Oscars: Italy Submits ‘Vermiglio’ To International Feature Film Race
Italy has selected Vermiglio to represent it in the Best International Feature Film category of the 97th Academy Awards.
The second feature from Maura Delpero, Vermiglio premiered in Competition at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
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At the time of the win, Delpero said she hoped the prize would put her in the frame to represent Italy in the Oscars, and now her wish has come true.
The picture takes its title from a mountain village in the Italian Alps, which was home to the director’s family for generations.
The drama opens in the village in 1944. Largely cut off from the war across Europe, the arrival of a deserted soldier will disrupt the life of the village teacher and his family as the eldest daughter falls for him, leading to an unexpected turn of fate.
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Delpero previously distinguished herself with debut fiction Maternal and documentaries Signori professori and Nadea e Sveta.
Sideshow and Janus Films scooped up North American rights to the film in the wake of its Venice win.
The work is produced by Cinedora with Rai Cinema in co-production with France’s Charades Productions and Belgium’s Versus Production. Lucky Red is the Italian distributor and Charades is handling international sales.
The film was selected from 19 submissions which also included Venice 2024 titles, Gianni Amelio Battleground and Francesca Comencini’s The Time It Takes, as well as Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope, which premiered in Competition in Cannes.
The selection committee overseen by film Italian cinema org consisted of Pedro Armocida, Maria Rita Barbera, Cristina Battocletti, Giorgia Farina, Francesca Manieri, Guglielmo Marchetti, Paola Mencuccini, Giacomo Scarpelli, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, Alessandro Usai and Cecilia Zanuso.
In a joint statement explaining their motivations, the committee said it had chosen the film for its “ability depict past Italian rural life, the sentiments and feelings of which remained universal and current.”
Italy has won the Best International Feature Film Oscar 11 times, with its last victory being Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty in 2013. The country enjoyed a buzzy awards season ahead of the 96th Academy Awards with Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano which made it to the nomination stage.
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