The hottest comic in America, Sebastian Maniscalco joins forces with legendary Italian-American and two-time Oscar® winner, Robert De Niro (Best Actor, Raging Bull, 1980), in the new comedy About My Father.

The film centers around Sebastian (Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche).

According to About My Father star and co-screenwriter, Sebastian Maniscalco, “the film is about two different families, from very different socioeconomic backgrounds, colliding during a holiday weekend, before they realize that those differences are what make them unique.”

Maniscalco, a celebrated stand-up comedian, adds that his onscreen persona “is trying to walk a tightrope with his father in bringing him into an environment that is unfamiliar to him.”

When asked about the script, De Niro says, “I saw that it had a personal element from Sebastian's experience, obviously. And, after getting to know Laura Terruso a little bit, I realized her background too. They [Sebastian and Laura] knew the world. They're from the world. So that was an important part of it [the story],” says De Niro.

Early on, De Niro, famed for his immersion in his roles, requested a special read-through of the script with a group of fellow actors. “So, we flew to New York, during the height of the pandemic, and did a table read with him,” Maniscalco describes. “We were all wearing masks, and it was a little weird, but we were glad to do it.”

It also seemed pre-destined for Laura Terruso to direct. The award-winning director, screenwriter and producer had completed a feature film for Netflix, Work It, when the script for About My Father came her way. Her reaction was immediate and unsubtle: “This script made me jump and say, ‘I must direct this movie’ because it felt so personal and universal.”

Terruso’s personal connection to the project comes from her background, which parallel’s Maniscalco’s in significant ways. As she explains, “Sebastian’s father emigrated from Sicily in the 1960s, as did my mother, and we’ve both found our way into comedy.”

“Sebastian wrote the movie as a love letter to his father, and for me, it was clearly a love letter to my mother. We really bonded on that level and felt like, okay, we know who and what this is about and that guided all the decision making moving forward.”

About My Father is directed by Laura Terruso and written by Austen Earl & Sebastian Maniscalco.

Prorom will release About My Father this weekend in: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and in June in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The hottest comic in America, Sebastian Maniscalco joins forces with legendary Italian-American and two-time Oscar® winner, Robert De Niro (Best Actor, Raging Bull, 1980), in the new comedy About My Father.

The film centers around Sebastian (Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche).

The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.

About My Father is directed by Laura Terruso and written by Austen Earl & Sebastian Maniscalco.

Prorom will release About My Father in the following territories: Hungary (May 25), Romania, Bulgaria (May 26) and Czech Republic and Slovakia in June.

Photo credit: Dan Anderson.

Everything Everywhere took home seven Oscars on Sunday night, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert), Best Original Screenplay (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – Michelle Yeoh, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Jamie Lee Curtis, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Ke Huy Quan and Best Achievement in Film Editing – Paul Rogers.

The story follows Evelyn, an aging Chinese immigrant who goes on a wild adventure and is eventually tasked with saving the world.

A24, the Independent film studio behind Everything Everywhere All At Once, has made history, becoming the first in the 95-year history of the Oscars to capture the top 6 Awards at once: the four acting categories, director and picture.

This unprecedented achievement was possible with the awards won by the blockbuster Everything Everywhere All At Once, as well as Brendan Fraser's award for critically-acclaimed performance in The Whale.

The audience resonated with the story presented in a completely new way: mixing fantasy images, martial arts, humor, family drama and ironic commentary on the information age.

Thanks to all these elements, the film received the most nominations (11) at the 95th Academy Awards Gala, which will take place on Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theater at Ovation Hollywood.

Besides nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Michelle Yeoh, Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Stephanie Hsu, Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Jamie Lee Curtis and Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Ke Huy Quan, the film is up for Best Picture, Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Costume design (Shirley Kurata), Editing (Paul Rogers), Original song (Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski for song This Is a Life), Original score (Son Lux) and Original screenplay (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert).

An exciting story with 11 Oscar nominations, now in cinemas!

Besides nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Michelle Yeoh, Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Stephanie Hsu, Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Jamie Lee Curtis and Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Ke Huy Quan, the film is up for Best Picture, Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Costume design (Shirley Kurata), Editing (Paul Rogers), Original song (Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski for song This Is a Life), Original score (Son Lux) and Original screenplay (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert).

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel will return as the host of the Oscars, his third time fronting the ceremony, which he led in 2017 and 2018.

The 95th Oscars will be televised live on ABC on March 12 from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is content with life and comes at the world with a healthy scepticism. Despite this she encounters a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

This is a problem because she is a scholar of narrative and knows all the cautionary tales about wishes gone wrong. He pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.

Oscar-winning filmmaker George Miller first encountered Alithea and the Djinn when he read British author A.S. Byatt’s 1994 short story The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye in the late 1990s.

“It’s a story that seemed to probe many of the mysteries and paradoxes of life, and so succinctly” Miller recalls. “Once read it stayed with me, as some stories tend to do… then, one day it occurred to me that it should be a film.”

“It felt unique, something that you couldn’t quite fit into any genre and it ticked one very important box - there must be a whole lot more to it than meets the eye. There are stories within stories, a little like One Thousand and One Nights” says Miller.

Idris Elba: “It is an absolute postcard to the art of storytelling. It’s an unconventional film but has a very honest focus. The point is that stories are really important to humankind”.    

Prorom and Ro Image will release Three Thousand Years of Longing in Romanian cinemas on September, 2, 2022.