pop Italiano contains the most innovative productions and includes films such as Il Primo Re by Matteo Rovere (on the legend of Romulus and Remus), Il Mio Corpo Vi Seppellirà by Giovanni La Parola (presented at MIA 2015), Brutti e Cattivi by Cosimo Gomez, Smetto Quando Voglio – Ad Honorem by Sydney Sibilia, Addio Fottuti Musi Verdi by Francesco Ebbasta, director of The Jackal and A Casa by Antonio Albanese.
Cinema Without Borders is dedicated to internationally co-produced films: The Leisure Seeker by Paolo Virzì, The Book of Vision by Carlo S. Hintermann, Nico, 1988 by Susanna Nicchiarelli (presented at MIA 2016 in the What’s Next Italy section), The Whale by Andrea Pallaoro and Land by Babak Jalali.
Real Cinema, for documentaries, includes Nobody in the World is Better Than Us by Roberto Minervini, La Strada di Samouni by Stefano Savona, Buon Inverno by Giovanni Totaro and Il Cratere by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino.
Finally, Beyond the Border includes bought or co-produced international films. It includes: Wonderstruck by Todd Haynes, an Amazon production bought by Rai Cinema; The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by Steven Spielberg, filmed in Italy in collaboration with Rai Cinema and Leone Film Group; Works Without an Author by Florian Henkel von Donersmarck; Based on A True Story by Roman Polanski and The Sin by Andrei Konchalovsky. We have also seen the first images of Soldado by Stefano Sollima, produced by Leone G
