Friday 26 September saw filming begin in Otranto, Apulia, on actress Stefania Rocca’s directorial debut, L’ora di tutti. Written by the director in league with Federico Calamante, the screenplay is based on Maria Corti’s novel of the same name about the Turkish sacking of Otranto in 1480 and, according to the production notes, the film “reinterprets the text, lending it a timeless air which foregrounds the strength of these communities who refuse to yield to the stronger side”.

Published in 1962, Maria Corti’s novel is divided into five chapters which follow the ups and downs of just as many characters. Each episode depicts a different phase of the battle for Otranto, from the arrival of the Turks through to the siege, and from the martyrdom of the citizens of Otranto to the city’s eventual liberation.

"I worked on emotions”, Stefania Rocca explains, “following them without temporal or spatial narrative barriers and continuing - as I did with the first stage play I directed - with an experimental approach which allows me to blend different languages together, which I’ve explored in depth over my career and which now feels like a part of me. For this reason, I like to break down the borders between cinema, theatre, dance and music, freely using the expressive means which, in my mind, are most suitable for telling the small stories behind great upheavals, in an emotional rather than didactic way”.

Success came to Stefania Rocca in 1997 thanks to her role as young, blue-haired hacker Naima in Gabriele Salvatores’ Nirvana [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], which was followed by Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr Ripley, Giorgio Treves’ Rosa and Cornelia, which earned her the Italian Golden Globe for Best Female Newcomer in 2001, Alessandro D’Alatri’s If By Chance and Cristina Comencini’s Don’t Tell [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], with the latter two performances winning her nominations at the David di Donatello Awards. In 2023, Rocca made her directorial debut on stage with La madre di Eva.

The cast of L’ora di tutti stars Alice Pagani (Non mi uccidere [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]), Simone Coppo (The Story of My Wife [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Ildikó Enyedi
fiche film], La seconda via), Eleonora De Luca (The Invention of Snow [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
interview : Vittorio Moroni
fiche film]), Ignazio Oliva (recently seen in The New Pope [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Paolo Sorrentino
fiche série] and Padre Pio [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Abel Ferrara
fiche film]) and Giulia Petrungaro, alongside Alessio Boni, Dalila De Marco Lorenzo Scalzo, Vincenzo Palazzo and Elena Micchiché, with additional appearances by Timofej Andrijashenko and Teatro alla Scala ballerina Nicoletta Manni.

L’ora di tutti is being produced by Stefania Rocca herself together with Ora One Production and Louis Nero Film. The film will be shot exclusively in Salento.