Campania has always been a special place in the hearts of film and audiovisual productions. After generating hype with multi-award-winning success stories of the likes of Love and Bullets and Naples in Veils, which was filmed entirely in the Parthenopean capital, or Cinderella the Cat, the dark animated fairy-tale set in the shadow of Vesuvius that floored the Venice Film Festival, Campania continues to be a factory for future successes.
And of course the funding made available by the Campania Region, including through the COP 2014-2020 Fund, the ‘2017 Cinema Plan’ grants, and support from the Campania Region Film Commission, have given life-blood to the sector.
Filming is about to wrap in Ischia on the highly anticipated drama series The Neapolitan Novels, a TV adaptation of the four novels in Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend saga. Filming began in 2017 and has taken place in Ischia, Caserta and Naples, among other places, involving over 150 actors and 5,000 extras. The 1950s Luzzatti district, where the two protagonists Lila Cerullo and Elena “Lenù” Greco spend their childhood, was meticulously reconstructed in the suburbs of Caserta, in the abandoned industrial area where Saint Gobain used to be based. 20,000 m2 of sets were built in over 100 days, including 14 small apartment buildings, 5 interior sets, one church, and a tunnel. Naples exteriors featured include Piazza del Plebiscito, the Galleria Principe di Napoli, Via dei Tribunali and the ancient Bourbon San Vincenzo Pier. Elena and Lila, who are played by young newcomers Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti, and then by Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace as adults, were chosen during a casting session that lasted eight months and auditioned almost 9,000 children and 500 adults. As well as receiving assistance from the FCRC, the production received funding from the Campania Region (through the COP 2014-2020 Fund).
Other sets currently involved in filming include those of the fourth season of Gomorrah, with the deceased Ciro ‘the Immortal’ played by Marco D’Amore making his directorial debut behind the camera, in the Vele di Scampia.
Then there’s 5 è il numero perfetto by cartoonist Igort, produced by Propaganda Italia, with its star-studded cast featuring Toni Servillo, Carlo Buccirosso and Valeria Golino, which has received funding from the Campania Region’s 2017 Cinema Plan.
Palomar is on set in the Region with La Banda by Claudio Giovannesi, a film adaptation of Roberto Saviano’s book La paranza dei bambini, and La vita segreta di Maria Capasso (a Mad Entertainment executive production) by Salvatore Piscichelli starring Luisa Ranieri, a melodramatic noir which has received funding from the Campania Region COP 2014 – 2020 Fund).
In Salerno filming is set to begin on The King – Attenti al gorilla by Luca Miniero, a Wildside production starring Frank Matano and Cristiana Capotondi.
Last but not least, the creative team behind Cinderella the Cat, headed up by Alessandro Rak, is already working on their next feature film, A skeleton story. This project is also being produced by Mad Entertainment and has received funding from the Campania Region (COP 2014-2020 Fund).