Ancelotti project will mark Sorrentino's first documentary.Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is making an documentary about football coach Carlo Ancelotti that will trace a career spanning five decades and culminate at the 2026 World Cup, where Ancelotti is currently managing the Brazil national team.The project, which has been confirmed following weeks of speculation on Italian sports blogs, was announced at the Cannes Film Festival and was reported by Deadline. The documentary will combine archive footage from Ancelotti's life with newly shot material in Italy, Spain, Brazil and the US during this summer's tournament to create an intimate portrait of the Italian coach. Origins and rise to fame Born in 1959 to a farming family in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, Ancelotti began his playing career at Parma before moving to Roma and then AC Milan He transitioned into management in the early 1990s and has since coached 11 clubs - among them Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid - winning 26 trophies and five Champions League titles. The film - Sorrentino's first documentary - will explore Ancelotti as a family man and as the ambitious young player who first dreamed of making his mark on the game. "It is an honour to tell my story alongside the great Paolo Sorrentino" - Ancelotti said - "I have always admired his masterpieces and his commitment to artful storytelling". Production The production draws on Sorrentino's long-standing passion for football, which previously surfaced in his Oscar-nominated 2021 film The Hand of God, a semi-autobiographical portrait of his Neapolitan upbringing framed around Diego Maradona's arrival at Napoli — a club Sorrentino himself supports. Ancelotti also spent time at Napoli during his playing career. The documentary is produced by Francesco Melzi d'Eril for MDE Films, Chloe McClay, Celia Babini and Buck Andrews at Tart Productions, and Gabriele Moratti for MeMo Films. Eric Beard serves as executive producer for Where is Football, with the production made in association with Fremantle and The Apartment. FilmNation is handling international sales.   Photo credit: SPORT PRESS MEDIA / Shutterstock.com

Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is making an documentary about football coach Carlo Ancelotti that will trace a career spanning five decades and culminate at the 2026 World Cup, where Ancelotti is currently managing the Brazil national team. The project, which has been confirmed following weeks of speculation on Italian sports blogs, was announced at the Cannes Film Festival and was reported by Deadline. The documentary will combine archive footage from Ancelotti's life with newly shot material in Italy, Spain, Brazil and the US during this summer's tournament to create an intimate portrait of the Italian coach. Born in 1959 to a farming family in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, Ancelotti began his playing career at Parma before moving to Roma and then AC Milan He transitioned into management in the early 1990s and has since coached 11 clubs - among them Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid - winning 26 trophies and five Champions League titles. The film - Sorrentino's first documentary - will explore Ancelotti as a family man and as the ambitious young player who first dreamed of making his mark on the game. "It is an honour to tell my story alongside the great Paolo Sorrentino" - Ancelotti said - "I have always admired his masterpieces and his commitment to artful storytelling". The production draws on Sorrentino's long-standing passion for football, which previously surfaced in his Oscar-nominated 2021 film , a semi-autobiographical portrait of his Neapolitan upbringing framed around Diego Maradona's arrival at Napoli — a club Sorrentino himself supports. Ancelotti also spent time at Napoli during his playing career. The documentary is produced by Francesco Melzi d'Eril for MDE Films, Chloe McClay, Celia Babini and Buck Andrews at Tart Productions, and Gabriele Moratti for MeMo Films. Eric Beard serves as executive producer for Where is Football, with the production made in association with Fremantle and The Apartment. FilmNation is handling international sales.   Photo credit: SPORT PRESS MEDIA / Shutterstock.com