“Primo Viaggio,” a collaborative project between Rome-based Sacher Film and Paris-based Halley Production, has finished principal photography following location shooting in Naples, Málaga and Marseille between June and July of this year. The film will be presented at the Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market, where producers intend to engage with sales agents, festival programmers and potential investors.
Written and directed by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, known for the films “Californie” and “Vittoria,” the project centers on Carlo, a 20-year-old resident of Naples who undertakes drug transport work from Spain to Italy as a means of escaping his difficult circumstances. His journey abroad marks a significant departure from his confined neighborhood existence, and encounters during his time in Spain prove transformative, setting him on an unexpected path.
The production originated last year when producer Andrea Marcelli of Halley Production connected with Benedetta Barroero of Sacher Film at the Locarno Film Festival’s Alliance 4 Development co-development platform. According to Marcelli, the partnership felt natural given the film’s narrative scope and represents a continuation of historical Franco-Italian cinema collaborations. He emphasized that the directors’ characteristic approach to blending reality and fiction, combined with their humanistic perspective on the protagonist’s transformation, formed the project’s creative foundation.
The filmmakers maintained the documentary-like authenticity evident in their previous work by casting non-professional actors in primary roles, including Mario Di Frenna in the lead, who was selected through an extended street-casting process. The production’s geographical focus—spanning Naples, Málaga and Marseille—creates what Marcelli described as a Mediterranean narrative arc, with the three cities sharing similar social dynamics and atmospheric qualities despite their different national contexts.
Halley Production has recent credits including the 2025 Spanish film “The Dinner,” which won a Goya Award.
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