Sacher film

   Production company. Founded in Rome in 1987 by Angelo Barbagallo and actor-director Nanni Moretti. In its first years Sacher produced or coproduced (often in partnership with RAI television) Carlo Mazzacurati's Notte Italiana (Italian Night, 1987), Daniele Luchetti's Domani accadra (It's Happening Tomorrow, 1988) and Il portaborse (The Yes Man, 1990), Moretti's own Palombella rossa (Red Wood Pigeon, 1989) and Caro diario (Dear Diary, 1993), and Mimmo Calopresti's La seconda volta (The Second Time, 1995). In 1989 the company set up the Premio Sacher (Sacher Prize), with the first Sacher d'oro (Golden Sacher) being awarded that year to Marco Risi's Mery per sempre (Forever Mary, 1989). In 1991 the company also opened an independent art house cinema in Rome, Nuovo Sacher, screening films in the original language, and in 1996 initiated the annual Sacher Film Festival.

   Since 1997 the company has also operated as a distributor under the name of Tandem. Among the company's biggest successes in recent years have been Marco Tullio Giordana's La meglio gioventu (The Best of Youth, 2003) and Moretti's own Il caimano (The Caiman, 2006), both recipients of the David di Donatello prize.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira