Italian writer-directorErmanno Olmi is currently lining up a new film, entitled Cento Chiodi(literally, One Hundred Nails).

Rai Cinema is believed to bein advanced negotiations to co-produce the film, which is produced by Olmi'sMilan-based company, Cinemaundici.

Olmi, one of Italy's mostacclaimed directors, is currently writing the film whose budget is said to beset at Euros 4m. While Olmi has not revealed the film's subject-matter, he hassaid that the film is a contemporary drama entirely set in the northern Italianregion of Emilia, along the Po river. Cameras are due to start rolling on May2.

Like Olmi's previous films -Singing Behind the Sails and The Profession of Arms - CentoChiodi's cast is expected to feature a largely non-professional cast.

The veteran director's lastfilm was the collective effort Tickets, which he co-directed with AbbasKiarostami and Ken Loach.

Meanwhile, Rai Cinema iscurrently involved in the production of popular director Pupi Avati's latestfilm, La Seconda Notte di Nozze (literally, the Second Wedding Night).

Set in the immediateaftermath of World War II, the picture tells the story of a newly-widowed womanwho leaves Bologna, in the north of Italy, with her grown-up son, and travelsby car to the south to stay on her brother-in-law's farm. Italian opera singerKatia Ricciarelli and The Heart Elsewhere's Neri Marcore' play the leadroles. Antonio Avati's Duea Film is producing.

Rai Cinema's upcomingprojects also include Un Passo a Due, about the life of popularItaly-based Albanian dancer Kledi Kadiu. Directed by Andrea Barzini, thepicture focuses on the real-life struggles of Kadiu, who arrived in Italy in1992 as an illegal immigrant on a boat and eventually became one of Italy'smost popular TV personalities.

Produced by Rome's MagicMoments, the film will be released through Rai Cinema label 01 Distributionthis autumn.