Bellocchio, Moretti and Rohrwacher in competition at Cannes 2023

The films in competition at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival (16 to 27 May) have been announced. Three Italian films are contenders for the Palme d’Or.

Rapito, Marco Bellocchio

The first Italian film to be presented in competition at Cannes is Rapito, from Marco Bellocchio, who premiered Esterno Notte here last year. The film tells the story of the kidnap of little Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who was taken from his family by the Papal State in 1858 to be educated as a Catholic. Taken to Rome, despite the family’s pleas to have him back, the boy was placed in the care of Pope Pius IX.  While Edgardo is growing up a Christian, the Church’s temporal power is on the wane as the Savoy army conquers Rome.

Based on the book Il caso Mortara by Daniele Scalise, the film was written for the screen by Marco Bellocchio and Susanna Nicchiarelli. The cast includes Paolo Pierobon, Barbara Ronchi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Filippo Timi and Fabrizio Gifuni, with Enea Sala and Leonardo Maltese playing Edgardo Mortara as a child and young adult.

Rapito is an Italy-France-Germany coproduction, produced by IBC Movie, Kavac, Ad Vitam, Match Factory Productions, Rai Cinema, Arte. It will be theatrically distributed by 01 Distribution.

It was shot in Rome and in the region of Emilia-Romagna where locations included Bologna (interiors in Palazzo d'Accursio and exterior in piazza Maggiore), Roccabianca in the province of Parma (piazza Minozzi), and the synagogue of Sabbioneta in the province of Mantua.

Il sol dell’avvenire, Nanni Moretti

Il sol dell’avvenire by Nanni Moretti, also in competition, is an Italian-French coproduction produced by Sacher Film, Fandango, Le Pacte, Rai Cinema. The cast includes Mathieu Amalric, Barbora Bobulova, Nanni Moretti, Margherita Buy, Silvio Orlando. The film is set in the Fifties and Sixties in the world of circus and cinema and the 14 week shoot in Rome included locations at Cinecittà World (with sets created by Cinecittà) .

Il sol dell'avvenire. Trailer

La chimera, Alice Rohrwacher

Alice Rohrwacher brings to the Croisette her La Chimera, set in the 1980s and the clandestine world of the “tomb raiders” with a young English archaeologist (Josh O'Connor) involved in trafficking archaeological artefacts.  The film is a Italian-Swiss-French coproduction, produced by Tempesta, Amka Films Productions, Ad Vitam, Arte, Rai Cinema.

Locations included Tarquinia, Biera (province of Viterbo) and southern Tuscany. The cast also includes Carol Duarte, Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher.