Paris-based sales company Lucky Number has announced sales to Italy and France on Italian director Francesco Sossai’s debut feature “The Last One for the Road,” which will world premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
The standout Cannes title, of which Variety has been given an exclusive clip (watch above), will be distributed by Lucky Red in Italy and New Story in France.
Co-written by Sossai with Adriano Candiago, “Last One for the Road” follows two broke 50-somethings who have a “never skip the last drink” philosophy, as the synopsis puts it, and intersect with a shy “adrift in life” architecture student named Giulio (Filippo Scotti). “What starts as a chance encounter turns into a chaotic road trip through the Venetian plains — where bad advice, hangovers and unexpected friendship redraw Giulio’s plans for life and love,” the synopsis says.
The film is produced by Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa for Vivo film with RAI Cinema (Italy), in co-production with Philipp Kreuzer for Maze Pictures (Germany) and Cecilia Trautvetter. It was made with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Regione Veneto, the German Federal Film Board, Germany’s Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and Eurimages programs.
“I clearly remember watching Francesco’s first film, ‘Other Cannibals’— a school project that was supposed to be a short, but ended up becoming a feature. I thought to myself: a new and unique director is born — we want to work with him,” said Vivo Film co-chief Gregorio Paonessa in a statement.
Added Vivo Film’s other chief Marta Donzelli: “We later met Francesco, who pitched us the first idea for ‘The Last One for the Road.’ We immediately connected and felt that he could convey the gloom and absurdity of life through an unconventional road movie — funny, at times wild and edgy, at others bitter and sharp, but never judgmental. I think we weren’t wrong.”
Commented Lucky Number’s Olivier Barbier, “We are incredibly proud to accompany ‘The Last One for the Road, by Francesco Sossai, who stands out as one of the most exciting new voices in Italian cinema today, bringing a fresh and distinctive energy to the landscape. We were captivated by his unique tone and the singular vision he has crafted — a film unlike anything else in contemporary Italian filmmaking.”