La Befana vien di notte: Le origini

La Befana vien di notte: Le origini is a 2021 Italian fantasy comedy directed by Paola Randi, a prequel to the 2018 film La Befana vien di notte. Set in the 18th century, it stars Zoe Massenti as Paola, a street orphan pulled from a witch-hunter’s pyre by the benevolent witch Dolores (Monica Bellucci) and taken on as her apprentice, with Fabio De Luigi as the witch-hating Baron De Michelis and Corrado Guzzanti in support. 01 Distribution released it at the end of December 2021.

Fantasy built on witchcraft is a creature-and-transformation problem before it is anything else. It calls for character animation and digital doubles, cloth and hair simulation so cloaks and manes behave once a performer leaves the ground, fluid and pyro simulation for fire, smoke and conjured magic, and the wire removal that makes flight look effortless. Around all that, matte painting and CG environments push an 18th-century village past the edge of the built set, and compositing binds practical and digital layers into a single storybook image. Terminal FX contributed visual effects and animation to the film, part of the studio’s portfolio across cinema, television and advertising.