Veteran Italian auteur Silvio Soldini (“Bread and Tulips,” “Emma”) is set to direct “The Tasters,” which will reconstruct the true untold story of the women conscripted to be Adolf Hitler’s food tasters.
The Nazi-era drama — which will mark Soldini’s first foray into German-language cinema — is based on the bestselling book “At the Wolf’s Table,” by Italian author Rosella Pastorino, about a group of women who were recruited by the SS in 1943 to make sure that food to be served to Hitler was not poisoned. Forced to eat what might kill them, the tasters start to split into two factions: those loyal to Hitler, and those who insist they aren’t Nazis, even as they risk their lives everyday for the Führer. “At the Wolf’s Table” has been translated in 46 countries.
Vision distribution is launching international sales in Cannes on “The Tasters,” which is eying a fall- winter 2023 production start. The film’s German cast is being kept under wraps.
“The Tasters” is being produced by Milan-based Lionello Cerri’s Lumière & Co. in co-production with Belgium’s Tarantula and Switzerland’s Tellfilm.
Soldini in his director’s statement said “The Tasters” will focus on “the human component of the characters and the depth of their relationships” in a story “where life and death are hanging in the balance.”
The screenplay is co-written by frequent Soldini collaborator Doriana Leondeff with Giulia Calenda (“Like a Cat on a Highway”), Cristina Comencini (“Latin Lover”), Ilaria Macchia (“Petra”) and the director.
