Shooting is under way for the documentary Nino, on Oscar-winning Italian composer Nino Rota, under Walter Fasano’s direction. The project is currently being filmed in Apulia, since Milan-born Rota spent part of his life in Bari. Nino will blend archival footage with interviews with prominent artists who either worked with Rota or were profoundly shaped by his music. South Korean director Park Chan-wook, Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, and seven-time Grammy-winning conductor and arranger Vince Mendoza are among the interviewees.

By the time of his death in 1979 at the age of 68, Rota had written music for more than 150 films, which included 16 of Federico Fellini’s movies, from La Strada and 8 ½ to Juliet of the Spirits and Amarcord, via La Dolce Vita. His work also included Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard and King Vidor’s War and Peace. Finally, he composed the iconic, Sicilian-inspired theme for The Godfather, with Part II earning him his only Academy Award.

Bari-born Walter Fasano is mostly known as an editor, having worked with a string of acclaimed directors, including Dario Argento, Ferzan Özpetek, Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo and, mostly, Luca Guadagnino. Fasano collaborated with the latter on I Am Love [+leggi anche:
recensione
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intervista: Luca Guadagnino - regista
scheda film] (which he also co-wrote), A Bigger Splash [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luca Guadagnino
scheda film], Call Me by Your Name [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Luca Guadagnino
scheda film], and the co-directed documentary Bertolucci on Bertolucci. In 2020, he directed his first solo project, Pino [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], a documentary on Italian artist Pino Pascali, which won the Italiana.doc competition at the 38th Turin Film Festival.

In his director’s statement, Fasano said: “Nino Rota’s music is so extraordinary that making a film about it is a simple gesture. You just have to make room for the music: this wonderful creative and expressive mystery is then embodied in the art and biographical story of a man who, from a young age, shows that he knows its deepest secrets.”

Nino is being produced by Mattia Guerra for Be Water Film, Filippo Sugar and Elisabetta Biganzoli for Sugar Play, Marco Colombo for Adler Entertainment, and Marco Morabito (Call Me by Your Name). Adler also serves as executive producer, while Be Water Film will handle the Italian distribution. The documentary is backed by RAI Documentari and is supported by the Apulia Film Fund. An international sales company is not yet attached.