Neon is continuing its acquisition spree and has acquired the North American distribution rights to “La Chimera,” the next film from Italian auteur Alice Rohrwacher that stars “The Crown” actor Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini.
Written and directed by Rohrwacher, “La Chimera” is set in the 1980s in the clandestine world of the tombaroli, or tomb robbers and tells the story of a young English archaeologist (O’Connor) caught up in the illegal trafficking of ancient finds. Carol Duarte, Alba Rohrwacher and Vincenzo Nemolato also co-star.
Phase one of production on “La Chimera” has already been completed in Tarquinia and Southern Tuscany, and the film will continue shooting across central Italy and Switzerland between August and September.
The film is produced, as all of Rohrwacher’s previous films, by Carlo Cresto-Dina with his company tempesta and long-time backers Rai Cinema, in co-production with Neon, Amka Films (Switzerland) and Ad Vitam Production (France) in partnership with Arte France Cinema, Canal +, Ciné +, RSI/SSR SRG (Switzerland) and French distributor Ad Vitam.
Executive producers on the film are Tom Quinn, Eli Bush, Jeff Deutchman, Manuela Melissano, Alexandra Henochsberg, Pierre-François Piet and Michael Weber. Public funds sustaining the project are CNC Cinéma du Monde (France) and Federal Office of Culture FOC (Switzerland).
“La Chimera” re-unites Rohrwacher with several longtime collaborators, including top French DOP Hélène Louvart, editor Nelly Quettier, production designer Emita Frigato, and costume designer Loredana Buscemi. The casting was curated by Chiara Polizzi and Fiona Weir.
Neon has “Crimes of the Future” from David Cronenberg playing in Cannes as well as Brett Morgen’s David Bowie film “Moonage Daydream.” They also ahead of Cannes picked up the rights to a film with Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain film called “Mother’s Instinct” and landed Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker” and the Director’s Fortnight film “Enys Men.”
NEON’s Jeff Deutchman and Mason Speta negotiated the North America deal with The Match Factory and UTA. The Match Factory is also representing international sales. UTA represents Rohrwacher.