A filmmaker whose work is definitely idiosyncratic and agnostic choosing whatever approach works best for a specific tale, Bertrand Mandico has been setting the film world ablaze with 2017’s Les Garçons sauvages, 2021’s After Blue (read ★★★★ review) and 2023’s She Is Conann respectively world premiering at Venice, Locarno and Cannes. Bold and imaginative his fourth feature appears to be a valentine to to Italian cinema’s golden era and the masters of Italian cinema. Here is Everything We Know So Far … about Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica.
Back during Cannes in 2024, producers Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe announced that would produce the picture and the project officially lit up when Mandico found his lead back in December of last year. Fast forward into early 2025 and word around the camp fire was that Cinecittà Studios was going to be taken over. Alba Rohrwacher and Jasmine Trinca were initially attached, but dropped out. Filming took place in Nice and Gaude (France) and at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, Italy back in May of this year.
Set in the 1980s, the story follows an actress who is about to shoot her latest film in Rome.
It uses the backdrop of the Italian film scene and cine-città studios as a playground for nostalgia, homage and meta-cinematic reflection.
Marion Cotillard was the first person onboard cast as the film’s center with Noémie Merlant, Maurizio Lombardi, Ornella Muti, Martina Scrinzi, Franco Nero and Isabella Ferrari making up the higher profile parts of the ensemble.
Cinematography is handled by Mandico’s frequent collaborator, Nicolas Eveilleau. The talented Pauline Jacquard Costume Designer is also onboard. Production companies include France’s Atelier de Production and Italy’s Redibis Film and Dugong Films.
We got to believe that with almost a full year in post that this will be presented to Cannes programmers with Palme comp in sight and with definite interest from the Directors’ Fortnight section programmers as a fail-safe.
