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Rai adapts Tuvalu school drama

POV: I Primi Anni used non-professional actors and improvisation

Italian pubcaster Rai has launched its own remake of a European teen drama format produced with local prodco Showlab during the pandemic.

POV: I Primi Anni (52×12′), which launched on Rai Gulp and Rai Play earlier this month, is based on The First Years, created by Newen-owned Tuvalu Media in the Netherlands for local channel NPO Zapp in 2014.

Targeted at young teens and directed by Davide Tosco, the show is about the difficult first two years of middle school.

In Italy, the show features a cast of young non-professional actors who improvise their performances based on a narrative provided by writers Francesco Bigi, Nicola Conversa and Erica Gallesi.

Filmed during the pandemic, the cast and crew lived together for over a month on the campus of the UN’s International Labour Organisation on the banks of the river Po in Turin.

“The experience of the pandemic has made teenagers more and more interested in telling the story of the contemporary world, with a language that must be honest and sincere, even when it deals with difficult subjects. Teenagers have their own views of reality and want to be taken seriously,” said Luca Milano, director of Rai Ragazzi.

French distributor Newen Connect’s deal with Rai follows previous sales of the format to Zone 3 in French-Canada, DR Ultra in Denmark, SVT in Sweden, Polsat in Poland, the BBC in the UK and Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

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