15/06/2023 - The first fiction feature by Italian producer and documentary-maker Rosa Russo homes in on climate change

This Monday 19 June will see shooting commence in Sicily on producer and documentary-maker Rosa Russo’s first feature film, Hearts of Salt. The movie is a co-production between Italy’s Artimagiche Film - a production company headquartered in Naples with over thirty years’ experience - and PFA Films (Spaghetti Story [+see also:
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The lead role in Hearts of Salt is played by 35-year-old British actor Alexander Vlahos, who’s known for parts in hit series such as Merlin (2012), Versailles (2015-2018), Outlander (2022) and Sanditon (2022-23). Born in Swansea to a Welsh mother and a Greek father, the actor is also starring in Netflix’s romantic comedy Irish Wish alongside Lindsay Lohan.

Penned by the director, this first fiction film by Rosa Russo (whose 2018 documentary One Girl was selected in upwards of forty international festivals) revolves around the question of climate change. When a British ornithologist travels to Sicily to study the effects of climate change on migration, he bears witness to a series of tragic events. He is forced to abandon his role as a detached observer, but this proves to be much harder than anticipated. The film analyses cultural clashes, family ties, human relations and generational conflict, and, by way of its various twists and turns, it paints the portrait of a world in crisis, while the humanitarian and ecological issues which act as a backdrop to the story reflect the day-to-day malaise we currently feel.

Starring alongside Vlahos in the cast are Eleonora De Luca (The Macaluso Sisters [+see also:
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film profile], Padrenostro [+see also:
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interview: Claudio Noce
film profile]), Roberta Rigano, Fares Landoulsi, Gaetano Aronica (The Girl From Tomorrow [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marta Savina
film profile]), Paride Benassai (La fuitina sbagliata [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Saverio Santangelo, Michele Perrotta and Fabio Orso.

Filming on Hearts of Salt is set to last five weeks, unfolding in Palermo, Mazara del Vallo and Terrasini, with a brief stint in Tunisia. The movie is made in collaboration with the Piano Focale film school, with the support of the Sicily region, the Italian Ministry for Culture and the EU Media Programme known as Medea.

(Translated from Italian)