The North-East as an ideal set for film and TV

The North East is gaining appeal as a set for television and film productions. Just look at the programming that accompanied the late summer and early autumn on RAI. The first television series to be aired was Brennero, set in Alto Adige and directed by Davide Marengo and Giuseppe Bonito, starring Elena Radonicich and the Veronese actor Matteo Martari. Then, Ninfa dormiente-I casi di Teresa Battaglia, which takes place in and around Udine, based on the novels by Friulian writer Ilaria Tuti, starring Elena Sofia Ricci. Finally came Stucky, directed by Valerio Attanasio, inspired by the novels by the Venetian Fulvio Ervas, starring Giuseppe Battiston and Barbora Bobulova. The inspector solves murder cases starting from the Treviso Police Headquarters and moving on to the countryside bathed by the Sile river, between a stop at the bar to gather information on the protagonists of the various cases and a glass of Prosecco.

TV productions have arrived in the North East in the wake of the film industry, which had already tested the variety and richness of the settings offered by the landscapes and cities of the Triveneto, in addition to the always coveted Venice, where the International Film Festival is celebrated every year at the end of August. Only a couple of years ago Diabolik 2 - Ginko all'attacco!, directed by the Manetti Bros, was filmed in Friuli Venezia Giulia, and almost at the same time the capital of the Veneto region was once again the absolute protagonist in the maxi production of Assassinio a Venezia, signed by Kenneth Branagh, which brought the stories of Hercule Poirot back to the big screen. In the enhancement of the macro-region as an audiovisual set, the regional film commissions play a fundamental role, offering facilities and non-repayable contributions. The Veneto Foundation has allocated up to 353,000 euro to projects that participated in the open calls for proposals closed in June and just ten days ago, with an availability of 2 million euro each. In addition, it strengthened the location scouting network that takes productions around the territory. A policy that has paid off.

It so happened that at last month's Rome Film Festival, the commission, led by Luigi Bacialli, brought seven films set in whole or in part in the region, 'a goal never achieved before,' commented the president. These included Storia di una notte by Paolo Costella, filmed in Cortina (produced by Tramp and Rai Cinema) and Duse, the Greatest by Sonia Bergamasco, which retraces the life of the 'divine' between Asolo, Chioggia and Venice (Propaganda Italia), both made with regional contributions. And again Berlinguer. La Grande Ambitizione by Andrea Segre, co-produced by Padua-based Jolefilm, dedicated to the historic leader of the Italian Communist Party, and Ago by Giangiacomo De Stefano co-produced by Verona-based Kplusfilm on the life of motorbike champion Giacomo Agostini. The Alice nella città section (dedicated to the new generations) featured A Sudden Case of Christmas by Peter Chelsom, filmed in Cadore, produced by Notorious, with the contribution of the Veneto Region; Squali by Alberto Rizzi, produced by Magenta di Negrar di Vapolicella, which has Lessinia as its set; and Still Here by Suranga Katugampala, a director from Verona. In the meantime, work is underway on the possibility of setting Cliffhangel 2, starring Lily James and Pierce Brosnam, in the Dolomites, an opportunity not to be missed that would also bring a formidable induced activity.

Also attracting filmmakers to the area are the local production companies, about sixty in Veneto alone. K Plus Film of Verona, one of the largest, with a branch also in Trieste, was founded in 2007 by Nicola Fedrigoni, sole director and executive producer. In the beginning, its commitment as a service location was prevalent. "In this capacity we still assist foreign productions coming to Northern Italy: we find hotels, places to shoot, technical workers, stagehands, extras. We had this role in the making of 007 Quantum of Solance and 007 Spectre. I can say that I brought James Bond - Daniel Craig to Lake Garda,' says Fedrigoni. With this role, K Plus Film also celebrated at the Venice Film Festival the debut of Alfonso Cuarón's American series Disclaimer with Cate Blanchett, an international success for Apple TV+ audiences.

But there are also many successes as a production company. In 2017, for example, the La Scala company promoted the feature film Finché c'è prosecco c'è speranza, directed by Antonio Padovan, in which Battiston made his debut in the role of Stucky. In July, it financed (with a budget of around 1.6 million, ed.) L'invenzione di noi due, based on the novel of the same name by the Veronese writer Matteo Bussola, directed by Corrado Ceron, starring Lino Guanciale and Silva D'Amico, shot entirely in the city of Juliet with the contribution of the Region and the support of the Veneto Film Commission. In production is the docufilm on the La Scala comic-strip artist Milo Manara. Also in the pipeline is the film Non è la fine del mondo (It's not the end of the world), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by writer Alessia Gazzola, for which K Plus Film was awarded regional funding. "We will shoot almost everything between Veneto and Verona and it will be a great challenge because the novel is set in Rome. We will show that our territory offers great opportunities,' he concludes.