from GAT

Friends, family, food, vino. It’s a universal Italian prescription for happiness. But in vino, there’s also veritas. And the truth has a tendency to wreak havoc, particularly on those who keep secrets.

Jerry Ciccoritti’s robust family drama The Resurrection of Tony Gitone follows the return of a prodigal-son-turned-movie-actor to his family in Toronto’s Little Italy. A character-driven film in the vein of films like Diner, Big Night and Husbands, it showcases some of the most formidable actors in the Italian community, in a tale of life, love, friendship and roots.

On a sweltering summer night in Little Italy, the after-hours hot-spot Il Gatto Nero is the setting for a birthday/homecoming for Nino (Fab Filippo), the handsome golden boy who’s been knocking around L.A., landing small parts in big movies and big parts in small ones. Now he’s home for the first time in years, on the heels of a big break – a starring role in a major director’s new movie – with a big-name leading lady, Vanessa Luna (Paula Rivera) on his arm to show off to the neighbourhood.

Add wine, sumptuous Italian food and a guest-list that’s a cross-section of Italian immigrant life, and stir. Guests include the contractor Leo (John Cassini), who’s just uncovered his wife’s affair; Frankie (Ron Lea), who’s scandalized the family with a tell-all novel; Alberto (Alvaro D’Antonio), an Italian-community media mogul; failed restauranteur Eddie (Louis Di Bianco); mobster-turned-chef Bruno (Tony Nappo); and Vince (Nick Mancuso), the aging director who’s also prone to manipulation by Vanessa Luna.

What begins as a joyous gathering full of high spirits, food, drink and dancing soon disintegrates in an explosion of old wounds and long buried secrets, that bring out fists and guns amid the platters of food.

But The Resurrection of Tony Gitone is a redemptive story. In this world, love and friendship trump bad blood as surely as the sun rises on College Street.

“I was so jones-ed to do something like this with my friends,” Ciccoritti says. “I was waiting for financing on a major film and thought, ‘Why not?’ I came up with the idea while sitting in the real-life Gatto Nero on College St in Toronto. I thought about the range of personalities I’d encountered over the years, created 10 characters and called on the best guys in the biz. They were just as psyched, saying they always wanted to play a role like this, something real that speaks to their own experience. But those roles don’t come along very often.”

Born and raised in Toronto, Jerry Ciccoritti is one of Canada’s most prolific and influential directors. Known for his innovative, visual style, Ciccoritti has worked with an impressive roster of talent, Sophia Loren, James Caan, Colm Feore, Sarah Polley, Catharine O’Hara, Kris Kristofferson and Kate Nelligan, just to name a few. His features have played to festivals worldwide. In television, he has three Best Film Gemini Awards, eight Geminis for Best Director and three Directors Guild of Canada Awards. In film, he received a Genie nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2004 feature Blood.

Breakthrough Entertainment is distributing the film globally.