Shadows in the Sun - Press Conference
Rome, Italy - April 30, 2004
Shooting is scheduled to start on May 10th in Tuscany for The Shadow Dancer, a 10 million dollar budget co-production by Movieweb and Istituto Luce directed by Brad Mirman.
On set, 6 weeks in Radicofani, Harvey Keitel will be Weldon Parish, a great American writer who has isolated himself in rural Italy together with his eccentric three daughters. Canadian actor Joshua Jackson (The Skulls) is playing Jeremy Taylor, a young aspiring writer sent to track him down by a New York publisher in order to make him sign a new contract. Giancarlo Giannini is also on to be the local priest Ferzetti.
The project was presented in Rome by the director, the cast, Massimo Pacilio for Movieweb and Luciano Sovena for Luce. Harvey Keitel, who will soon take part in another Luce co-production, Go Go Tales by Abel Ferrara, was stuck in the States due to a strike of the Italian airline.
“Weldon and Jeremy share the same fear of failure. In particular Weldon is experiencing the same problems every artist has: whenever he’s approaching a new work, a voice inside his head questions if it is ever going to match its predecessor” the director explained.
About the locations in Tuscany, this is what he had to say: “I searched a lot before I could find the right place. The location of the movie is very important but the message it carries is universal. I swear I’ll try to avoid those stereotypes which are so common in American movies about Italy”.
Giannini, who has already worked with Mirman in Joshua, stated: “My character is a peculiar priest, who likes poker and good wine and has a great ability to talk to the locals”.
The three daughters spice the whole thing up: Silvia De Santis is Dinnie “a true sex maniac”, Bianca Guaccero is Maura “who just adores going to funerals, the longest and saddest the better”. Claire Forlani is Isabella, the eldest: “her mother passed away many years before, so between her father and her, the roles are reversed: he is always in trouble while she helps him get out of them. Her only love is a horse which stands in for her desire to escape”.
The movie is co-produced with Studio Eight (Great Britain) and Back-Up Films (France). “It is an example of a big European co-production, the only answer to American cinema” Sovena said. International distribution is taken care by Peace Arch.
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