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Bellocchio’s Portobello Sets Feb. 20 HBO Max Debut as First Italian HBO Original

Bellocchio says the timing is coincidental to March’s justice referendum.

Overview

  • Six episodes recount Enzo Tortora’s wrongful prosecution after accusations by pentito Giovanni Pandico, with Fabrizio Gifuni as Tortora and Lino Musella as Pandico.
  • Episodes will stream weekly on HBO Max starting February 20, with a free-to-air Rai broadcast expected in about a year and a half.
  • The series was presented at the Venice Film Festival and mixes letters, court records and family interviews with imagined scenes where sources are absent.
  • Produced by Our Films (Mediawan) and Kavac Film, co-produced with ARTE France, in collaboration with Rai Fiction and The Apartment Pictures (Fremantle).
  • Discovery executive Laura Carafoli says the date was chosen to help launch the new HBO Max platform and to echo Tortora’s February 20 on-air return after his acquittal.