EXCLUSIVE: Italy’s PiperPlay has boarded Hitler assassination thriller The Man Who Could Have Changed The World, starring Elio Germano and directed Anne Paulicevich, and is launching sales at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.
The film is the sophomore feature for well-known scriptwriter Paulicevich, known for 2012 Venice jury prize winner Tango Libre and for Working Girls, Belgium’s 2020 Oscar entry which she also co-directed with Frédéric Fonteyne.
The Man Who Could Have Changed The World, which has just finished shooting between Italy, Germany and Belgium, is a European co-production.
The producers are Belgium’s Versus (Vermiglio, Close), Italy’s Indigo Film (The Great Beauty) and PiperFilm (La Grazia), which will also distribute the film in Italy, and Germany’s NiKo Film (The Village Next to Paradise)
The Man Who Could Have Changed The World is inspired by Hitler’s visit in Italy, hosted by Mussolini in 1938.
To impress his guest, Mussolini calls upon Italy’s most authoritative archaeologist to act as a guide through the treasures of the Bel Paese. The man, distant from the regime’s positions, finds himself forced to accompany the two dictators over four days, during which the beauty and power of art act as a backdrop to tension, ambiguity, and choices that continue to resonate in the present.
Germano, known for his roles in Berlinguer and Sicilian Letters, stars as the professor of archaeology and art history, while Albrecht Schuch plays Hitler and Fausto Russo Alesi stars as Mussolini.
Catia Rossi, director of international operations at PiperPlay, said: “This project stands out for its originality on multiple levels. The director transforms paintings and works of art into an ongoing narrative commentary, injecting moments of surprising comedy into the heart of the action. With such a strong concept and great actors like Elio Germano, Albrecht Schuch and Fausto Russo Alesi attached we think it should definitely turn heads at the market”
The producers Jacques-Henri Bronckart at Versus, Nicola Giuliano at Indigo Film, Massimiliano Orfei at PiperFilm and Nicole Gerhards at NiKo Film said: “We are excited to be working together on this ambitious co-production, filmed across three European countries with an international cast. Inspired by real historical events, we feel this story is relevant today and we hope it will resonate with today’s audiences”
The Man Who Could Have Changed The World is produced by Versus, Indigo Film, PiperFilm and NiKo Film, with the support of Cinema and Audiovisual Center of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, RTBF, Be TV and Orange, Proximus, Wallimage, Creative Europe MEDIA, Inver Tax Shelter, O’Brother Distribution, with the support of Lazio Region-Lazio Cinema International Public Notice, with the support of Ministry of Culture for the Development of Cinema and Audiovisual, with the support of Ministry of Culture – Minority co-production Fund, German Federal Film Fund, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Board - Minority Co-production Funding, nordmedia – Film and Media Fund of Lower Saxony and Bremen.
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