Rome-born filmmaker and comedian Svevo Moltrasio’s debut, titled Gli ospiti [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], is set to enter production this month. Born in Rome in 1980, before embarking on the making of his first feature, Moltrasio worked on several shorts and wrote for several film magazines. He moved to Paris in 2009. There, he created the successful web series Ritals, in which he also played the lead role alongside fellow expat Federico Iarlori and France’s Quentin Darmon. In 2017, he wrote a book about his life experiences in Paris titled Parigi senza ritorno, sold by Italian publisher Sperling & Kupfer and reprinted in 2022, after Moltrasio moved back to Rome.

Penned by Moltrasio, Gli ospiti is set entirely in a farmhouse in the countryside outside of Rome. In detail, the picture follows ten characters aged between 30 and 40, most of whom are friends with each other. Initially intending to organise an evening gathering to defuse some tension that has arisen recently, a number of unexpected events will literally pit the lead characters “one against all”, “all against one” and “each against everyone”.

Ritals trio Moltrasio, Iarlori and Darmon star alongside Leonardo Bocci, Giulia Bolatti, Chiara Tomei, Paola Moscelli, Giorgia Narcisi, Simona Di Bella and Federico Lima Roque. Jheison Garcia is attached as the project’s DoP. Principal photography will begin on 6 March and will wrap on 24 March.

The €102,000 budget was gathered through a successful crowdfunding campaign, which ran from 2 November-31 December 2022. Speaking about the financing of his film, Moltrasio told Cineuropa: “By choosing the self-financing route, our goal was to overcome some ostracism and reluctance present among Italy’s main production companies. Even though I’ve been working in close contact with these firms over the years, and despite the fact that they’ve been in touch with me looking for new series or film ideas, I never managed to convince them to embark on one of my projects.

“During the crowdfunding campaign, the audience response was massive and incredibly affectionate, and we ended up going beyond our wildest predictions, thus dispelling the – often truthful – myth that web audiences are not interested in seeing their stars working with other formats or media. [...] Despite some distribution companies showing an interest in our script, for once, I decided to have a good rough cut before showing them my work. Our hope is that one of these [players] will take a punt on our project, in particular supporting its theatrical distribution. Otherwise, we’ll be ready to look for alternative, independent paths, just as we did with the production [funding].”

Commenting on his vision, he added: “Artistically speaking, I have tried to remain coherent with my style, and what I like doing and seeing on screen. It’s a fun comedy, even though it doesn’t aim to elicit laughter, but it focuses on pacing and building up a specific plot. I aim to make a type of cinema which combines a pleasant viewing experience and a taste for entertainment with multilayered, unpredictable readings, while respecting the audience but also asking them to take up a challenge.”

Gli ospiti is being produced by Svevo Moltrasio and Simone Bracci for Italy’s Renaissance Produzioni. The release date is yet to be disclosed.