Smutniak, Troiano star in 'Liberta'
Ferrario to direct jailhouse pic
Ferrario’s latest is to be set and shot in Turin’s Le Vallette jail, known as one of Italy’s most progressive penitentiaries. Laffer will be “a film in a jail, but not about jail,” said the helmer, who also penned the screenplay.
Pic will also feature 20 inmates who have thesping skills honed in a theater lab held on the jail’s premises.
Pic will be distributed in Italy by Warner Bros., whose local production arm is co-financing with the Turin Film Commission, while Turin’s Fargo Film is executive producing.
With “Liberta,” which is Italian for "freedom," Ferrario is making a rather radical transition from his latest work, Holocaust-themed docu “Primo Levi’s Journey,” which in 2006 unspooled to critical kudos at a slew of festivals including Toronto and Rome.
Top rated Italo TV comic Luciana Littizzetto will also put in a cameo.
"Liberta” will be shot with a high-def Genesis digital camera by lenser Dante Cecchin, who also worked on Ferrario's cult hit “After Midnight,” a homage to the silent movie era released in the U.S. by Avatar Films.
