‘finally dawn’ clip: first look at lily james, joe keery & willem dafoe in 1950s cinecittà drama – venice

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline can reveal a first look at Lily James, Joe Keery and Willem Dafoe in Italian director Saverio Costanzo’s 1950s Cinecittà-set drama _Finally Dawn _ahead of its world

premiere in Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday. Celebrating the golden age of Rome’s historic Cinecittà film studios, the coming-of-age drama revolves around teenage ingenue

Mimosa, played by Italian newcomer Rebecca Antonaci. After she is unwittingly cast as a lead extra in a swords and sandals drama, the young girl finds herself being swept up by group of

hedonistic actors and expats who take on chaotic tour of the city’s night-life. In the backdrop to her personal coming-of-age night-time odyssey, is the mysterious death of Wilma Montesi, a

real-life young woman from Rome with acting aspirations, whose semi-naked body was found on a beach in 1953, on the nearby Lazio coastline. WATCH ON DEADLINE James gives a memorable

performance as a complex, self-obsessed acting diva, who takes a shine to Mimosa, alongside Dafoe as her expat art dealer Rome friend and Keery, as an insecure but kind young actor. The clip

shows the trio introducing themselves to Mimosa as they reel her into their world. _Finally Dawn_ is Costanzo’s first directorial credit since hit HBO drama _My Brilliant Friend_, adapted

from Elena Ferrante’s best-selling literary quartet _The Neapolitan Novels_. The director has described the film as his own personal dawn, as worked on his own material after devoting a

number of years to the Ferrante adaptation. The picture is produced Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa for Rome-based Fremantle Group company Wildside with Rai Cinema in collaboration with

Cinecittà and FilmNation Entertainment, which is also handling world sales. UTA is handling North American sales