ABEL FERRARA STARTS SHOOTING GO GO TALES

Willem Dafoe, Matthew Modine, Bob Hoskins, Asia Argento, Riccardo Scamarcio, Bianca Balti, and Lou Doillon star in the Satirical Comedy

Los Angeles… (November 27, 2006)… Director/writer Abel Ferrara (Mary starring Juliette Binoche, R Xmas, Bad Lieutenant, Snake Eyes starring Madonna) today announced the November 27 start of principal photography for Go Go Tales, a screwball comedy set in a downtown Manhattan “go go” cabaret.   Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe (Spiderman I and II, The Aviator) has been cast as the charismatic cabaret impresario Ray Ruby whose club “Paradise” is a factory of dreams for young dancers.  

Bob Hoskins (Hollywoodland, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) portrays Ray’s sidekick/accountant Jay, and Matthew Modine (Transporter II, Mary) stars as Ray’s younger brother Johnny who is also his financier.  Italian supermodel Bianca Balti and French actress Lou Doillon have been cast as the lead dancers. 

Go Go Tales recounts the tale of one fateful evening in Paradise.  Ray and Jay face imminent foreclosure by the landlady when Johnny tells Ray he is no longer willing to lend him the money to keep the club open.  Things have gotten so bad that even the dancers are threatening to “strip-strike”, and to make matters worse, Ray has lost their winning lottery ticket!

Asia Argento (Marie Antoinette, xXx), Burt Young (Rocky Balboa, Transamerica, Rocky I, II, III, IV, V), Riccardo Scamarcio (Texas, L’Uomo Perfetto), Sylvia Miles (Denise Calls Up, Midnight Cowboy, Good Night My Lovely), supermodel Bianca Balti and French actress Lou Doillon (Blanche by Bernie Bonvoisin, Embrassez Qui Vous Voudrez by Michel Blanc) also star in the American-Italian co-production which started rehearsals on November 20.

Go Go Tales will shoot in Cinecittà Studios, Rome, and move to New York in early January to shoot exteriors.  Director Ferrara also scripted the film which is executive produced by Enrico Coletti (Caro Gorbaciov directed by Carlo Lizzani; Carol un Papa rimasto uomo directed by Giacomo Battiato) and Massimo Cortesi (Bernardo Bertolucci’s Besieged; Claire Peploe’s The Triumph of Love).  Paolo Lucidi line produces.

Go Go Tales is co-produced by Go Go Tales Inc., Bellatrix Media and De Nigris Productions. Go Go Tales Inc. was founded by American financier Steven W. Lefkowitz.  Bellatrix Media is controlled by “Sunrise Holding S.A.”, a company owned by Swiss entrepreneur Massimo Gatti.

“When we read the script of Go Go Tales, it reminded us of the comedies of Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges, where tragic events became black comedy and reality was seen with rose colored glasses and rules were bent with a carefree irony,” commented executive producer Enrico Coletti. 
“We can think of no one better than Abel Ferrara to bring this story to life,” added executive producer Massimo Cortesi.

Go Go Tales features a stellar production team including Director of Photography Fabio Cianchetti (Roberto Benigni’s The Tiger and the Snow, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Dreamers), costume designer Gemma Mascagni (Ricordati di me directed by Gabriele Muccino; Manuale d'Amore directed by Giovanni Veronesi) and production designer/associate producer Frank deCurtis (MARY, R Xmas, Donnie Brasco) who has rebuilt a three floor NY nightclub on the Cinecittà soundstage.

Most familiar to audiences for such commercial hits as Spider Man I and II, Dafoe has garnered critical praise and Academy Award nominations for his performances in Shadow of the Vampire and Platoon.   Among his other varied film credits are: The Aviator, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,The English Patient, Mississippi Burning and The Last Temptation of Christ.

Ferrara reunites with Modine with whom he previously worked on Mary which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Venice Film Festival.    Modine’s impressive film credits include: Any GivenSunday, Short Cuts, Pacific Heights, Full Metal Jacket and Birdy.  His television credits include thecritically acclaimed And the Band Played On as well as appearances in such hit series as “Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit” and “The West Wing.”

Bob Hoskins is known to audiences worldwide for outstanding performances in such critically acclaimed films as Mona Lisa (for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won both a BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award in the same category), The Cotton Club, Brazil and A Prayer for the Dying.   Hoskins has also demonstrated his lighterside in such commercial hits as Maid in Manhattan, Super Mario Bros. and Hook. 
Asia Argento was most recently seen in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and George Romero’s Land of the Dead.   The multi-talented actress also wrote and directed The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.    Her other film credits include The Keeper, Ginostra, Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, Patrice Chereau’s award-winning and critically acclaimed Queen Margot.   Go Go Tales is her second film with Ferrara and Dafoe following their collaboration on New Rose Hotel.  Ms. Argento made her film debut in La Chiesa under the direction of her father, Dario Argento, and appeared in several of his later films including Love Bites, The Phantom of the Opera and Trauma.