– Set in the 17th century and inspired by true events, the Tuscan filmmaker’s new movie starring Pierfrancesco Favino and Silvio Orlando will be presented Out of Competition
Pierfrancesco Favino in Dio ride
Screening out of competition, Dio ride, the new film written and directed by Giovanni Veronesi (responsible for The King’s Musketeers, Manual of Love, and Per amore, solo per amore, and awarded the Nastro d’Argento for his documentary, La valanga azzurra), has been selected as the closing film at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (running 2 – 12 September), under the aegis of Alberto Barbera. The film’s world premiere is scheduled for Saturday 12 September in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande, at the end of the awards ceremony.
Set in the 17th century and loosely inspired by true events, Dio ride follows the story of Friar Leopoldo da Casamacchia, a preacher who wins over thousands of worshippers by delivering the Gospel in the vernacular and promoting the idea of a God who’s close to people and who’s even able to laugh with them. But the friar’s growing popularity attracts the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities, who entrust the case to Cardinal Maculani, the most notorious inquisitor of his time. What starts out as a trial gradually turns into a confrontation destined to challenge beliefs and certainties.
The film stars Pierfrancesco Favino (awarded the Best Actor Volpi Cup for Padrenostro and the Best Actor David di Donatello for The Traitor, and seen in Venice last year in My Tennis Maestro) and Silvio Orlando (the winner of the Volpi Cup for Giovanna’s Father, the Best Actor David di Donatello for The Caiman and The Inner Cage, and recently seen in Antartica – Quasi una fiaba). They’re joined by Alma Noce, Francesco Gheghi, Maurizio Lombardi, Paolo Rossi, and Carlo Cecchi as Pope Innocent X.
“The invitation to the Venice Film Festival surprised and flattered me. I’m happy – there, I’ve said it,” commented Veronesi. Alberto Barbera, for his part, underlined how the film represents “a successful combination of irony and lightness applied to a traditionally serious subject,” evoking “the best tradition of a certain kind of Italian cinema.”
The screenplay was penned by Giovanni Veronesi, Nicola Baldoni, Gianluca Bernardini and Nicola Deorsola, in collaboration with Paolo Portone and Jean Jacques Ilunga. Cinematography is by Maurizio Calvesi (responsible for The Illusion, La casa degli sguardi, to name some of his most recent works) and editing by Patrizio Marone (The Children’s Train).
Dio ride is produced by Indiana Production (a Vuelta company), PiperFilm and Ogi Film in collaboration with Netflix. The film’s producers are Fabrizio Donvito, Benedetto Habib, Marco Cohen and Daniel Campos Pavoncelli for Indiana Production, and Massimiliano Orfei, Luisa Borella and Davide Novelli for PiperFilm.
The film will be released in Italian cinemas on 29 October, distributed by PiperFilm, who are also managing world sales through PiperPlay.
(Translated from Italian)
