Movie locations from the Etruscan Coast to the Islands

Michele Riondino, an actor and director most appreciated for his work on the small and big screen (his performance in ‟The Young Montalbano” is well known), has chosen the Etruscan Coast for his directorial debut, ‟Palazzina Laf.”  The interiors of the steel mills are those of the former Lucchini steel plant in Piombino, able to tell a story inspired by a real-life event at Ilva in Taranto. The film, which deals with a social, labor-related issue, is set in 1997 Taranto, where Caterino (Elio Germano) works as a steelworker. One day, company executives decide to have him a spy on workers to pinpoint who should be let go—a request that flatters him, as it could lead to a promotion, but one that will be fraught with pitfalls, twists and turns, and a heavy downside. The film boasts an original soundtrack by leading artists Diodato and Andrea Laszlo De Simone.

Scenes were then shot between Piombino and San Vincenzo, another location with great tourist appeal on the Etruscan Coast, for the Mediaset drama, “Erica,” starring Vanessa Incontrada and Francesco Scianna. The fictional work is an adaptation of the hugely successful French series of the same name, based on novels by best-selling author Camilla Läckberg, having sold millions of copies worldwide.

And shifting our gaze to the Tuscan archipelago, the fictional locality of Pineta serves as the backdrop for the highly successful TV series “I Delitti del Barlume,” now constructed on Elba Island, specifically in Marciana Marina. The intriguing series revolves around the town’s coffee shop (in Italian, “bar”) called “BarLume,” run by protagonist Massimo (Filippo Timi) while, almost by chance, he finds himself accidentally investigating murders and local mysteries, together with the discombobulated group of old-timers, habitués of the place (Alessandro Benvenuti, Massimo Paganelli, Atos Davini and Marco Messeri) and a parterre of hilarious characters, played by Corrado Guzzanti, Lucia Mascino, Stefano Fresi and Tiziana Guazzelli. 

Anna Valle, Giorgio Marchesi and Irene Ferri spent 5 months on Elba Island shooting the Mediaset drama “Le Onde del Passato.” This 6-episode TV series is inspired by the novel “Due Sirene in un Bicchiere” by Federica Brunini and directed by Giulio Manfredonia, already seen alongside Antonio Albanese in many films.

Giglio Island, which in 2013 hosted a few scenes of Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty,” a film that won Oscars, David di Donatello and Nastri d’Argento awards, was instead chosen for shooting scenes for the film “The Origin of Love” starring Layla, a brilliant feminist therapist, about to marry Jonas, the man she—at least until 2 days prior—considered perfect. The island is the perfect setting for the perfect wedding, until a not-so-perfect event that will disrupt the idyllic atmosphere.

A film selection produced in collaboration with the Toscana Film Commission, which supports film and audiovisual productions shooting in the region.