Italy’s Minerva Takes World Sales of ‘Dante’ Biopic Toplining Sergio Castellitto (EXCLUSIVE)

Italy’s Minerva Pictures has taken international sales on veteran director Pupi Avati’s Dante Alighieri biopic “Dante” starring Italian A-lister Sergio Castellitto.

Minerva will be introducing “Dante” to buyers at the Venice Film Festival’s informal market and then at Rome’s MIA Market in October. Pic is set for release in Italy on Sept. 29 via RAI Cinema’s 01 Distribution.

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Over the course of his long career, Avati has shot more than 40 films in a wide range of genres, including the cult horror pic “The House with Laughing Windows”; romancer “The Heart Is Elsewhere,” which went to Cannes; the biopic “Bix” about American trumpet player Bix Beiderbecke; psychological drama “Giovanna’s Father” with Alba Rohrwacher; and the 2019 thriller “Il Signor Diavolo,” to name a few.

Castellitto, who starred with Penelope Cruz in “Don’t Move,” which he also directed, plays another Renaissance poet, Giovanni Boccaccio, who intersected with Dante during the final twenty years of the Florentine bard’s life, before Dante died in exile in 1350.

Even though Dante’s fame was rapidly spreading, the final stretch of his life was a tough time for the genial poet who was constantly on the move and seeking hospitality at various courts due to a ruling issued by a Florentine court stating that he and his sons were to be beheaded since the Catholic Church considered “The Divine Comedy” to be a demonic work.

“I am so thrilled to work on this title by one of the living masters of Italian cinema, Pupi Avati,  and about the most famous Italian personality in the world: Dante,” said Minerva’s head of sales Monica Ciarli. “This will be an exciting challenge for our sales team.”

“Dante” is produced by Antonio Avati for Duea Film in tandem with RAI Cinema and MGProduction.

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