Anna

Directed by Director's notes
  • Niccolò Ammaniti
Download

Pressbook

Directed by
  • Niccolò Ammaniti
Year
  • 2021
Length
  • 7x50”
Download

Pressbook

Year
  • 2021
Length
  • 7x50”
Cast
  • Giulia Dragato
  • Alessandro Pecorella
  • Elena Lietti
  • Roberta Mattei
 
  • Giovanni Mavilla
  • Clara Tramontano
  • Viviana Mocciaro
  • Nicola Mangano
Synopsis

Four years after the spread of La Rossa (The Red Fever), a virus that kills off adults, gangs of wildling children have taken over. Anna lives with her little brother Astor on a farm (Podere del Gelso, ie “Mulberry Farm”), on the edge of the woods. One day, she goes out searching for food and when she comes back, the boy is gone. To find him, she begins a long journey through what remains of the world as we know it. She will have to face the Blues, a community of children led by wicked Angelica, who is holding captive the last living adult in the world, aka the Picciridduna, rumored to possess powers to heal from the Red One. Anna will break free from Angelica’s villa with her little brother, embarking on another journey, this time through unforgiving nature, towards the continent: hoping to find a cure to save themselves – and mankind.

Director's notes
  • To depict a world without adults was achallenge for all departments. Just beforedying, Mariagrazia, mother of Anna andAstor’s, the story’s two main characters,writes a Book of Important Things,in order to leave instructions for survivalto her children, of eight and four. Inside aresimple tips for dealing with the dangersthe two orphans will have to face in thenew world.At one point, she writes she can onlyimagine those threats; it will be up tothem to put her advice into practice andmodify it according to how things evolve.All departments, but especially set designand costumes, had to perform considerableleaps of imagination to recreate a post-virusSicily.The questions chased one another.And giving answers was difficult, becausewe were in uncharted territory. How shouldchild actors dress? Do they always dressthe same, wearing filthy or ragged clothes,or, since they can take what they wantfrom abandoned stores, do they go arounddressed in Gucci and Prada? How do theyfeed themselves? Do they grow their ownveggies, do they hunt, or are they mostlygatherers, looking for cans, jars, sausagesand everything that still remains edible?Before starting to shoot, we made dozensof sketches and tests to visualize what weimagined and then we crossed Sicily insearch of places where civilization clasheswith nature. We turned old aristocraticvillas into dumps, abandoned orphanagesinto battlefields for bands of blue-paintedchildren. The roads were covered withsoil. It was all very physical, trial-and-errorwork, mostly entrusted to the brawn of theset designers. Digital effects were usedsparingly.Also the kind of photography we went forhad to live and breathe in dust particlesfloating against the light, neither too darknor too bright. Sicily had to emerge out ofthe beauty of its skies and its pristine sea.Nature, freed from adults, had to come outstrongly as the series’ true star.The remains of human civilization, mercifullycovered by greenery, reconquering itsnatural space. Thanks to everybody’scooperation, I believe, a series has beenborn that feels sunny and bright – but canturn dark and scary at any moment, withoutwarning.

    Niccolò Ammaniti Writer and Direct
Created and directed by
  • NICCOLÒ AMMANITI
A series by
  • NICCOLÒ AMMANITI
Story and screenplay
  • NICCOLÒ AMMANITI
  • FRANCESCA MANIERI
Based on
  • “ANNA” by NICCOLÒ AMMANITI (GIULIO EINAUDI EDITORE ‐ 2015)
Produced by
  • MARIO GIANANI and LORENZO MIELI
  • With LORENZO GANGAROSSA for WILDSIDE
In coproduction
  • With ARTE FRANCE, KWAÏ, FREMANTLE
  • With THE NEW LIFE COMPANY
A production
  • WILDSIDE
Co-produced by
  • THE NEW LIFE COMPANY LUDOVICA DAMIANI
An original production
  • SKY
Delegate Producer
  • SKY CLAUDIO FALCONI
Executive producers Wildside
  • OLIVIA SLEITER
Sky executive producer
  • NILS HARTMANN
  • SONIA ROVAI
Editing
  • CLELIO BENEVENTO
Scenography
  • MAURO VANZATI
Director of photography
  • GOGÒ BIANCHI
Costumes
  • CATHERINE BUYSE
Original score
  • RAUELSSON
Sound engineer
  • ALESSANDRO BIANCHI
Assistant Director
  • ELISABETTA BONI
Acting coach
  • LORENZA INDOVINA
Casting
  • DARIO CERUTI
  • MAURILIO MANGANO
General organizer
  • ERIK PAOLETTI
With the support of
  • CREATIVE EUROPE - PROGRAMMA MEDIA DELL’UNIONE EUROPEA
With the support of
  • REGIONE SICILIA, FILM COMMISSION REGIONE SICILIA
  • “REALIZZATO NELL’AMBITO DEL PROGRAMMA SENSI CONTEMPORANEI CINEMA”
Director's notes
X

To depict a world without adults was achallenge for all departments. Just beforedying, Mariagrazia, mother of Anna andAstor’s, the story’s two main characters,writes a Book of Important Things,in order to leave instructions for survivalto her children, of eight and four. Inside aresimple tips for dealing with the dangersthe two orphans will have to face in thenew world.At one point, she writes she can onlyimagine those threats; it will be up tothem to put her advice into practice andmodify it according to how things evolve.All departments, but especially set designand costumes, had to perform considerableleaps of imagination to recreate a post-virusSicily.The questions chased one another.And giving answers was difficult, becausewe were in uncharted territory. How shouldchild actors dress? Do they always dressthe same, wearing filthy or ragged clothes,or, since they can take what they wantfrom abandoned stores, do they go arounddressed in Gucci and Prada? How do theyfeed themselves? Do they grow their ownveggies, do they hunt, or are they mostlygatherers, looking for cans, jars, sausagesand everything that still remains edible?Before starting to shoot, we made dozensof sketches and tests to visualize what weimagined and then we crossed Sicily insearch of places where civilization clasheswith nature. We turned old aristocraticvillas into dumps, abandoned orphanagesinto battlefields for bands of blue-paintedchildren. The roads were covered withsoil. It was all very physical, trial-and-errorwork, mostly entrusted to the brawn of theset designers. Digital effects were usedsparingly.Also the kind of photography we went forhad to live and breathe in dust particlesfloating against the light, neither too darknor too bright. Sicily had to emerge out ofthe beauty of its skies and its pristine sea.Nature, freed from adults, had to come outstrongly as the series’ true star.The remains of human civilization, mercifullycovered by greenery, reconquering itsnatural space. Thanks to everybody’scooperation, I believe, a series has beenborn that feels sunny and bright – but canturn dark and scary at any moment, withoutwarning.

Niccolò Ammaniti Writer and Direct