01/07/2022 - The director has kicked off filming on his new film about Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy raised as a Catholic under the care of Pope Pius IX

Following the success of his highly personal documentary Marx Can Wait [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and his TV series exploring the Moro Affair entitled Exterior Night [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Marco Bellocchio
series profile], Marco Bellocchio is stepping back behind the cameras for his 25th feature film: Kidnapped [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The 82-year-old Piacenza-born filmmaker has slammed the first clapperboard in Roccabianca (Parma) on his new work based on the story of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who was taken away from his real family in 1858 in order to be raised as a Catholic under the care of Pope Pius IX.

Produced by IBC Movie (Beppe Caschetto) and Kavac Film (Simone Gattoni), alongside RAI Cinema in co-production with Ad Vitam Production (France) and Match Factory Productions (Germany), the film will star Paolo Pierobon (recently seen in The Land of Sons [+see also:
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film profile], Welcome Venice [+see also:
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interview: Andrea Segre
film profile] and The King of Laughter [+see also:
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interview: Mario Martone
film profile]), Barbara Ronchi (gracing Settembre [+see also:
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film profile] and Sulle nuvole this year), Fausto Russo Alesi (who previously starred in Exterior Night and The Traitor [+see also:
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Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile], as well as in The Catholic School [+see also:
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interview: Stefano Mordini
film profile] last year), Filippo Timi (previously Benito Mussolini in Vincere [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Cannes 2009 Marco Bellocc…
interview: Filippo Timi - actor
film profile], recently seen in The Invisible Thread [+see also:
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film profile] and in Cannes competitor The Eight Mountains [+see also:
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interview: Felix van Groeningen & Char…
film profile]) and Fabrizio Gifuni (Aldo Moro in Exterior Night, also featuring in La scuola cattolica last year). The cast further includes Enea Sala (who plays Edgardo Mortara as a small child) and Leonardo Maltese (who plays him as an older boy).

The film’s screenplay comes courtesy of Marco Bellocchio and Susanna Nicchiarelli (the director of Miss Marx [+see also:
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interview: Susanna Nicchiarelli
film profile] and Nico, 1988 [+see also:
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interview: Susanna Nicchiarelli
film profile]) in collaboration with writer Edoardo Albinati (the author of The Catholic School, on which Stefano Mordini’s movie of the same name is based) and Daniela Ceselli, with historical advice from Pina Totaro. Photography is entrusted to Francesco Di Giacomo (Exterior Night, Martin Eden [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile]), set design to Andrea Castorina, costumes to Sergio Ballo and Daria Calvelli, and editing to Francesca Calvelli.

Kidnapped will be shot in various locations in the Emilia Romagna region (an area which is backing the film, alongside the region’s Film Commission), as well as in Rome and Paris. Filming is due to wrap in September, with the movie scheduled for distribution in Italian cinemas courtesy of 01 Distribution. 

(Translated from Italian)