The Young Berlusconi reveals a new perspective on the politician and focuses on a lesser-known period of his life by exploring t  question: how did this jack-of-all-trades come to power? The three episodes of this mini-series look back at the youth and incredible career of this atypical figure: from his work as an entrepreneur in the building trade to his investment in the sporting world when he bought the AC Milan football club, via his career in television with the creation of a media group, from the mid-1970s until 1994, the year in which he became head of the Italian government for the first time.  Above all, the documentary sheds light on his unique mindset and boundless ambition, which revolutionised Italian public life.

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The Young Berlusconi is a documentary narrated in a dynamic fashion, using archive footage as well as never-before-seen interviews with a number of personalities who worked with and alongside him, and who, through anecdotes, give us a new insight into Silvio Berlusconi. They include: Adriano Galliani, Jack Lang and Anne Sinclair. The portrait of this maverick reveals how he profoundly transformed Italian politics and, more importantly, Italian identity.

The series is co-produced by Gebrueder Beetz (Leonine), a German production company, and B&B Film, an Italian production company, for Netflix Italy, Arte in France and ZDF in Germany. Mediawan Rights is distributing the documentary internationally in the remaining territories. Sales will be launched during MIPCOM, which kicks off in Cannes on 16 October.

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Arianna Castoldi, Director of International Documentary Sales at Mediawan Rights, says:

“We’re truly excited to add this compelling documentary by B&B Film and Gebrueder Beetz and to our line-up. This marks our first collaboration with them. Silvio Berlusconi’s years in power have been widely followed, but with its cutting-edge narrative, “The Young Berlusconi” takes a fresh look at the businessman and plunges us into a whole new dimension of his life, long before he became an iconic political figure and profoundly transformed the Italian and European political scene.”

Christian Beetz, Producer and CEO of Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, says:

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“This series is from the starting point a 50:50 collaboration between our old friends from B&B Films and us. With our Show-runner and creative producer Georg Tschurtschenthaler we worked closely together with the team of Raffaele Brunetti and Vania Del Borgo to work on a never seen before portrait of the young Berlusconi. The series includes the closest friends and critic voices to paint a compelling image of this young businessman and politician.”

Raffaele Brunetti, Producer B&B Film, says:

“We are very happy to release our original series, unlike any other previous film portrait of Berlusconi and based on unprecedented access to the people closest to him. It’s Berlusconi beyond the clichés, introducing audiences to the less familiar man who brought commercial TV to Italy and Europe, transforming citizens into consumers, becoming very rich in the process, and preparing the ground for his rise to power. We know it will spark debate!”