FREMANTLE'S "ANNA" WAS COMMISSIONED BY SKY

Shooting will start in mid-October in the Roman countryside, and then continue in Sicily, for “Anna” (working title), the new series created and directed by Niccolò Ammaniti. This is his second TV project with Sky and Wildside following The Miracle, which successfully launched last year.

Based on the author’s novel of the same name published in Italy by Einaudi, is a Sky original series produced by Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle’s Italian producers Wildside, in collaboration with Arte France and Kwaï.

Niccolò Ammaniti is the series’ showrunner and director, as well as author of the screenplay with Francesca Manieri (Italian Race, The First King, The Miracle).

Anna tells the story of a headstrong young girl sets off on a search for her kidnapped brother. Across scorched fields, through mysterious woods, between the ruins of former shopping malls and abandoned towns, in the desolate spaces of an island reclaimed by nature and wild communities of survivors, Anna is guided along by the book her mother left her with the instructions for making it in the world. But day after day she discovers that the rules of the past no longer work; she has to devise new ones.

“How long does a lobster live? One hundred and fifty years. A crocodile lives eighty. A fly thirty days. The mysteries of biology. Imagine a world where humans live fourteen years like dogs. At puberty a virus hidden in our DNA reawakens and it’s all over. A world populated by children and based on simple rules; everything is determined and anything is possible. The young orphans live in a Sicily where past and present are legacies of the adult world and nature takes back what belongs to her. Anna, the main character of the story, has a mission: to save herself and her younger brother. To do so she imagines a future, rejecting the laws of survival, nurturing hope and nourishing the memory of the grownups,” commented Niccolò Ammaniti.

Nicola Maccanico, Executive Vice President Programming Sky, said: "We are delighted to work again with Wildside and with a talent like Niccolò Ammaniti. After The Miracle, Anna is indeed the right project to take our collaboration to the next level. The series’ ambition is to move in a completely fictional territory but through a realism that is open to a contemporary metaphorical reading. Anna, besides being a fairy tale, is a fantasy warning against one of the problems of our age. The loneliness of our youngsters who must fight for their future even if they are often hampered by adults who are increasingly emotionless and distracted”.

Mario Gianani, Wildside CEO, said: “Anna is a series that deals with a deeply contemporary theme: it is a story about children on the verge of puberty forced to live alone, in what is left of a world devastated by adults, and in which they must find hope for a rebirth. After The Miracle we are happy to return to work with Niccolò Ammaniti, one of the most important, creative and appreciated Italian talents abroad, and we are sure that once again he will bring to the project his amazingly original vision.”

“After The Miracle and its huge success in France, Arte France is proud and happy to be partner again of the new series by Niccolò Ammaniti, Anna. When the future of mankind lies in the hands of our children, then comes the question, did we manage to prepare them for this? ‘Anna’ is a powerful and emotional vision, driven by the very unique art of Ammaniti’s grabbing storytelling,” concluded Olivier Wotling, Head of Drama Arte France.

“Anna” will be a Sky exclusive in Italy with Fremantle handling the series’ global rights.