Acto-director Roberto Benigni and
his wife Nicoletta Braschi on Tuesday sued TV news show Report
for a report on government funding to the entertainment sector.
A lawyer said he had been instructed to sue journalists "Giorgio
Mottola and Sigfrido Ranucci, as well as anyone who cooperated
with them, in connection with the false and gravely defamatory
news broadcast in (yesterday's) programme". The report claimed
that Benigni's ambitious project to turn his studios outside
Terni into a hub to rival Cinecittà had caused a huge waste of
public money. Benigni had vainly sought an injunction to stop
the Report segment from going ahead. The segment said the
project for the Papigno studios, where Benigni shot Life is
Beuatiful and Pinocchio, had cost an alleged 16 million euros in
local, government and European funding.
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