10/07/2023 - Based on a certain time in the life of fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro, the new movie by the authors behind Salvo sees Toni Servillo and Elio Germano working on set together for the very first time

Actors Toni Servillo (© Fabrizio de Gennaro/Cineuropa) and Elio Germano (© Dario Caruso/Cineuropa)

Filming has wrapped on Iddu, the new film by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, which revolves around the time spent in hiding by Matteo Messina Denaro, the mafioso linked to the massacres which unfolded in Italy in the early Nineties (killing judges Falcone and Borsellino, to name but two of their victims), who was considered to be one of the ten most sought-after fugitives in the world and whom the police had been hunting for thirty years, before they finally captured him in January this year in a private hospital in Palermo.

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The movie is toplined by two of the most popular actors in Italian film today - Toni Servillo (recently seen in Casanova’s Return [+see also:
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This third feature film by the two Palermo-born directors (after the award-winning works Salvo [+see also:
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interview: Fabio Grassadonia and Anton…
interview: Sara Serraiocco
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making of
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Written by Grassadonia and Piazza themselves, and loosely based on a specific period in the life of Matteo Messina Denaro, Iddu speaks of the world which whirls recklessly around the mafioso and protects the tragic and farcical mystery of his prolonged absence; a world where risks and existential crises never yield the expected results.

“In Italy’s rich criminal history, Matteo Messina Denaro and his thirty-year absence are a one-off”, the directors insist. “The details which emerged from investigations and reports over the years, gave us an opportunity to drill down into his enigmatic personality and to shed light on the wide-ranging network of relationships which his invisible presence fostered. In our film, the fugitive is central to a dizzying whirlwind of characters who, in the sleep of reason, chase dreams which always end up turning into nightmares. Tragic and ridiculous nightmares”.

Starring alongside Servillo and Germano are Daniela Marra (of the series Exterior Night [+see also:
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interview: Pierfrancesco Favino
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The film’s photography comes courtesy of Luca Bigazzi (the winner, to date, of seven David di Donatello awards and eight Nastri d’argento), while editing is by Paola Freddi, set design by Gaspare De Pascali, costumes by Andrea Cavalletto, and casting by Maurilio Mangano. The movie’s original music will be composed by Colapesce, who very recently scooped (alongside Dimartino) the Italian Foreign Press Golden Globe for La primavera della mia vita [+see also:
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(Translated from Italian)