Hunter Schafer and Tim Roth are set to star in “Fish,” a genre-bending drama set in a dreamlike Venice, directed by Italian auteur Carlo Hintermann.
Italy’s Minerva Pictures and TVCO will be launching international pre-sales on “Fish” at the upcoming Cannes Marché du Film. The English-language film is expected to go into production in Venice in early 2026.
Roth, who recently wrapped production on Netflix’s hotly anticipated “Peaky Blinders” film opposite Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan, will be playing a character called Professor Fish Osborne. He is “a brilliant but reclusive art historian who is undergoing a mysterious transformation: he is slowly becoming a fish,” as the provided synopsis puts it. As the professor’s secret unravels, Billie (Schafer) and other students of his begin to perceive their own identities through new lenses. “Mutation becomes not a curse, but a radical act of liberation,” the synopsis says.
Schafer stars in upcoming Amazon Prime Video sci-fi drama series “Blade Runner 2099” opposite Michelle Yeoh. Earlier this year, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her lead role in Neon’s horror thriller “Cuckoo” directed by Tilman Singer. Schafer will next be seen in the A24 feature “Mother Mary” opposite Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel.
“Fish” is being produced by Italy’s Indiana Production (Netflix’s “The Leopard”) and Hinterman’s Citrullo International shingle.
The film — which is co-written by Hintermann with Marco Saura, in collaboration with Tania Pedroni (“Hidden Away”) — is an international co-production with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Amour Fou Luxembourg. “Fish” has secured support from the Italian culture ministry, the Veneto Film Commission and Media Creative Europe.
Hintermann and Gerardo Panichi’s Citrullo International shingle have previously co-produced films such as Amos Gitai’s “Rabin: the Last Day” and U.S.-based Iranian auteur Amir Naderi’s “Monte,” which premiered at Venice in 2016.
Hintermann’s “Book of Vision” debut, which was executive produced by Terrence Malick, is a high-concept picture featuring “Game of Thrones” star Charles Dance and Dutch actress Lotte Verbeek (“Outlander”) that straddled surreally between the past and the present. It opened the Venice Critics’ Week in 2020.
“Fish” will be a flagship title on the Cannes slate of Rome-based Minerva Pictures, which has a catalogue of over 1,000 titles and operates across production and international sales, focusing mainly on commercial features. Minerva recently teamed up with TVCO, which is specialized in the international sales of art house films.
Roth is represented by CAA, Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer and Markham, Froggatt and Irwin. Schafer is represented by CAA, Untitled and Sloane Offer.
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