Since 27 February, shooting has been underway in Turin on Duccio Chiarini’s new feature, Un eroe italiano. The Florence-born director’s third work of fiction after Short Skin [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Duccio Chiarini
fiche film] (screened in Venice’s Biennale College Cinema section and in the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus line-up) and The Guest [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Duccio Chiarini
fiche film] (screened on Locarno’s Piazza Grande) is produced by Marica Stocchi for Rosamont in league with RAI Cinema.

Written by Giulia Gianni (Attenti al gorilla [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Nevermind [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film]) and Duccio Chiarini, in collaboration with Yousuf Saeid and Paola Rota, Un eroe italiano stems from an idea suggested by the former. Known as MC Swat, Saeid arrived in Italy eight years ago after being forced to leave Libya because of his provocative rapping style. Taken aback by racism and pitying attitudes towards migrants, Yousuf decided to pitch a story for a film to Rosamont which would finally tell the tale of an imperfect, arrogant migrant, because “migrants are always seen as victims or as a threat, never as human beings”.

Un eroe italiano stars Enrico Tijani (of the TV series The Sea Beyond) and Andrea Pennacchi (The Last One For the Road [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Francesco Sossai
fiche film], Primavera [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Damiano Michieletto
fiche film], The Great Ambition [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Andrea Segre
fiche film]). Tijani plays Aigo, a young migrant who has been in Italy for a while and who dreams of leaving, just as soon as he obtains the necessary documentation. He’ll do anything he can to get hold of it, even carrying out a heroic act. Pennacchi steps into the shoes of Antonio, a retired Carabinieri colonel, a widower and a misanthrope who’s disappointed with life, angry at the world and at odds with his daughter. Leaning into the most obvious clichés, he’s constantly looking for someone to take it all out on. An unpredictable and madcap encounter between these two characters who are united by loneliness and anger, forces Aigo and Antonio to challenge the prejudices that have guided them thus far and to finally open their hearts to other people. The cast also includes Valentina Romani (A Brighter Tomorrow [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Un bacio [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]) and Iaia Forte (twice nominated for a David di Donatello award and recently seen in Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Gianni Di Gregorio
fiche film]).

“For Rosamont, bringing this comedy to life is like writing the happy ending to a fairy tale,” enthuses Marica Stocchi. “Yousuf Saeid’s desire to tell the story of an ill-behaved migrant springs from a wish to portray a fragile, flawed human being, without moralising, and with plenty of humour. No one is better equipped than Duccio Chiarini to elevate this delicate and entertaining tale through poetry, respect and intelligence”.

Un eroe italiano is being made with the support of the PR FESR Piemonte 2021-2027 – “Piemonte Film TV Fund” call for submissions, with backing from the Film Commission Torino Piemonte and the Fondo Regionale per l’Audiovisivo del FVG. Filming will take place in Turin over a total of seven weeks.