Sceneggiatura, fotografia, montaggio, produzione / Screenplay, Photography, Editing, Produced by: Antonio Pettinelli. Musica / Music: Ersilia Prosperi. Interpreti / Cast: Paul Vecchiali, Hélène Surgère, Malik Saad, Mariane Basler, Philippe Bottiglione, Malik Saad, Roland Vincent, Édith Scob.
“In the mid-2000s, I had the chance to meet Paul Vecchiali. This grew into a friendship marked by a lively confrontation on cinema and life. In 2009 I asked him to let me record the shooting of his next movie. Paul in Mayerling – A Portrait began in this way. Step by step, the project reached its goal in early 2025, with the help of so many friends who, one by one, contributed to the realization of this film-documentary. Mayerling is the title of Anatole Litvak’s 1936 movie, starring Danielle Darrieux, which marked the fate of Paul Vecchiali as a filmmaker. Mayerling is also the name of the villa in the south of France where he lived and made his last movies. A place where the characters and stories intertwine, leaving their memory within the same walls in which they were generated. The stories are of a cinema that has always been out of the ordinary. Thirteen years later, Paul observes himself, and his collaborators talking about him.” (A. Pettinelli)
Antonio Pettinelli
During his art studies, Italian Antonio Pettinelli began working as a radio host and journalist, dealing with topics related to cinema, music, and entertainment. Antonio was Federico Fellini’s volunteer assistant director for La città delle donne (1980). An author and director, he has made documentaries and reportages in Italy and abroad, mainly for RAI channels. Paul in Mayerling – A Portrait, his first feature-length film, was presented at the Pesaro Film Festival and the MedFilm Festival.
