On Dec. 4, Brunello Cucinelli held the premiere of his new documentary, “Brunello, il Visionario Garbato [The Gracious Visionary],” by Academy Award-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore and starring young Italian talent Saul Nanni as the young Cucinelli.
The red carpet debut of the movie was held in Rome at the historical Cinecittà, where both the Italian designer’s family and A-list celebrities converged to celebrate.
The atmosphere was electric on the beige carpet. Jessica Chastain, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum and Emilie Livingston, Ava DuVernay, Park Jin-young, Sae-Kyeong Shin, Chris Pine, Kyle MacLachlan, Poppy Delevingne, Alexander Zverev, Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and more all flew in for the momentous occasion.
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They were among the 1,000 guests invited to the screening, which was held inside the Teatro 22 studio, Cinecittà’s biggest of the two largest film studios in Europe, which was reopened after renovations for the occasion.
The screening room — decked in beige, as was the curtained foyer — allowed for more mingling before lights went down and the screening began.
The film takes a look at the life and work of Cucinelli, merging the worlds of philosophy and work. The film is part fictional and part documentary and revisits pivotal moments of the Italian designer’s life, from his childhood in the countryside and the village of Solomeo, which he has transformed into a symbol of his vision of “humanistic capitalism,” contributing to its restoration, to the creation of a world-renowned fashion company built on the principles of dignity, beauty, and social justice.
Archival footage and personal recollections are blended in the movie, alongside testimonials from the closest people to him. These include the American celebrities Patrick Dempsey and Oprah Winfrey.
“It is not quite a documentary, nor a feature film, nor a commercial — but a blend of all three. The aim was to explore the life of Brunello Cucinelli through an interplay of contrasting forms: the classical documentary on one side, and on the other the staged narrative of a film that may, or may not, exist. These two strands overlap and merge in a bold, free-spirited experiment,” Tornatore said.
The film boasts a soundtrack composed by Nicola Piovani, an Academy Award winner.
Having seen an early screening of the film before the premiere, Carolina Cucinelli, vice president and co-creative director of Brunello Cucinelli, told WWD on the red carpet that “what surprised me the most was to be able to see all the real-life stories about my father and my grandfather that they would tell me and that had a big impact on me, [to be replicated] in the movie. It’s very emotional.”
As the 120-minute movie wrapped up and the audience exited the venue, the Via Sacra, Cinecittà’s famous pathway leading to the majestic open-air movie set shaped after ancient Rome, lit up. Guests walked past two life-size braziers standing outside Teatro 22 and joined a seated dinner prepared by the Michelin-starred Da Vittorio.
The Basilica Aemilia space overlooking the set was decorated inside with 100,000 books, in reference to the movie’s billboard.
“To me, it was an immense joy to once again watch the documentary film ‘Brunello: the Gracious Visionary’ – which my highly esteemed Maestro Giuseppe Tornatore has so generously gifted us – in such a captivating setting as Teatro 22 at Cinecittà, together with the special people to whom I am bound by deep affection,” Cucinelli said.
“The presence at the world première of so many respected journalists, authorities, international celebrities, and the warmth of my family and lifelong friends greatly amplified both the emotion and the profound sense of gratitude I carry within me. This poetic work has been further enriched by the music of an extraordinary artist particularly dear to me, Nicola Piovani, and I feel all the more honored when I think of the creative genius of two Academy Award winners such as them, who embody the very best of our beloved Italy,” he continued.
“The tale so beautifully narrated in this documentary film is, at its core, a story of perseverance and passion, and for this reason I wish to dedicate it to all young people, so that they may always nurture their own dream of beauty without fear, for it is precisely from dreams that the true spiritual growth of the human being is born,” Cucinelli said.
Click here to see more highlights from the premiere.