The upcoming Sky original series, co-directed by Valeria Golino and Nicolangelo Gelormini, will have its UK premiere at the Institut Français’ Ciné Lumière, ahead of its availability on Sky TV.
Italian TV has gone through a metamorphosis in the past decade, started perhaps by the Popes series directed by Paolo Sorrentino — The New Pope (2000) and The Young Pope (2016). Fact is, even in the offerings of real crime series streaming on Netflix, Italy is standing up to the world powers of TV quite well, thank you. Case in point, Vatican Girl.
Just in case you thought it was all and only about religion — Cof course Sorrentino’s series were not, but we Italians love our references to Catholicism to explain all kinds of deviations — later this month a new “racy” series, titled The Art of Joy will premiere on Sky TV in the UK. It is Valeria Golino’s passion project, pardon my pun, starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Jasmine Trinca, Tecla Insolia and Alma Noce. The story, loosely based on the cult book by Goliarda Sapienza, takes place in Sicily and is co-directed by Neapolitan helmer Nicolangelo Gelormini.
Sapienza was a Sicilian actress and writer who was born in Catania and lived in the 20th Century. The daughter of a prominent journalist and socialist from the north of Italy, her mother, and an attorney who would later to help draft the Constitution of Italy, Sapienza spent her childhood in a fascist Italy, with parents who were unmarried and staunch non-conformist feminists anti-fascist and anti-clericals. While she studied to be an actress in Rome pre-WWII, she also joined the resistance with her father, who was involved in the raid that freed future Italian presidents Sandro Pertini and Giuseppe Saragat from a German prison.
After the war, Sapienza became an actress and mingled with the who’s who of Italian “intellighenzia”, along with her then partner, Francesco “Citto” Maselli, a film director and screenwriter. One of his most renowned works is based on Alberto Moravia’s novel Gli indifferenti. When he left her, she became ostracized by Roman society and around the same time, lost her own mother, which caused her to become clinically depressed. Her treatment include shock therapy.
As the result of this deep depression, during which she also attempted to take her own life, Sapienza began to write. Her masterpiece, L'arte della gioia (The Art of Joy), took her nine years to complete and drove her to destitution as she withdrew completely from society. Finished in 1976 the monumental historical novel was rejected by publishers because of its length (over 700 pages) and its portrayal of a woman unrestrained by conventional morality and traditional feminine roles. It detailed a woman’s pursuit of cultural, financial and sexual independence in early-20th-century Sicily, during which she sleeps with both men and women, commits incest and murders a nun. She was unable to find a publisher for it during her lifetime.
The Art of Joy series, loosely based on the Sapienza’s novel, tells the story of a girl, Modesta (played by Tecla Insolia) in early 20th-century Sicily, who discovers her sexuality and the desire for a better life and personal emancipation from rules and boundaries.
At a special screening taking place on April 5th at London’s Ciné Lumière, the cast mentioned above, as well as helmers Golino and Gelormini will be present, alongside the series producer Viola Prestieri, for a special Q&A moderated by Adrian Wootton OBE. For those of you who need to ask Wootton is the Chief Executive of Film London (the agency charged with developing the screen industries in the capital) and the British Film Commission, the unit responsible for promoting the UK as the best place to produce feature films and high-end television.
You can book tickets on the Institut Français’ website for this special night, one not to be missed if in London. You can also check out the site for more information.
Images courtesy of the Institut Français, used with permission.