Italy has picked Nostalgia from director Mario Martone as its best international feature Oscars submission.
The film, a modern-day adaptation of Ermanno Rea’s novel, premiered to critical acclaim in Cannes in 2022. It stars Pierfrancesco Favino as Felice Lasco, who returns to his old neighborhood in Naples after 40 years of living in Egypt.
Once back, his criminal youth begins to catch up with him. Francesco Di Leva co-stars as a local priest who helps Felice navigate the streets of modern-day Naples.
Nostalgia beat out a shortlist of Italian contenders including Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama.
The Eight Mountains, which received the jury prize in Cannes this year, and Emanuele Crialese’s Penelope Cruz-starrer L’Immensità, which premiered in Venice. Bones and All from Italian Oscar winner Luca Guadagnino is in English, so just isn’t in rivalry for the worldwide function Oscar.
It is produced by Italy’s Picomedia, Mad Entertainment, and Medusa along with France’s Rosebud Entertainment Pictures, Nostalgia has sold widely internationally but it is still looking for a US distributor. True Colours is dealing with world gross sales.
14 Oscar wins, Italy is the world champion in the most effective worldwide function class. Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God was among the many closing 5 worldwide function Oscar nominees of this year, and his 2013 function The Great Beauty was the final Italian movie to win the Oscar award.