“National and foreign media attention on Lucca is growing”, says Remo Santini, Tourism Assessor for the city of Lucca. “Already the setting for international and national films, TV series and programs, in recent months Lucca has become the focus of many famous influencers and specialized magazines. They have focussed on telling about our city, filming its monuments, and capturing its irresistible charm. Our administration led by Mayor Mario Pardini intends to build on this activity by making the city an ideal set for film productions and television dramas. We will strengthen, enhance and promote Lucca’s artistic and cultural heritage by also focusing on new multimedia platforms.
Location, location… the beautiful city of Lucca becomes the most desired
“In 2022, several audiovisual productions have already chosen to shoot in the area with the support of the staff of the Tourist Office, who accompanied the crews during production. Filming has recently ended on the Indian film Anni Manchi Sakunamule, a romantic comedy directed by Nandini Reddy starring a young couple traveling to Italy who are played by actors Santos Sobhan and Malvika Nair – all very popular in their homeland.
The film uses “Different locations, from the historic center to the city’s walls – the actors even board a 1950s Vespa for a romantic ride on its tree-lined avenues. Produced by Swapna Cinema, one of the most important production houses in India, in synergy with the Italian Odu Movies: the release of the film is scheduled for 2023 and will be distributed on multiple streaming platforms around the world.
“Still on the subject of cinema,” continues Santini, “our city appears together with other Italian settings, in an American romantic comedy mystery movie, Spin me round, to be released in cinemas on August 19th.
“Local productions have been shot in Lucca, all worth mentioning as well, such as the short films Donna è nobile by Emanuel Nenconi which deals with violence against women, and Giostra, on the theme of Alzheimer’s by the Lucchese director Simone Arrighi.
“From cinema to TV series, the “City of the Walls” and Giacomo Puccini is the absolute protagonist of Gooische Moeders, a popular Dutch reality TV show and take-off on ‘Sex in the city’, about the journey of four dynamic women among Italian beauties (the other destinations are Milan, Rome and Amalfi). This will air on Sunday 7 August on Videoland (over 1.5 million subscribers).
The Dutch series’ protagonists go for a stroll on the Walls aboard a rickshaw and after a stint in via Fillungo, conclude the day enjoying a wonderful sunset on the Torre delle Ore…
La Torre Guinigi, on the other hand, is the backdrop for a documentary produced by Iconyc that is dedicated to the most famous international DJs – including Luca Bacchetti (right) from Lucca, among the interviewees–which is scheduled to play in 2023 on Netflix.
“Rai’s cameras returned to Lucca for its Linea Verde Discovery series, producing a thematic episode that aired in June and was seen by over a million spectators; On Rai 5, Bell’Italia focussed on the Mura and Volto Santo, while Visioni on Rai 5 dedicated a program to the Lucca Classica Festival and showed great views of the city center.
“But cinema and TV were not the only ones to feature Lucca: the web and social networks used new approaches and tools to promote the beauties of the city.”- added Santini.
“Coverage included Lucca, vlogs told with Tuscan irony by Wiki Pedro (170 thousand followers) to the reports on Lucca and Villa Reale given by Bergamo travel blogger Simone Colombo (80 thousand fans), to a documentary on the channel Ready, set, go, to website Tg Turismo that gave a food tour among the city’s restaurants and typical Lucca cuisine. Not to mention features in newspapers and magazines such as Sorrisi & Canzoni, Marie Claire and the Gazzetta dello Sport (on the Puccini cycling tourism) and Essentialist, the American luxury travel magazine.
“Other projects are already in the pipeline. We are working to assure that Lucca’s natural gift for telling its story finds expression in even more forms: as a protagonist in the national and international press, as a clapperboard for broadcasts and television series from all over the world, film sets and more.”
Santini concludes: “The city will work to increase every occasion to heighten Lucca’s visibility, strongly believing that this type of promotion will not only attract new visitors, but also will bring mindful, quality tourism to the city.”
