Italian Summer Film Festivals Are Forging Ahead With Physical Editions

Netflix has hired Eleonora "Tinny" Andreatta, the head of drama at Italian public broadcaster Rai, as its new vp of Italian originals. She will join the streaming giant, which has been increasing its investment in originals in Italy and other countries, in July.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs Cannes kicks off its virtual market, the Venice Film Festival is firmly on track to hold its physical edition in September with plans for a real red carpet and a substantial, albeit slimmed down, lineup.The Palazzo del Cinema has now been reopened on the Lido, and fest staff are working from their offices.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPrior to the pandemic, British filmmaker Peter Chelsom (“Serendipity,” “Shall We Dance?,” “Hannah Montana”) shot an Italian-language movie titled “Security” based on the novel of the same name by U.S. author Stephen Amidon.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorNetflix has poached Eleonora “Tinny” Andreatta as its vice president of Italian original series after she had a distinguished 25-year career at Italian public service broadcaster Rai.Andreatta will take up her new role in July and will report to  Kelly Luegenbiehl, vice president of original series at Netflix in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Paul McCartney has criticised the Italian government for their “outrageous” decision to implement a policy that prevents music fans from receiving a full refund for Italian shows that have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.McCartney’s ‘Freshen Up’ tour was due to stop at a number of cities in Europe this summer, including Naples (June 10) and Lucca (June 13).

A post shared by GIEFFE IMMOBILIARE (@gieffetaurianova) on     A post shared by PizzaRè (@pizzare_rizziconi) on   Cinquefrondi's Mayor Michele Conia believes the mission to bring people into the town is one of hope, so much so he calls it “Operation Beauty.” “Finding new owners for the many abandoned houses we have is a key part of the Operation Beauty [mission] that I have launched to recover degraded, lost parts of town,” Conia told CNN.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPaul McCartney fiercely criticized the Italian live-music industry over its refund policy for his canceled 2020 concerts in a Facebook post that has apparently been deleted. McCartney was scheduled to perform in the Italian cities of Naples and Lucca this week but canceled the shows early last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Korean blockbuster Ashfallwill open this year's online-only Far East Film Festival (FEFF) withWilson Yip's Ip Man 4, Johnnie To’s musical and martial arts mash-upChasing Dream and Andrew Lau's action movie The Captainamong the big titles in the lineup. In total of 46 films from 8 countries feature in the lineup for the 22nd edition of FEFF that ordinarily takes place in thepicturesque northern Italian city of Udine but is moving online due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The CW has acquired an Italian thriller series starring Patrick Dempsey and is now shifting around its previously announced fall 2020-21 broadcast season schedule to accommodate it.

With most of the film festivals in the first half of 2020 either canceled or postponed already, the next big event on the calendar is the Venice Film Festival in early September. And up until now, the idea that the Italian event would continue as planned, even with COVID-19 still a major issue all around the world, was in doubt.

By Nick Vivarelli

The festival will run from September 2-12