They will have a prologue and an epilogue in Sicily, in Messina – in what was the hospital in the 1600s (now a deconsecrated church) where the writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of the famous novel «Don Quixote de la Mancha» was treated – and also a stop in Calabria for the filming of the film «Don Quixote»produced by Baby Film and commissioned by Lucana and Calabria Film Commission.
This was announced yesterday in Matera by the director Flavio Segatori during the press conference to present the production and in the presence of the actors Alessio Boni, who will play the protagonist Don Quixote, and Fiorenzo Mattu, who will have the role of Sancho Panza, of the president of the Lucana Film commission, Margherita Romaniello, of Giampaolo Calabrese, project manager of the Calabria Film Commission, and of the producer Paola Columba.
The choice of the prologue in Messina is motivated by the role that the city had in the history of the Spanish writer, who after the battle of Lepanto was hospitalized in the Messina civic hospital for some serious wounds received in battle (including one on the left hand , which will leave him crippled forever), remaining there for at least six months, from October to April. Indeed, according to some, the passage over the Strait may have induced Cervantes to write the novel.
In Basilicata, filming of the film «Don Quixote», based on the play by the Lucanian playwright and director Gerardo Guerrieri and inspired by the famous 17th century novel by Miguel de Cervantes, will begin on Monday 6 May. Filming in Basilicata will last two weeks, and will involve the centers of Pisticci, Montalbano Jonico, Craco, Borgo Taccone di Irsina in Matera and Genzano di Lucania (Potenza).
The processing will therefore continue in Calabria, in the upper Cosentino area, between Roseto Capo Spulico and Rocca Imperiale, where the famous “windmills” mentioned by Cervantes are being built.
In recent days, some auditions were carried out to select the Lucanian actors Gabriella Bagnasco, in the role of Dulcinea, Carlo De Ruggieri, Giovanni Capalbo and Michele Ferrara for other roles. Among the Lucanian professionals involved also the director of photography Ugo Lo Pinto, the general organizer Franco Campagna and the assistant director Angelo De Luca.
