6 days ago
EXCLUSIVE: In nan aftermath of their Cannes Best Director winning Fatherland, Italian-based producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli and their Our Films banner are teaming pinch Oscar nominated and Cannes winning filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher connected nan characteristic return of Italo Calvino’s 1957 caller The Baron successful nan Trees.
The UTA repped Rohrwacher will accommodate and nonstop nan Viareggio Prize winning book which follows a young Baron, small Cosimo, who is bulled by his older sister and tired of his distinguished role. He decides to climb a character and ne'er group ft connected nan crushed again. There’s only been 1 erstwhile adjustment of nan famed Italian writer Calvino’s work, that being nan 1969 movie, The Nonexistent Knight directed by Pino Zac.
Rohrwacher, who was Oscar nominated successful nan 2023 live-action shorts class for nan Disney+ title Il Pupille, is presently successful accumulation connected nan characteristic adjustment of Audrey Niffenegger’s bestselling novel Three Incestuous Sisters with Dakota Johnson, Saoirse Ronan, Jessie Buckley and Josh O’Connor starring. Of her Cannes canon, she helmed 2011’s Heavenly Body which premiered astatine Director’s Fortnight, 2014’s The Wonders which won nan Grand Prix, 2017’s, Happy arsenic Lazzaro which delivered her nan fest’s champion screenplay prize, arsenic good arsenic 2023’s in-competition La Chimera starring O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini. Last year, Rohrwacher won an European Film Academy Achievement successful World Cinema.
The Mediawan owned Our Films continues to beryllium a destination for auteurs making overseas connection and English-speaking films and TV bid for a world audience. For a U.S. distributor, nan black-and-white Thomas Mann biopic Fatherland would beryllium highly risky, however, Our Films moving successful conjunction nether their recently re-upped financing and distribution woody pinch Mubi, minimizes downside successful an it-takes-a-village approach, attaching myriad European overseas partners who tin capitalize nan task successful their respective territories (many sold by Mubi’s Match Factory).
On Pawlikowski’s 3x Oscar nominated achromatic and achromatic 2018 characteristic Cold War, nan filmmaker’s homeland of Poland was nan highest grossing territory successful reported grosses pinch $4.8M, followed by France pinch $2.7M, Spain $1.5M, UK astatine $1.4M, Italy astatine $1.3M and Netherlands astatine $1.2M. U.S. was nan 2nd highest grossing territory down Poland pinch $4.5M.
“We’re trying to maximize nan abstraction for specialty movies,” Mieli tells Deadline, “The extremity is to scope nan circumstantial target assemblage successful each country.”
“We person to find solutions.” says Gianani astir mounting autuer overseas pics successful today’s fierce theatrical and streaming ecosystem, “We’re pragmatic and find financial solutions and pinch Mubi we invented a exemplary that didn’t beryllium before.”
Our Films isn’t conscionable a specified span financier, alternatively they find material, create it intimately pinch nan filmmaker and scribes (the producing duo person a penchant for bestselling literate novels having catapulted Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend into a world HBO Max hit) earlier taking it retired to different financial and producing partners, sometimes wrong nan Mediawan empire. Our Films keeps an equity stake.
In nan lawsuit of Fatherland, Our Films had a history pinch nan Cannes-winning Pawlikowski. He co-penned nan book for nan 2024 Cannes title Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie pinch nan pic’s head Kirill Serebrennikov. In addition, Gianani and Mieli were progressive successful shepherding nan filmmaker’s characteristic film, The Island, nevertheless that accumulation was dashed owed to nan 2023 U.S. SAG and WGA strikes.
The duo sent Pawlikowski Colm Tóibín’s curriculum vitae of Thomas Mann, The Magician.
“After we publication nan book, nan first personification we thought of was Pawel,” said Gianani, “He publication nan book successful 2 days.”
“With Limonov, he turned a ample curriculum vitae into a awesome script. His expertise to synthesize complexity is amazing,” says Gianani connected why Pawlikowski was nan correct head for nan IP.
Pawlikowski initially turned down nan opportunity to adapt the book into a full-on biographical movie of Mann’s life. However, he was inspired by 1 peculiar section – Mann’s return to Germany successful 1949 pinch his spitfire and worldly girl Erika (played by Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller successful nan pic). Pawlikowski proceeded to re-imagine nan arena arsenic a five-day roadworthy trip, and was assisted by Henk Handloegten, to manner a very individual and mostly fictional story.
Our Films past brought nan German accumulation institution Nine Hours connected committee and invited Ewa Puszczyńska of nan Polish institution Extreme Emotions, Pawlikowski’s long-time producer, to subordinate nan project. The determination was subsequently made to sprout nan movie successful Poland. Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2 and Lorenzo Gangarossa of Circle 1 completed nan line-up of producing collaborators.
At that stage, Our Films signed a statement to create nan book and began moving connected nan wide financing building of nan film. Around nan aforesaid time, Our Films had conscionable entered into a financing and distribution pact pinch Mubi. Together, they worked intimately to combine nan financing and move nan task guardant successful a very short timeframe. Fatherland is eyeing a theatrical merchandise successful nan adjacent early successful Poland pinch a North American front sometime successful nan autumn timed to awards season.
Our Films’ adjacent task pinch Mubi is nan characteristic Let Love In starring Luca Marinelli and Charlotte Vandermeersch from 2022 Cannes Jury Prize winning The Eight Mountains filmmaker Felix van Groeningen. That pic is mostly an Italian-Belgin co-production.
Other caller Our Films projects see nan HBO Max Italian bid Portobello from filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. The bid tells nan communicative of Enzo Tortora, nan celebrated big of nan tv programme Portobello, who was accused by immoderate for being portion of a Camorra statement dedicated to supplier trafficking. Our Films besides has Feel My Voice, the Italian adjustment of France’s La Famille Bélier
Our Films precocious renewed their financing and distribution statement pinch Mubi which was first inked successful 2025. Paris-based Entourage Ventures has besides teamed pinch Our Films to put successful movies they nutrient successful collaboration pinch Mubi.
