'Rose Island': Meet Elio Germano, Fabrizio Bentivoglio and rest of the cast of Netflix's Italian dramedy
As the year draws to a close, it's time to catch up on some great content during the holidays and with the staggering amount of foreign content Netflix boasts of some promising foreign content and one of them is 'Rose Island'. Titled L’Incredibile Storia Dell’Isola Delle Rose', the Sydney Sibilia-directed comedy feature follows the true story of engineer Giorgio Rosa and the independent micronation that he founded of the Rimini coast outside Italian territorial waters in 1968.
Starring Giorgio Rosa and Matilda De Angelis in lead roles, the cast also includes Luca Zingaretti, Tom Wlaschiha ('Jack Ryan'), Violetta Zironi, Fabrizio Rongione and Riccardo Marzi. Ahead of the film's release, here's a quick primer of who's playing who in the much-anticipated feature.
Elio Germano as Giorgio Rosa
Germano is known for his work in the Italian film industry. Some of his best projects include 'Blood — Death Does Not Exist', 'Napoleon and Me' and 'My Brother Is an Only Child'. These features saw him walk away with awards at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival, European Film Awards and the Italian Golden Globes. The 40-year-old has worked with a string of successful directors in the past. He is no stranger to playing real-life characters. Germano received critical acclaim for portraying Leopardi, the story of the short life of the great Italian poet of the same name.
Matilda De Angelis as Gabriella
Angelis' credits include the films 'Italian Race', 'The Prize' and the television miniseries 'The Undoing'. One of the interesting facts about Matilda's journey was how she got into acting after being discovered by director Matteo Rovere on the street ahead of 'Italian Race'. "It was a real luck for me because it was my very first experience with acting," the actress later said in a 2018 interview with Fade to Her.
Fabrizio Bentivoglio as Franco Restivo
Bentivoglio is known for 'The Name of the Rose', 'Il flauto magico di Piazza Vittorio' and 'The Invisible Witness'. The actor also has worked extensively in theatre.
Netflix's official synopsis of the film reads: "An idealistic engineer builds his own island off the Italian coast and declares it a nation, drawing the world’s attention. Values are tested when the Italian Government declares him an enemy, but to change the world risks must be taken."
You can watch the trailer here:
'Rose Island' premieres on Wednesday, December 9, on Netflix.