Gianfranco Rosi on How His Doc About Pope Francis’ Travels ‘In Viaggio’ Is a ‘Map of the Human Condition’

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The life of global porn icon Rocco Siffredi is the subject of a new Netflix original series titled “Supersex,” which has started shooting in Rome. The seven-episode drama is freely inspired by the real life of Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. But, in an interesting career twist, Siffredi has also shot two arthouse pics, Catherine Breillat’s “Romance” and “Anatomy of Hell.” His Budapest-based Rocco Siffredi Prods. is a porn industry powerhouse. Siffredi was also the subject of the documentary “Rocco,” directed by French duo Thierry Demaiziere and Alban Teurlai, which screened at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 17th annual Rome Film Festival will fete James Ivory with a career honor, a mini retrospective and the Italian launch of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s personal new documentary “A Cooler Climate.” Ivory is expected in Rome to receive the award and present the doc about his life as a traveler that takes its cue from boxes of film the director shot during a life-changing trip to Afghanistan in 1960. The film premieres beforehand at the New York Film Festival. Rome’s Ivory mini-retrospective will comprise his films “Maurice”; “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; “The Remains of the Day”; and “A Room With a View.”

Ross Kelly was a familiar face from ITV's This Morning for those who used to watch in the 1990s. He joined as a cover presenter and co-hosted on Fridays during the period when the popular daytime show was presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan. Ross, now 61, left This Morning after 3 years and joined GMTV presenting alongside Fiona Phillips and Lorraine Kelly.

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.

All eyes are usually on the eccentric characters but the latest episode of The Masked Dancer saw Jonathan Ross in the spotlight. The ITV chat show host was back on the expert panel for more guessing alongside presenter Davina McCall, ex-Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse and former footballer Peter Crouch.

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.

Clayton Davis Bathroom stalls, showering marines and flashlights under the sheets encompass A24’s “The Inspection.” While the moving drama could catch the attention of progressive Academy members, others may find the honest subject matter too off-putting. A common denominator is the outstanding performances from Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union. As Ellis French, Pope takes the lead of Elegance Bratton’s moving directorial and writing debut “The Inspection,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The A24 film, inspired by true events, is a showcase for Pope and full of “Oscar-clip-worthy” scenes. We’ll see how the circuit treats the film, as Pope will be battling with bigger names such as Hugh Jackman and Colin Farrell for recognition.

Paola Nicole Marrero Rodríguez, known professionally as paopao, is a Puerto Rican Latin GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter leaving her mark on the music scene with her Reggaetón and Alternative Pop tracks.The rising star rose to prominence after signing her first record and publishing deal under RichMusic, in 2021. The same year she released her debut single, “pal sex,” and months later, her second single, “ascensor” featuring Omar Courtz, generated praise from renowned artists Sech and Dalex, among others.Poised to become the next big thing in Latin music, paopao dropped “tenemos que hablar” featuring iZaak, in 2022 and continued garnering more attention after releasing the all-female EP “hembrismo” featuring La Gabi, ARIA VEGA, Cami Da Baby, and Villano Antillano.The up-and-coming Latina artist is breaking the mold and leading a new women empowerment movement through her music; therefore, Budweiser included her as one of the seven females and eight Latin artists included in an NFT collection.

A powerful meditation on recent history, In Viaggio premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by previous Golden Lion winner Gianfranco Rosi, it follows the travels of Pope Francis, using mostly archival footage to paint not just a picture of the man, but of the modern world.

One doesn’t need to be religious to feel the impact of the words uttered by Pope Francis to never-ending crowds of faithful followers, a concept deeply understood by Gianfranco Rossi with “In Viaggio,” a decade-long chronicling of the travels of the head of the Catholic church across all corners of the world. Composed entirely of archival footage, the film grants rare access to the public life of the pontifical, not only from the elevated security of a pulpit but from the more democratic grounds of unpaved streets and vast public avenues.   The film opens with the following disclaimer: “In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his most important issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war.” These very same issues guide the work of Rossi, whose two latest documentaries – 2016’s Golden Bear-winning “Fire at Sea” and 2020’s “Notturno” – deal with the haunting ripples of the refugee crisis and the war in the Middle East (in fact, Rossi and Pope Francis came together after the pontiff visited the island of Lampedusa following a watch of “Fire at Sea”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Francesco Zippel’s Sergio Leone doc, which premieres on Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, is the first portrait of the Italian master made with full support of his children Raffaella and Andrea. Titled “Sergio Leone: The Man Who Invented America,” the high-profile doc is premiering in the Venice Classics section for docs on cinema. It features an impressive list of voices holding forth on what makes Leone special for them. Among these are: Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Giuseppe Tornatore, Frank Miller, Darren Aronofsky, Damien Chazelle and Robert De Niro (see clip). But aside from Leone’s visionary talent as a director what emerges is that as his career escalated from the so-called “Dollars Trilogy” to “Once Upon a Time in the West” through to his final masterpiece, “Once Upon a Time in America,” Leone’s life was steeped in two inextricably linked passions: film and family. 

Ben Stiller and Sean Penn are among 25 Americans who are permanently banned from entering Russia.

blacklist of 25 people, Senators Rick Scott, Mark Kelley, Pat Toomey, Kevin Kramer and Krysten Sinema were also barred from the countryThis isn’t the only thing the actors have in common, however, as both Penn and Stiller made trips to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year.Penn traveled to Ukraine to capture the crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for a Vice documentary and had a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Chris Cuomo also joined the actor in Ukraine in June as Penn worked on a “film showing the reality and helping the hurting with relief org CORE,” according to Cuomo’s Instagram.

Sean Penn and Ben Stiller today were among 25 “high-ranking officials, representatives of the business and expert communities, as well as cultural figures” banned from Russia today by that country’s foreign ministry.

J Balvin was able to get Pope Francis to pose for some very rare selfies!

The Pope and the Prince of Reggaeton.

Chris Rock addressed the Will Smith Oscars slap during his latest comedy show with Dave Chappelle in England. Rock and Chappelle began their joint tour at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Thursday where they both discussed being attacked while performing shows. "Did that s--t hurt?" Rock told the audience, according to The Times, who shared a review of the evening.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself. Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip (above) from the film, which premieres in Venice on Sept. 5. In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war. Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’s trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fuocoammare” (Fire At Sea, 2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi follows the Pope’s Stations of the Cross. “He sees what he sees, hears what he says,” the press notes point out, and interweaves archival footage of Francis’ travels with images taken by Rosi himself and recent historical events.