Pirellifilm: with this revolutionary project, Pirelli enters the world of cinema.

Pirelli has always expressed itself in a strong, controversial, and provocative way (sterling examples are 'The Call' and the past advertising campaigns starring Carl Lewis and Ronaldo), and this new project also keeps expectations high.

'The Call' (the title of the first film) is a breath-taking thriller with a dark Gothic feel about the eternal battle between Good and Evil. It stars John Malkovich and Naomi Campbell and was directed by Antoine Foquà (the director of “Training Day”, who received an Oscar nomination for “King Arthur”).

Pirellifilm is a unique new communication tool that intends to launch high quality short films through several channels. The protagonists will be today’s stars of stage and screen who will interpret the famous Pirelli claim -- “Power is nothing without control” -- in a different way each year.

This extraordinary project, which is planned for several years, intends to support the Pirelli image and positioning and to maintain brand leadership.

Once again, Pirelli is far ahead of its time and has chosen the Web as the main channel for these films. Internet, with its endless possibilities, has evolved to become an entertainment channel and, in our case, also a movie theater. A new path has therefore been opened in the world of entertainment and audiovisual communication. In a sector where everyone focuses on TV, Pirelli soars towards new horizons, making the most of the Internet which, besides being extremely popular, has become a tool for distributing information and a genuine entertainment channel. The spectator becomes an active subject who can choose the best products.

As the long-term experience of the Calendar has shown, Pirelli is able to attract new up-and-coming talents, to communicate in an always more effective and original way, and to go beyond traditional advertising channels. Each Pirelli communication product is destined to become a true cult object.

Before the filming began, the final script was shown to Father John, the Vatican liaison for relations with the movie industry. Father John (who was Mel Gibson’s consultant for “The Passion”) helped develop the idea and considered it very effective and not injurious to the Church, its rites and ceremonies. John Malkovich asked to personally meet with this extraordinary figure to better interpret the role, and he made several suggestions for parts of the dialog and the liturgy that made the film even more realistic.

The film was shot in Rome last fall at the Santo Spirito Hospital and in an old abandoned industrial warehouse. Most of the filming, which took a week, was done at night, while the delicate post-production phase took three months to complete and was done entirely in the studios in Hollywood.

Controversial, performance and international are the keywords that define the characteristics of the Pirellifilm brand. Each script must respect these three commandments: it must represent a physical or mental performance; it must be an international idea; and it must shake up the audience for its controversial content. It must make an impact.

The website where the first short film will make its debut at the end of March and where all the other new releases will appear is: