The Great Ambition

The Great Ambition (Italian: Berlinguer. La grande ambizione) is a 2024 Italian biographical drama film directed by Andrea Segre. It stars Elio Germano as politician Enrico Berlinguer, who led the Italian Communist Party from 1972 to 1984. It opened the 19th Rome Film Festival on 16 October 2024 and received a theatrical release in Italy on 31 October 2024.

The Great Ambition
Italian theatrical release poster
Italian	Berlinguer. La grande ambizione
Directed by	Andrea Segre
Written by	Andrea Segre Marco Pettenello [it]
Produced by	Marta Donzelli Gregorio Paonessa [it] Francesco Bonsembiante
Starring	Elio Germano Paolo Pierobon [it] Roberto Citran Elena Radonicich Fabrizia Sacchi Paolo Calabresi Andrea Pennacchi Giorgio Tirabassi Stefano Abbati Francesco Acquaroli
Cinematography	Benoit Dervaux
Edited by	Jacopo Quadri [it]
Music by	Iosonouncane
Production companies	Vivo Film Jolefilm Tarantula [fr] Agitprop Rai Cinema
Distributed by	Lucky Red [it]
Release dates	16 October 2024 (2024-10-16) (Rome) 31 October 2024 (2024-10-31) (Italy)
Countries	Italy Belgium Bulgaria
Language	Italian

Cast

• Elio Germano as Enrico Berlinguer
• Paolo Pierobon [it] as Giulio Andreotti
• Roberto Citran as Aldo Moro
• Elena Radonicich as Letizia Laurenti
• Fabrizia Sacchi as Nilde Iotti
• Paolo Calabresi as Ugo Pecchioli [it]
• Andrea Pennacchi as Luciano Barca [it]
• Giorgio Tirabassi as Alberto Menichelli
• Stefano Abbati as Umberto Terracini
• Francesco Acquaroli as Pietro Ingrao
• Pierluigi Corallo [it] as Antonio Tatò [it]
• Nikolay Danchev as Leonid Brezhnev
• Svetoslav Dobrev [bg] as Todor Zhivkov
• Luca Lazzareschi as Alessandro Natta
• Lucio Patanè as Gianni Cervetti [it]
• Alice Airoldi as Bianca Berlinguer

Production

Principal photography began in November 2023. The film was shot in Rome, as well as Sassari and Porto Torres in Sardinia.^[1][2][3]

Release

A promotional still from the film was released on 18 July 2024.^[4] Fandango acquired the international distribution rights to the film on 5 September 2024.^[5] The film opened the 19th Rome Film Festival on 16 October 2024.^[6][7] It received a theatrical release in Italy on 31 October 2024.^[8] In March 2025, the film was acquired by Nour Films in France; Filmin in Spain; Risi in Portugal; Cineworx in Switzerland; Imovision [pt] in Brazil; Weird Wave in Greece; Palace in Australia and New Zealand; and McF Megacom [sr] in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and North Macedonia.^[9]

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
David di Donatello	2025	Best Film	The Great Ambition	Nominated	[10][11]
		Best Director	Andrea Segre	Nominated
		Best Original Screenplay	Andrea Segre, Marco Pettenello	Nominated
		Best Producer	Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Paonessa [it], Francesco Bonsembiante	Nominated
		Best Actor	Elio Germano	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Roberto Citran	Nominated
		Best Casting	Stefania de Santis	Nominated
		Best Score	Iosonouncane	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Alessandro Vannucci and Laura Casalini	Nominated
		Best Make-up	Sara Morlando, Rossella Sicignano, Leonardo Cruciano, Viola Moneta	Nominated
		Best Hairstyling	Desiree Corridoni	Nominated
		Best Editing	Jacopo Quadri [it]	Won
		Best Sound	Alessandro Palmerini [it], Marc Bastien, Vincent Grégorio, Franco Piscopo	Nominated
		Best Visual Effects [it]	Tristan Lilien, Michel Denis	Nominated
		Young David	The Great Ambition	Nominated
Nastri d'Argento	2025	Best Film	The Great Ambition	Nominated	[12]
		Best Actor	Elio Germano	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Paolo Pierobon [it]	Nominated
		Best Casting Director	Stefania De Santis	Nominated
		Best Editing	Jacopo Quadri [it]	Nominated
		SIAE Nastro for Best Screenplay	Andrea Segre, Marco Pettenello [it]	Won
Rome Film Festival	2024	Progressive Cinema Competition	The Great Ambition	Nominated	[13][14]
		Best Actor	Elio Germano	Won