Adriana Chiesa, the pioneering Italian sales agent who has been a fixture at Cannes for 40 years, has sold her film library to Italy’s Minerva Pictures.
The 85-title ACEK library comprises a broad mix of prominent works by revered directors such as Lina Wertmuller’s “Swept Away” (pictured) and “Summer Night With Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and a Scent of Basil” and cult movies including Lamberto Bava’s gonzo horror “Macabro,” revenge Western “Garringo” by Rafael Romero Merchant, and Asia Argento’s directorial debut, “Scarlet Diva,” on which Chiesa and Minerva chief Gianluca Curti jointly served as executive producers.
“I am particularly happy because I know that Gianluca appreciates the value of my library and will carry on its legacy with all the love and respect that it deserves,” Chiesa told Variety. She added that she will now continue her production activity, making documentaries such as “Water and Sugar: Carlo Di Palma” about her late husband, the visionary cinematographer Di Palma. “There is more freedom in documentaries and that’s what I want to go on doing,” she added.
“I am proud to have just made this deal with Adriana, who is one of the most well-respected distributors of Italian cinema in the world and definitively one of the first,” said Curti. “We will try to keep up her good work with responsibility, pride and great pleasure, and we’re honored to have these titles as part of Minerva’s ever-growing library.”
Minerva has a vast library of more than 2,500 titles ranging from Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Conformist” and works by Mario Monicelli and Ettore Scola to works by genre maestro Fernando Di Leo.
Other titles in the ACEK library include “Paranoia” and pics by Italian B-movie master Umberto Lenzi of whom Quentin Tarantino is known to be a fan; several sexy comedies starring former Miss France Edwige Fenech that are evergreens in Italy but also have an international market, and Italian comedy king Carlo Verdone’s “Bianco Rosso e Verdone” and “Un Sacco Bello.”
Minerva’s head of international Monica Ciarli commented: “I am thrilled to have such iconic titles added to our already rich catalog of cult and classic films. We are committed to give a new life to all of them, and have structured our sales division with a dedicated person to maximize this amazing heritage.”
