Andrea Pallaoro on Directing ‘Transparent’ Star Trace Lysette in ‘Monica’

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian producer Andrea Iervolino (“Waiting for the Barbarians”) has acquired a controlling stake in central London’s Mercato Metropolitano food market and teamed with British music producer David Tickle’s Tickle Entertainment on a doc series set there about global food culture. Iervolino, whose Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment (ILBE) company produces feature films including Bobby Moresco’s upcoming “Lamborghini,” is also the founder of innovative digital entertainment platform TaTaTu, a social media platform that uses a form of rewards points called TTU Coins. TaTaTu recently acquired a controlling stake in London’s Mercato Metropolitano from its founder Andrea Rasca who in 2016 established this pioneering community market as a space for social exchange and environmental sustainability. The Mercato is now being used as the location for an upcoming docu-series chronicling the journey of four chefs who sought refuge in the United Kingdom respectively from Syria, Namibia, Nepal, and Uzbekistan.

EXCLUSIVE: The prevalence of Korean projects heading to the U.S. continues.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Paolo Virzì (“Human Capital,” “Like Crazy”) is in Venice where his dystopic drama “Siccità,” which means drought in Italian, is premiering out-of-competition. The innovative pic, which features an A-list ensemble cast comprising Monica Bellucci, Sara Serraiocco (“Counterpart”) and Silvio Orlando (“The Young Pope”), is set amid a protracted drought caused by climate change in the Italian capital where the Tiber has dried up. Virzì spoke to Variety about how “Siccità” germinated during COVID-19 and was shot amid tight pandemic protocols. Excerpts. You worked with novelist and screenwriter Paolo Giordano on the concept and the script for this film. How did the collaboration start?

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent With “Chiara,” Susanna Nicchiarelli’s portrait of Saint Clare of Assisi – the 13th century saint born into a wealthy family who at age 18 became a nun after hearing St. Francis preach – the Italian director completes her trilogy of female biopics, segueing from “Nico, 1988” and “Miss Marx,” which both launched from Venice’s Horizons section. With “Chiara,” she makes the leap into the main Venice competition. Nicchiarelli spoke to Variety about what drew her to portraying this prototypical feminist and directing “My Brilliant Friend” star Margherita Mazzucco in the pic’s titular role. Excerpts. What drove you to want to tell us this story about St. Clare?Well, first of all, I was always passionate about Saint Francis. I have a very strong memory when I first saw Franco Zeffirelli’s “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.” I was at school when they showed it to us and this boy, this man, taking his clothes off in front of the Bishop. That was a very strong image. Francis’ battle speaks to us just as much today because it’s a battle for poverty, against social injustice. It’s about being on the side of the poor, of those who are different, and the injustices of a society in which very few have everything and then most have nothing. So, this was their battle. The medieval society was like that. It’s not so different from the way it is now.

 Day shared glimpses of all the upcoming treats awaiting fans from every corner of the Starfleet universe and allowed fans and peers a moment to pay tribute to the late, great Nichelle Nichols.The Los Angeles-based event, which was live-streamed for fans globally on various  platforms, featured appearances by stars from across the franchises, including 's Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, Jeri Ryan, Kate Mulgrew, Melissa Navia, Christina Chong and Rebecca Romijn.The excitement on the red carpet was nothing compared to the reverence with which stars reflected on the memory of the late actress known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original William Shatner-fronted  series.«She is really the reason why I feel so proud to be a part of this amazing franchise,» Hurd told ET. «When I was a young kid… my father was an actor and he knew that it was really important for his three brown girls to see themselves represented.

Star Trek Day. Celebrated each year on September 8, the date of the show’s original premiere, Star Trek Day pays homage to one of the most enduring works of sci fi storytelling in this or any other universe.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Prodigy are expanding their casts. Oscar nominee Carol Kane is set for a recurring role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Billy Campbell has joined the voice cast of animated series Prodigy. The news was announced Thursday as part of the global live-streamed Star Trek Day event.

“Star Trek,” the television series, was set in the 23rd century and followed the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they explored the galaxy.

Selma Blair with partner Sasha FarberWayne Brady with partner Witney Carson Sam Champion, with partner Cheryl Burke Charli D’Amelio with partner Mark Ballas Heidi D’Amelio with partner Artem Chigvintsev Jessie James Decker with partner Alan Bersten Trevor Donovan with partner Emma Slater  Daniel Durant  with partner Britt Stewart Teresa Giudice with partner Pasha Pashkov Vinny Guadagnino with partner Koko IwasakiCheryl Ladd with partner Louis van AmstelJason Lewis with partner Peta MurgatroyShangela with partner Gleb Savchenko Jordin Sparks with partner Brandon Armstrong  Gabby Windey with partner Val ChmerkovskiyHost Tyra Banks and co-host, and former mirrorball champ Alfonso Ribeiro will helm things this season, while Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough are all back at the judges table.The new season premieres live, Monday, Sept. 19, at 8 p.m.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “I see a lot of rich people here!” said Jodie Turner-Smith as she took to the stage to open the Venice Film Festival AmfAR gala and auction held Wednesday evening in the Arsenale, a former shipyard complex on the edge of the city’s Grand Canal. Urging guests to be generous, Turner-Smith, who looked stunning in a yellow corset top, reminded everyone that, “It’s easy to forget that AIDS still remains one of the world’s most serious health threats.”  Though undoubtedly lower key than the event held at Cannes, AmfAR Venice had its fair share of glamour and star power with Heather Graham, Patricia Clarckson, Marisa Tomei and Rachel Brosnahan among chairs. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Last year Andrea Scrosati – who is group COO and continental Europe CEO of Fremantle – was at Venice with two films. This year Fremantle’s got six pics launching from the Lido, three of them in competition, which is a larger contingent than any of the U.S. studios or streamers.  Fremantle’s business model, which involves a cluster of companies mostly across Europe that they either fully own or are majority investors in, has been bearing fruit on their film side. Their output has grown “from 8 to 32 delivered movies in two years,” Scrosati says.  And the multi-pronged company’s Venice lineup – which includes Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All,” Emanuele Crialese’s “L’Immensità,” and Joanna Hogg’s “The Eternal Daughter” – is a reflection of that.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent In Italian director Emanuele Crialese’s new drama “L’Immensità,” which is set in 1970s Rome, Penélope Cruz plays a mother of three who, while contending with a violent Italian husband, winds up in a psychiatric institution. “I don’t think my character is crazy at all,” Cruz said. “She is trapped in her family. Trapped in her home, in her body. In the situation in which she finds herself living. She doesn’t have a plan B. There is no escape,” she added. “She’s not crazy at all. She’s oppressed in many different ways. And she simply can’t take it anymore.

Trace Lysette arrives at the premiere of her new film Monica at the 2022 Venice Film Festival on Saturday (September 3) in Venice, Italy.

Transparent’s Trace Lysette stars in the Venice Competition title Monica, directed and co-written by Andrea Pallaoro, who returns to the Lido after his films Medeas and Hannah.

Andrea Pallaoro’s “Monica” is oblique in its depiction of characters in crisis, yet never obtuse. He and cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi shoot the film in the boxier Academy ratio, locking the film into a nearly permanent state of portraiture.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Over the course of three quietly devastating features, Italian-born, America-based art-house director Andrea Pallaoro (“Medeas,” “Hannah”) has shown just how inadequate words can be when it comes to expressing some of life’s most complicated emotions. In his latest, “Monica,” Pallaoro takes on the near-universal craving for parent-child connection, knowing full well that his two lead characters — a Midwestern trans woman and the uncomprehending mom who rejected her — won’t be able to say what one another most needs to hear. But that doesn’t mean they can’t reach some kind of unspoken understanding, recognizable to those with experience reading between the lines.

when Seven of Nine, an ex-Borg drone on the long road back to her humanity, was transported onto the wayward Intrepid class ship 25 years ago.To celebrate this milestone and the indelible mark the character left on Gene Roddenberry’s universe, ET is looking back at Ryan’s groundbreaking introduction and Seven’s journey to becoming one of the franchise’s most important stories. In ’s season three finale («Scorpion» Part I"), a game-changing cliffhanger teased a brand new era for Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and crew. As part of a peace agreement, the Borg offered a liaison to Voyager as the ship continued traversing the Delta quadrant.

When Trace Lysette got to Venice for the premiere of the Andrea Pallaoro-directed drama Monica, she learned that she becomes the first Trans actress to headline a competition film here. Lysette plays the title character, a Trans woman who comes home to care for the mother who rejected her years ago, The young woman has a lot of personal issues she is working through, but among the most frustrating is that the mental faculties of her mother (Patricia Clarkson) are failing along with her health. She doesn’t recognize her child, and Monica tries her best to build a bond as her caretaker. Lysette was a regular in the Amazon series Transparent, and she co-starred with Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in Hustlers. But this is her first leading role in a movie. We met at the Excelsior hotel for a Disruptors party thrown by Deadline, Thelios and Guillotine Vodka. It is clear that setting a milestone in Venice is not something Lysette takes lightly.

Alissa Simon Film Critic By ALISSA SIMON  Actress, producer and musician Trace Lysette, known for her recurring role as Shea on all five seasons of Amazon’s “Transparent,” and for her appearance alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in “Hustlers,” takes her career to a new level with a heart-rending turn in the title role of Venice competition title “Monica.”  • What drew you to this project? What stuck out to me most are the universal themes. A lot of people can relate to a loved one nearing the end of this physical life. Also, just the fact that families in general go through a lot together. There are strains on relationships, drama, humor, sadness… all of these things. This movie just happens to place a trans woman at the center of it all and we get to see it through her eyes. Which unfortunately is very rare and maybe even unheard of in film.