Serbian auteur Goran Paskaljevic, whose latest film is Indo-Serbian co-production “Dev Bhoomi,” is set to shoot refugee-themed “My Name Is Mohamed,” which will be set entirely in Italy.
Paskaljevic has been scouting locations in the city of Viterbo, in the central Lazio region, which has one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval districts.
“Mohamed” is centered around an 8-year-old Syrian refugee runaway boy, who comes under the care of a woman who had lost a son. She becomes obsessed with transforming the boy into her late son.
“This is not another classic story about refugees. I am more interested in the question of the assimilation (or not) of those poor people coming from a very different culture and religion,” Paskaljevic said.
The production is being mounted by Rome-based indie Cinedea, which co-produced the Argentinian boxing melodrama “Sangre en La Boca.” The pic will tap into Rome Lazio Film Commission incentives.
“Dev Bhoomi,” which toplines veteran Indian thesp Victor Banerjee, follows 65-year-old Rahul, who, when he discovers he is going blind, decides to return to his village in India from England. The film will have its world premiere in the Toronto Film Festival’s Masters section in September.
