For the first time, a documentary recounts Sophia Loren as never before, passionately and carefully putting together extraordinary archives that show a never-before-seen portrait of the Rome-born actress.
For the first time, a documentary recounts Sophia Loren as never before, passionately and carefully putting together extraordinary archives that show a never-before-seen portrait of the Rome-born actress. A journey to discover the myth of a unique actress, and her life, narrated by herself in the first person, through archive materials, extremely rare photos, never-before-seen footage, radio and television interviews, Italian and international, with commentary by six Italian actresses who have a personal relationship of esteem and friendship with the Diva. Directed by Marco Spagnoli, already a three-time David di Donatello nominee for best documentary and winner of a Silver Ribbon, written by Simona Sparaco and Spagnoli himself, produced by Marco Durante, president of LaPresse, with Rai Documentari and Luce Cinecittà, “Sophia! ” will be aired, on the day of the Diva’s birthday, in a primetime signed Rai Documentari on Sept. 20 at 9:25 p.m. on Rai 1 and will be simultaneously available on Rai Play.Sophia! will also have its national premiere on Sept. 19 in Naples at the Cinema and Fiction Gala.
“I am very proud that LaPresse’s adventure in the field of audiovisual production,” said Marco Durante, “begins by recounting the career of the greatest diva of Italian cinema. I am happy that in this adventure we have been able to combine the great professional tradition of our company with the enthusiasm and passion of the director, scriptwriters and the whole team, in collaboration with the most important realities of the Italian audiovisual cultural industry such as Rai Documentari and Luce Cinecittà. “Embellished with LaPresse’s photographic and video archives, which alone of the two Oscar-winning actress possesses 19,000 shots, “Sophia! ” is an intimate and epic narrative of the birth and rise of a great actress: her love for Carlo Ponti, her flirtation with Cary Grant, her devotion to Vittorio De Sica, her friendship and professional complicity with Marcello Mastroianni, the stubbornness with which she wanted at all costs to become a mother, and her victory of many international awards, make her the last great Diva of international cinema, an icon of Italian excellence loved all over the world.
Following Sophia Loren through the course of time, the docufilm ranges from the Italy of World War II to the present day, between misery and splendor, poverty and wealth, experiencing up close the fairy tale of a kind of post-modern Cinderella, determined not only to be good but perfect in everything, to the point of receiving an award along with Walt Disney, being directed by such sacred monsters as Charlie Chaplin, Stanley Donen and Robert Altman, and working alongside such stars as Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, and Peter Sellers. A documentary film created to celebrate the career and the very myth of this great actress and her immense charm and talent, which also makes use of the testimony of six actresses who, in addition to having grown up in Loren’s admiration, recount and analyze her artistic and – in a certain sense – spiritual legacy: Claudia Gerini, Matilde Gioli, Margareth Madè, Ludovica Nasti, Lina Sastri and Valeria Solarino.
All in a ‘non-place’ such as the Cinecittà Studios, which were, in a sense, the artistic cradle of the young Sophia. It is here that she is seen walking in a little red dress, very young, unknown and hopeful, and it is still here, over sixty years later, that other actresses reflect on her figure, her unique and timeless qualities. Beauty, charm, rigor, resilience, sense of family, loyalty, honor, discipline constitute the narrative dimensions of a unique and exciting tale that has at its center a great Diva who knew how to be, first and foremost, a great woman, unsurpassed, unsurpassable, who became an Italian icon of international cinema, to whom we are all grateful for the charm and beauty with which she accompanied her art. “Participating in the realization of this successful tribute to our greatest diva,” said Fabrizio Zappi, director of Rai Documentaries, “was a privilege for us, as well as an exemplary initiative on the editorial level, since it marries the portrait of an Italian woman loved and esteemed all over the world with the construction of a fresco of our society, which spans the entire second half of the last century.
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