After director Marco Bellocchio's critically-acclaimed film Bella Addormentata (Sleeping Beauty) failed to win any major awards at the Venice Film Festival, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called Bellocchio to discuss the film.
A Milanese cultural official, Stefano Boeri, briefly revealed at the Bella Addormentata screening at the Cinema Anteo in Milan that Napolitano said he "appreciated" the film and how it addressed "a difficult topic". Napolitano made a brief appearance in the film in archival footage and watched it in a private screening shortly after it premiered in Venice.
Bella Addormentata revolves around the final days of real-life coma patient Eluana Englaro, who died three years ago in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia after 17 years on life support due to a debilitating car accident. At age of 39, Englaro's father decided to take her off life support, a move that sparked protests from Catholic groups and made national press.
Though Bellocchio received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2011, this year his new film only garnered the Marcello Mastroianni award for best new young actor for the work of Fabrizio Falco. The award was shared between Bella Addormentata and Daniele Ciprì's E' stato il figlio, in which Falco also appeared.
Bella Addormentata opened in Italian cinemas in early September and made its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as a special out of competition presentation.
