Stefano Sollima on Making Netflix’s ‘Il Mostro’ About Unsolved Sex Murders Outside Florence: ‘There Are Lots of Half-Truths’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has designated Italian journalist and writer Pietrangelo Buttafuoco as the new president of the Venice Biennale, the foundation that oversees the Venice Film Festival. Buttafuoco (pictured above, left), an openly right-wing member of Italy’s cultural establishment known to be an eclectic thinker, is now set to replace former film producer Roberto Cicutto (pictured, right) at the Biennale’s helm when Cicutto’s four-year mandate expires in March 2024.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The saga of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni splitting from her partner, Mediaset TV personality Andrea Giambruno, after leaked outtakes revealed the anchorman making sexist remarks, is gripping the country amid speculation of political conspiracy behind the incident. Meloni, who became Italy’s first female prime minister a year ago when her right-wing Brothers of Italy party scored big in the country’s national elections, officially dumped Giambruno — her partner for a decade and the father of their young daughter (pictured above with Pope Francis) — last Friday via social media.

Regarding movie runtimes, Alexander Payne apparently likes short and lean and “sharklike” in their efficiency. IndieWire reports that the director of “The Holdovers” had some choice words about inflated runtimes of recent film releases at the Middleburg Film Festival last weekend.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore’s vintage TV series “Il Camorrista,” starring Ben Gazzara as one of the fiercest bosses of the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate, is being unearthed from the vault 37 years after the mobster himself quashed the show before it aired. “Il Camorrista” was shot in 1985 as part of an innovative production mounted by Italy’s glorious Titanus shingle and Silvio Berlusconi’s ReteItalia. The production comprised both a Tornatore feature film by the same title and the five-episode TV show.

Gen-Z‘s 10 favorite stars have been revealed via a survey and the results might be surprising.

BreAnna Bell After the AMPTP walked away from the negotiating table over a week ago, Ted Sarandos is hopeful that the upcoming conversations with SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday will lead to a suitable agreement for both parties. “I’m an optimist. I’m an eternal optimist.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beta Film has announced a half-dozen sales to European public broadcasters on high-end period drama “La Storia,” which is Italian pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show of the year and is world premiering at the Rome Film Fest. The sweeping eight-episode saga, set in Italy during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath, is based on a globally bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante, whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent James Franco will play a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in post-World War II Naples, where he fathers a child, in gritty Italian drama “Hey Joe.” Directed by Claudio Giovannesi (“Gomorrah” TV series, “Piranhas”), the film is now shooting in the southern port city.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran RAI exec Adriano De Maio has been trying to shake things up at the Italian state broadcaster since last May, when he was appointed head of film and drama. To contend with the unstoppable disruption caused by digital and streaming in Italy’s TV landscape, De Maio is trying to steer RAI toward programming that provides more cultural enrichment, while also catering to the youth demographic that drives traffic on the pubcaster’s RAI Play streaming platform — which has more than 23 million subscribers, way more than Netflix’s Italian customer base. As RAI faces possible budget cuts due to the government’s decision to lower its license fee [RAI’s current allocation for film and TV series was not immediately available], De Maio sat down with Variety in Rome to discuss his vision for the scripted content he’d like RAI to acquire for its viewers.

Danny DeVito has revealed there are plans in place for a Matilda reunion with lead star Mara Wilson. The two actors appeared together in the 1996 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, with DeVito as director. Now, DeVito has disclosed that there is a plan for he and Wilson to collaborate on Matilda in Concert, for which the duo will narrate the film over a live score by the composer David Newman.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Investment in original content production continues to grow in Italy where resources across all genres reached a total of €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) thanks to increased investments from U.S. streamers.

Anna Tingley Up until Thursday night, New York Film Festival had never once featured a TV show on its annual premiere lineup, so when Benny Safdie approached NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim with a new series he created alongside Nathan Fielder, the likelihood that it would get a big-screen premiere was low. But Lim gave it a chance, and after he finished the fifth episode he knew he had to figure out how to make something work.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix on Thursday morning unveiled Improv: 60 and Still Standing, a comedy special celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Improv comedy clubs, which will premiere globally on the streamer November 7th.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sky Italia is launching a high-profile documentary series with international ambitions titled “The Overlooked Serial Killer,” reconstructing a true-crime case that has gripped millions of Italians. The documentary investigates the connection between Elisa Claps, an Italian teenager who disappeared in 1993, and Heather Barnett, a British woman whose mutilated body was found in Bournemouth in 2002.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian distribution and production company Notorious Pictures is expanding into the TV series sphere by snapping up rights to buzzy literary property “Forbidden Notebook,” a 1952 novel by Italian-Cuban writer Alba de Céspedes that has been recently rediscovered and successfully republished in English. De Céspedes has been described by the New York Times as “a bestselling novelist and political activist in her native Italy” admired for her sensitive depictions of women whose recently rediscovered work “has lost none of its subversive force.” She is considered a source of inspiration for Elena Ferrante, the Italian writer with legions of fervent fans around the world and whose four “Neapolitan Novels” have been adapted into the long-running “My Brilliant Friend” TV series by Italy’s RAI and HBO.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s MIA Market, dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films, documentaries and more, kicked off Monday in the Eternal City’s 17th century Palazzo Barberini. There were some 2,300 registered industry execs on day one – roughly 300 of which are buyers – more than 120 selected projects on display, and plenty of panels.

More than a third of private hire taxi drivers in Greater Manchester are licensed by a council that operates around 80 miles away in Wolverhampton.

Billie Shepherd has detailed her close relationship with sister Sam Faiers, telling OK! the duo have 'no secrets' between one another. With a mere 11-month age gap between the sibling duo, Billie, 33, and Sam, 32, have often appeared on TV together, starting out on TOWIE together before later appearing on their former ITVBe show The Mummy Diaries. They now have a podcast together, with Billie telling us: "We do share parenting tips.

Rachel Zegler is standing up for Taylor Swift.

PinkPantheress has shared new single ‘Mosquito’ and has dropped an accompanying music video. Check it out below.The Bath-raised star – real name Victoria Walker – follows up from recent singles including ‘Boy’s A Liar’ and collaborations with the likes of Destroy Lonely, Skrillex and Troye Sivan, as well as contributing the dream-pop song ‘Angel’ to the Barbie soundtrack.Now, PinkPantheress has shared ‘Mosquito’ and its glitzy, Y2K-inspired music video.