Geoffrey Rush and Jim Sturgess have joined Oscar winning director Giuseppe Tornatore’s $21m English and Italian-language film, purportedly a love story set in the luxurious world of Viennese art auctions.

Warner Bros Italia will release in Italy, Germany and Austria. Arturo Paglia and Isabella Cocuzza of Rome-based Paco Cinematografia are producing.

Shooting is set to get underway on Apr 30. Most of the project will shoot over the course of six to seven weeks in the Fruili-Venezia-Giulia region with help from the region’s film commission, focusing on the seaport city of Trieste, the Northeastern most point of Italy.

The Best Offe ris Tornatore’s first film since his 2009 $35m semi autobiographical extravaganza Baaria, touted as the most expensive Italian production of all time.

The film has secured financing from Italy’s BSL Tyrol-Alto Adige Film Fund, where the production will also shoot. That region also borders on Austria, providing continuity. The production will also shoot on location in Vienna, Austria.

The region offers ample Viennese locations as Trieste once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Tornatore also shot his 2006 film The Other Woman in the region

Tornatore’s long-time collaborator Ennio Morricone is composing the score.