Disney+ has greenlit The Lions of Sicily, an Italian series based on Stefania Auci’s The Florios of Siciliy from Paolo Genovese.
20.06.2022 - 17:21 / thewrap.com
arrested in Italy over the weekend on charges of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury, according to local reports. An unidentified woman claims Haggis, 70, raped her over multiple days in the town of Ostuni, where he was scheduled to hold a series of master classes at Allora Fest this week, according to Corriere della Serra.
The local film festival has canceled his appearances and distanced itself from the Canadian filmmaker.Haggis’ longtime attorney has denied the allegations, the latest to surface against the “Crash” director and “Million Dollar Baby” writer who’s been accused by four other women. The Oscar winner publicly left Scientology in 2009 and has claimed the church is behind the accusations.According to local reports, police in the Italian city of Brindisi say the latest accuser’s injuries are consistent with her claims.
“I was raped for days,” she told police, according to arrest documents obtained by The Daily Beast. “We were supposed to work together, but instead he raped me from Sunday evening to Wednesday.”She told investigators he then drove her for an hour to the Brindisi airport where he left her in the pre-dawn hours with no ticket, but money to buy one when the airlines opened.
Police say she was discovered cowering in a corner by a flight attendant who told them: “She was destroyed. She spoke with difficulty.”The woman was examined at an airport clinic and taken to a hospital for treatment and psychological counseling, according to the reports.
Disney+ has greenlit The Lions of Sicily, an Italian series based on Stefania Auci’s The Florios of Siciliy from Paolo Genovese.
Paul Haggis’ 16-day house arrest in a hotel after being charged with sexual assault, his lawyer told news agencies. Haggis’ lawyer Michele Laforgia told The Associated Press that Haggis remains in Italy while prosecutors decide whether to pursue their investigation of whether he allegedly had sex with a woman without her consent over two days.The ruling was made by Puglia-based judge Vilma Gilli, who noted an “absence of constricting violent behavior” by Haggis and also a complex story that blurs the original judgment of house arrest, per Italian news agency ANSA.
Reuters.“Our request to revoke house arrest was accepted by the judge without further measures, so Mr. Haggis is free,” Michele Laforgia, Haggis’ lawyer, told the media outlet, adding he was not aware if the director wanted to depart Italy.Previously, on June 19, the judge in the case — Vilma Gilli — had ordered the “Crash” director to remain under house arrest after he appeared in court to deny raping a woman over two days.
UPDATE, 2 PM: A judge in Italy on Monday ordered film director Paul Haggis released from house arrest while prosecutors decide whether to pursue their investigation into allegations of sexual assault against him, The Associated Press reports.
K.J. Yossman “Crash” director Paul Haggis has made yet another court appearance in Italy, where he is currently under house arrest in a hotel after being charged with sexual assault.Both Haggis and his alleged victim, understood to be a British woman in her 30s, attended the courthouse in the Southern port city of Brindisi accompanied by their lawyers for the special evidence pre-trial hearing.
remain in his hotel in southern Italy where he had been set to teach a masterclass at Allora Fest.Italian authorities say a 30-year-old Englishwoman who was reportedly known to Haggis filed a report earlier this month saying he had raped her “for days” before dropping her off at an airport in the early-morning hours, where police say she was found by flight crew in a shattered state.Lawyers for both Breest and Haggis did not immediately return messages sent Monday.Breest said in her 2017 lawsuit that after attending a premiere on New Year’s Eve of 2013, she was pressured up to Haggis’ SoHo apartment, where he immediately began attacking her. She said she was unable to escape and was violently raped, but didn’t contact police out of shame and fear.
Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterDirector Paul Haggis, now under house arrest on sexual assault charges in Italy, has gotten a trial date for his rape lawsuit in New York.The trial is set to begin on Oct. 11, before Judge Sabrina Kraus in Manhattan.
Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGangland warfare and a Romeo and Juliet romance with a twist are the main elements of Sky Studios’ first Italian in-house production ‘Blocco 181,’ which is set against the backdrop of a gritty multi-ethnic Milan that has never appeared on screen before.The eight-episode show – which launches this week on Sky in the U.K. after making a splash in Italy – is lead-directed by London-based Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi, best known for art-heist thriller “The Burnt Orange Heresy” starring Mick Jagger as a shady art collector.“It’s a dark fable combining crime, romance, sex, and coming-of-age elements,” said Capotondi who besides directing the series, also co-penned the “Blocco 181” screenplay.
EXCLUSIVE: Jason Alan Carvell (NCIS: New Orleans) has been tapped to play the key role of Malcolm X in the upcoming third season of Epix drama series Godfather of Harlem in a recasting. Production begins this week in New York on the series, starring Forrest Whitaker.
Film director Paul Haggis appeared in court in southern Italy on Wednesday amid a police investigation into a woman’s allegations he had sex with her without her consent over the course of two days. Haggis, 69, made no comment as he arrived with Italian attorney Michele Laforgia at the courthouse in Brindisi, a port town in Puglia, the region that forms the "heel" of southeastern Italy.There was no sign that members of his family who were in Italy at the time joined him.
An Italian investigating judge has ruled that Canadian film director Paul Haggis is to remain under house arrest amid ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual assault against him.
Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAn Italian judge has ruled that Paul Haggis is to remain under house arrest in the case that sees the “Crash” director accused by an unidentified woman of repeated sexual assault and aggravated personal injury.Judge Vilma Gilli made her deliberation several hours after a preliminary hearing Wednesday in which Haggis answered questions in the courthouse in the Southern port city of Brindisi, on the “heel” of the Italian boot. During deliberation, Haggis said his sexual relations with the woman had been consensual.
Associated Press reported Wednesday that Haggis was accompanied only by his lawyer as he entered the courtroom, and did not make a statement. The two-time Oscar winner intends to stay in the country until he clears his name, his lawyer told a Variety reporter based in Italy.The attorney, Michele Laforgia, said his client “made a long, written deposition and then answered all questions reconstructing day by day – and in some cases hour by hour – what took place during the three days during which he was in the company of this woman in Ostuni.”Laforgia said the relations he had with the woman “are totally consensual” and denied that there was any sign of injury or violence in a medical report prepared at the hospital where the accuser was taken Sunday morning.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Crash” director Paul Haggis and his Italian attorney appeared in court in Brindisi, southern Italy, on Wednesday to answer questions and attempt to prove his innocence in a preliminary hearing probing an unidentified woman’s allegations of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury.Haggis, 69, made no comment as he entered the court with attorney Michele Laforgia at the courthouse in Brindisi, a port town in the region of Puglia, on the “heel” of the Italian boot.They left the courthouse after several hours of questioning by judge Vilma Gilli. They are now awaiting the judge’s decision later today on whether to set Haggis free pending further investigation; or, instead, have him jailed or continue to be held under house arrest in a hotel in the nearby town of Ostuni.
Canadian film director Paul Haggis maintained his innocence today [Wednesday] at a first court appearance in the southern Italian port city of Brindisi where he is answering questions related to allegations of sexual assault.
raping her “for days” in the hotel room where he was staying to give a master class at the Allora Film Festival in the coastal town of Otsuni. Police told local media that the woman’s story is consistent with her movements and injuries, which included sexual battery so violent that she “could no longer have sex” and sought medical attention.
Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs “Crash” director Paul Haggis remains in custody in Italy, awaiting a Wednesday preliminary hearing on charges of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury allegedly inflicted on an unidentified young woman, more details about the case are surfacing.In a statement to Variety, Haggis’ Italian lawyer Michele Laforgia said that the director “immediately stated that he is completely innocent and hopes for the maximum speed of all necessary investigations to clarify the matter.” The lawyer added that “Haggis will answer all questions.” The filmmaker is currently in custody at a 5-star hotel in Ostuni, in southern Italy.According to multiple reports and sources, the alleged victim, who has pressed charges, is a British woman who is considerably younger than the 69-year-old filmmaker. She is believed to be either in her 30s or early 40s.
Crash director was detained on Sunday (June 19) by police in Ostuni, Italy, after an unidentified woman pressed charges against him.In a statement to Variety, an attorney for Haggis, Priya Chaudhry, denied the allegations. “Under Italian law, I cannot discuss the evidence,” Chaudhry said.
Paul Haggis has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury. The Oscar-winning 'Crash' moviemaker, 69, was detained by authorities in the southern town of Ostuni after an unidentified woman pressed charges against him - however, the director's attorney has insisted Haggis is "totally innocent". In a statement published by Variety, Haggis' personal attorney Priya Chaudhry said: "Under Italian Law, I cannot discuss the evidence.
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