Diva Futura
Director | Giulia Louise Steigerwalt
Presented by EDIT.
In 1980s-1990s Italy, with his agency Diva Futura, Riccardo Schicchi revolutionises mass culture by turning the hippie utopia of free love into a new phenomenon; porn.
Based on a hilarious memoir, Diva Futura stars Barbara Ronchi as Debora Attanasio, the personal secretary to Riccardo Schicci, the founder of Italy’s porn industry in the 1990s.
2024 | 125 mins | Comedy | Italy | Italian with English subtitles & English Language
In a conservative Catholic nation with draconian censorship laws, his production company was briefly a utopian dream of revolution and sexual freedom. Schicci’s venture took place in a simpler, kinder pre-internet era, but in a rapidly changing Berlusconi Italy.
Director Giulia Louise Steigerwalt paints him as a likeable impresario steering the narrative away from easy impressions. Pietro Castellitto’s acclaimed, wide-eyed performance of him as a quirky visionary whose main sin was ‘loving woemn too much’ reflects the perspective of his secretary and some of the women he worked with.
While comparisons to Boogie Nights are inevitable, the film celebrates the women’s stories, including nods to figures like Cicciolina who was famously elected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. We are led on a lighthearted romp with unexpected wit and tenderness.
A celebration of the golden age of an Italian prom empire
The Hollywood Reporter