#idea publishing

dream publisher. London 2024

This year marks the 95th anniversary of the truly remarkable and spectacularly legendary Renaissance man, Tonino Guerra. Tonino Guerra may very well be the greatest screenwriter of all time. Having written well over 100 screenplays, his extensive list of credits on IMBD is ultimate proof that his career was nothing short of prolific. His collaborations with many of the greatest names in cinema history, is further evidence of his gigantic professional stature. Additionally, the countless honourable mentions, awards, and accolades, is but one final tell-tale sign demonstrating just how fantastically large a role Tonino Guerra occupied in the hearts and minds of movie lovers.

In celebration of Tonino Guerra’s illustrious career, we are genuinely ecstatic to reveal to you the never before seen masterpiece, ‘Pictorial Photo’, co-written with film director and screenwriter Ian Shine. The elating thought of seeing a finished yet previously unpublished screenplay from the greatest screenwriter of all time — is further amplified by the fact that ‘Pictorial Photo’ is presented to you in not just one, but four (4) unique variations!

The Italian, French, Russian, and English variations — differ in far more ways than the nuances of language alone. In fact, each version marks a different stage in the creative process. The initial sketches were written down in Italian. These rough and largely unedited initial sketches have survived to this day, and we are pleased to be publishing them for the first time. Akin to pencil sketches made by master painters, these initial sketches mark a stage in the evolution of the work, beautiful in their own unequalled way. Perhaps what is even more profound, is that they offer a unique view into the minds of the men who created them.

Shortly after the Italian sketches were written, Russian was adopted as the primary language for the remainder of the project due to investor sentiment at the time. Thus, the final and by far the most refined screenplay ended up being the Russian version which is featured within this book edition.

The English version is the newest addition to the collection, having been only recently adapted from its’ Russian parent. Some minor differences do exist between the Russian and English versions — nonetheless, they offer a very similar experience.

Finally, the French variation is also a translation, but is substantially dissimilar to the up-to-date English and Russian versions. Sometime during the final editing process, and in order to attract investors, a decision was made to translate the screenplay from Russian into French. A little later however, numerous components within the Russian master copy were changed, added, or removed. The French variation is therefore inherently different to any of the other versions contained within this edition.

Thus after well over a decade, the screenplay ‘Pictorial Photo’ is here — and in not just one, but four glorious variations! We sincerely wish that you enjoy reading the screenplays, at least as much as we enjoyed publishing them!