Italian star Alessandro Borghi talks Venice closing film ‘The Hanging Sun'
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Loading... - Orla Quinn
- 23 Sep 2022
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Based on a novel by renowned Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo, Borghi plays a man on the run from his mob boss father. Jessica Brown Findlay, Peter Mullan and Charles Dance also star in the drama, produced by the UK’s Sky with Italy’s Cattleya and Groenlandia.
It caps a stellar year for Borghi, during which he has starred in Italian drama The Eight Mountains, which won the jury prize when it played in Competition at Cannes, and Michele Vannucci’s Delta, which premiered at Locarno. He has also teamed with writer-businessman Guido Maria Brera to launch Newness, a company that will help young writers develop stories for the screen.
Borghi, who is known for roles in TV series Devils and Suburra: Blood On Rome, is no stranger to Venice. He starred in Claudio Caligari’s Don’t Be Bad, which played out of competition at Venice in 2015; Michele Vannucci’s I Was A Dreamer, which competed in Horizons in 2016; Netflix shocker On My Skin, which also played Horizons in 2018; and post-apocalyptic Dogworld, selected for Critics’ Week in 2021. In addition, he hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the festival in 2017.
The Italian star spoke to Screen about why The Hanging Sun is his most “enjoyable ride” to date, why he momentarily got “pissed” at Venice and his ambitions for Newness.
The Hanging Sun is co-produced by Groenlandia with TV production companies Cattleya and Sky. Are the best Italian projects right now coming from TV outfits?
The Hanging Sun was made only thanks to the tenacity of people who want to make cinema. Three times the film was about to start and three times we had to abort. Films are supposed to stay in theatres for 90 days and then go to TV, but if we don’t exploit that window the audience will just wait for it to arrive on TV. It was therefore decided to put the film into theatres for three days before showing on TV. We are told that TV is a safe spot for films but only a good cinema run can create real enthusiasm in the audience. Read More...
