Italy’s Coccinelle Sells LGBTQ Drama ‘The Neighbor’ to U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)

Specialty U.S. distributors Uncork’d Entertainment and Dark Star Pictures have acquired Italian director Pasquale Marrazzo’s LGBTQ drama “The Neighbor” for release in North America from Rome-based Coccinelle Film Sales.

“The Neighbor” (which is titled “Hotel Milano” in Italy) is about two young men who are in love but get bullied by a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads that makes their life impossible as hatred and intolerance seeps into the rapport between their respective families.

It’s the fifth feature written and directed by Marrazzo whose debut “South of the Sun” launched from Toronto’s Discovery section in 2001. Marrazzo’s “I Dream of the World on Friday” was in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present Competition in 2009.

Marrazzo self-produced “Neighbor” does not yet have Italian distribution. Pic stars newcomer actors Michele Costabile and Jacopo Costantini as the leads and boasts a score by prizewinning Italian composer Teho Teardo (“House of Gucci,” “Il Divo”).

In Cannes Coccinelle, which is headed by Francesca Breccia, has also closed several other sales.

–– Moviemento, a new French distribution company headed by Jerome Vallet Carriere has taken French rights on Italian director Ciro De Caro’s female empowerment drama “Giulia” which premiered last year in the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section and will be released by Film Buro in Spain.

–– Bulgarian drama “Cat in the Wall” by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova, about a Bulgarian single mother who feuds with her working-class British neighbors over rightful ownership of an independent-minded pet, was acquired for Italian distribution by Draka distribution. Pic launched in 2020 from the SXSW fest.

Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!