TORONTO – The Venice Film Festival has just announced its “Critics’ Week” entries, a selection of seven films spotlighting first and second features from around the globe – including Italy. Among the seven this year, are two Italian works – a documentary titled Waking Hours by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini, and a feature film Agon by Giulio Bertelli. The bigger news for Bertelli was the announcement by Mubi (Streaming Platform) that it had acquired all Italian rights to Agon ahead of the film’s premiere.
The extra attention around Bertelli’s film is rooted in his family ties. He is one of two sons of the visionary power couple Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, the co-owners of the Italian Luxury Fashion House Prada. His brother Lorenzo Bertelli – tipped as the future of the family business – is both the Chief Marketing Officer for Prada and a part time Rally Car driver, since 2010. As recently as last year in fact, Lorenzo won the Rally del Brunello aboard the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid.
Giulio on the other hand, has opted to pursue the arts. His film Agon follows three athletes as they prepare and compete at judo, fencing and shooting events. It is “a contemporary account of the contradictions of these sports which began as military training [exercises] during peacetime, and evolved into professional sports and entertainment”, as per the synopsis.
“As Mubi Italia, we couldn’t be more excited to support Giulio Bertelli in his visionary and striking directorial debut,” says Gabriele D’Andrea, VP and managing director of Mubi in Italy. “We are deeply committed to bold, original storytelling, in Italy and globally, and ‘Agon’ perfectly embodies our passion for discovering new and singular voices in cinema. We look forward to its premiere in Venice and to sharing it with audiences soon”.
While Giulio Bertelli’s foray into film is in no way comparable to Lorenzo de ’Medici’s famous familial divergence, it’s nonetheless amusing to witness modern Italian dynastic lines reflect history – even if superficially. And although wealthy families exerting influence isn’t specific to Italian society, Italians have served up some of Western civilization’s most intriguing bloodlines. From the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties of Ancient Rome to the Renaissance-era Medici and Sforza families, Empires were born.
Today’s prominent clans reach beyond finance and politics even. From Arts & Culture to Food and Sport, names like Prada, Ferragamo, Missoni, Ferrero, Agnelli and Berlusconi are but a few whose lineage influence today’s Italian landscape. And while it’s true that Lorenzo de’Medici famously strayed from his family’s banking business, his patronage to the arts helped shape the Renaissance and the careers of artists like Michealangelo, Botticelli and Da Vinci.
Time will tell what level of artist/rebel Bertelli is, but for now he’s earned the right to compete for the festival’s Lion of the Future prize – worth $100,000. Beatrice Fiorentino, a Critics’ Week Delegate: “The cinema of today is inhabited by rebels for a just cause who reclaim spaces of empowerment and rebirth”.
(Image of Agon movie courtesy of Mubi and Mig Red Films Image of Giulio and his mother Miuccia Prada courtesy of Getty Images)
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
