Cannes Title ‘Nostalgia,’ Locarno Film ‘Delta’ Sell Wide for Italy’s True Colours (EXCLUSIVE)

Italy’s True Colours has sold Mario Martone’s Naples-set Cannes competition drama “Nostalgia” to Curzon Film for the U.K. and Ireland, among other new territories.

The deal, negotiated by True Colours sales manager Francesca Tiberi and Curzon acquisitions executive Eleonora Pesci, marks the first partnership between the companies.

At the Italian Screenings market event recently held in Lecce, Southern Italy, the Rome-based sales company also sealed fresh deals on several other films, including pre-sales on upcoming Locarno title “Delta,” which is a revenge drama with a contemporary Western vibe.

Martone’s “Nostalgia,” which has been praised by Variety critic Guy Lodge as the prolific Italian auteur’s “most rewarding film in years,” stars Pierfrancesco Favino as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back, he is caught up in memories of a distant life spent in his hometown, as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him.

“Nostalgia,” which has performed relatively well at the sagging Italian box office, was also sold at the Italian Screenings to Germany (MFA+), Sweden (Njuta Film), and Austria (Polyfilm). True Colours has now closed sales to more than 20 territories on the title and is in advanced talks for a U.S. deal, according to chief Gaetano Maiorino.

In Lecce, True Colours also kicked off pre-sales on “Delta,” directed by emerging helmer Michele Vannucci (“Il Più Grande Sogno”) in which the delta of Italy’s Po river becomes the setting for a Western-style clash between poachers and fishermen.

The film features characters played by A-list Italian actors Alessandro Borghi (“Devils”) and Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Traitor”).

“Delta” was sold to Koba Films for France and Paradiso Filmed Entertainment for Benelux ahead of its Locarno Piazza Grande premiere on Aug. 7.

True Colours also closed sales on “Perfect Strangers” director Paolo Genovese’s new dramedy “The First Day of My Life,” which was picked up by Aurora Film (Poland), Vertigo Media (Hungary) and Film Europe (Czech Republic and Slovakia).

 

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