TORONTO – Milan-native Carolina Cavalli, a budding new filmmaking talent whose directorial debut “Amanda” garnered three David Di Donatello nominations in 2023, has recently commenced shooting her follow-up film – “The Kidnapping of Arabella”. 

Cavalli burst onto the scene in 2022 with her script for “Fremont”, about an Afghan refugee living in Fremont California. The film screened at Sundance, wooing critics worldwide and earning a score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes (review aggregator).

After taking the helm as director/writer and teaming up with lead actress Benedetta Porcaroli on “Amanda”, her film was selected by Venice and Toronto – and one of the few Italian debut features to land an international distribution deal. Two Roman production houses, Elsinore Film and The Apartment, will be producing Cavalli’s current project “The Kidnapping of Arabella”, shooting in the Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions.

Cavalli (in the pic below) has also scored a big coup with her second film by landing American Actor Chris Pine (in the pic above), who is not only co-starring alongside Benedetta Porcaroli, but also performing in Italian.

In a Deadline announcement this week Pine was confirmed as having learned Italian for the role, although admitting that his Spanish and Italian sometimes intersect. The American’s casting is a massive vote of confidence not only for Italian cinema, with recent hits like “There’s Still Tomorrow”, “Io Capitano” and “La Chimera” bolstering its reputation, but also for Cavalli’s blossoming career.

Chris Pine gained worldwide recognition as Captain Kirk in the massive franchise film Star Trek, and more recently with the billion dollar box office successes of the Wonder Woman films – starring Gall Gadot.

“The Kidnapping of Arabella” follows Porcaroli as she plays Holly, “a young misfit who is convinced that she is the wrong version of herself until she meets a 7-year-old girl who makes her change her mind,” as per the film’s provided synopsis. Annamaria Morelli, head of The Apartment Production House, says “Carolina’s second film is perfectly aligned with my vision for The Apartment going forward”.

Having recently taken over The Apartment, Morelli promises to continue the company’s direction: “On the one hand, I will continue along the same lines the company is known for, meaning high-end productions involving top Italian talents such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino etc., and also big international co-productions and prime international IP”.

More importantly for filmmakers like Cavalli, Morelli believes in fostering emerging and local talent: “ I believe in the need to launch a new generation of Italian auteurs and talents that can travel internationally. This doesn’t mean just producing a few films; it means finding these talents, nurturing them and launching them nationally and internationally, so that they gain a bit more heft.”

Photos courtesy of Getty Images 

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix