Filming began on August 10th for Cristiano Bortone’s new film “Caffè“, an international co-production with Savage Film (BE), Road Pictures and China Blue (China)
Filming will begin between Bolzano and Trieste (thanks to the involvement of the BLS Sudtirol Film Commission) and then continue in Belgium and China, between Beijing and the suggestive area of Yunnan.
Sommeliers say that coffee has three flavors: bitter, sour and fragrant. And these three tones inspire the stories of this film. Through the common element of this evocative product, the film tells three stories set in three parts of the world very distant from each other, three destinies that intertwine, prisoners of the confused and uncertain times that our world is experiencing.
In Italy Renzo (Dario Aita, La prima linea, TV series Questo nostro amore) passionate coffee sommelier and his girlfriend Gaia (Miriam Dalmazio, Maraviglioso Boccaccio dei Taviani, Sole a Catinelle by Checco Zalone, TV series Che Dio ci aiuti) in an attempt to find a way in a country increasingly in recession, they become involved in the botched theft of a special batch of coffee. In Belgium, Hamed (Babak Karimi, A Separation, Silver Bear Best Actor in Berlin – Oscar Award for Best Foreign Film), escaped the war in Iraq to seek a better life for himself and his family , he discovers the identity of the black block who, during a demonstration, ransacked his small pawn shop.
He will be willing to risk his life to recover the ancient silver coffee pot that the young man stole from him…On the other side of the planet, in an increasingly consumerist China, Fei (Xiaodong Guo, Blind massage , Summer palace, The warlords), a successful young manager, is faced with the terrible choice of whether or not to stop the plants of a factory in the green region of Yunnan which risks contaminating the surrounding area, entirely covered by coffee plantations ; what’s at stake: her career and her impending marriage. The cast is completed by Ennio Fantastichini and the Chinese stars Xi Qi (Mystery of Ye Lou – Cannes Film Festival), Yuqi Zhang (White deer plane – Berlin Film Festival), Tongsheng Han (well-known face from Chinese TV series).
After years of studying the Chinese language and culture (since 2013 he has taught screenwriting and production at the Beijing Film Academy), Bortone co-produces a film of international scope, which will be – among other things – the first official co-production between Italy and China based on the recently signed treaty.
A film recognized as being of cultural interest, it is co-produced by Rai cinema and made with the support of MIBACT, BLS Sudtirol Film Commission, Screen Flanders, D-Hive Film Fund and will be distributed in Italy by Officine Ubu.
Miriam Dalmazio e Dario Aita
