14/09/2016 - After Gli ultimi saranno ultimi, the director returns to comedy with a film that delves into our dependence on social networks, produced by Italian International Film with Rai Cinema

Actors Alessandro Gassmann and Marco Giallini

Monday 12 September saw the start of the shoot for the new film by Massimiliano Bruno, Beata ignoranza (lit. “Blissful Ignorance”), in Rome. For his fifth effort behind the camera, the actor-director is once again working with actors Alessandro Gassman (who starred in Viva l’Italia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and the more dramatic Gli ultimi saranno ultimi [+see also:
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trailer
making of
film profile]) and Marco Giallini (Confusi e felici [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) in what is being billed as an entertaining comedy about a searingly topical problem: our dependence on social networks.

Gassmann and Giallini (who are forming a double act on set once again, following Edoardo Falcone's Se Dio vuole [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) play two high-school teachers who have a love-hate relationship with each other, and who wonder about the real benefits of social networks: is it truly about communication or just sharing one's shallowness? The two teachers have differing points of view on the matter: one is totally au fait with modern technology, while the latter is an old-fashioned man who is a fan of the “olden days”. And so, between hilarious gags and deep reflection, the two teachers will end up trading places and swapping lives with each other to support their own arguments.

“The idea for the film came from a post I wrote four years ago, when I already felt I was too 'social'; but I never imagined how it would blow up so soon afterwards,” states Bruno. “So I thought that it would be fun to portray this huge change in global society, and I needed two great actors to do that.” Gassmann and Giallini are flanked by fellow cast members Valeria Bilello, Carolina Crescentini and Teresa Romagnoli.

Beata ignoranza is being produced by Fulvio and Federica Lucisano for Italian International Film with Rai Cinema, and will be distributed in Italian theatres by 01 Distribution next winter.

(Translated from Italian)