ITALIAN director Paolo Virzi has begun shooting in Rome on apocalyptic drama “Siccita,” set amid a protracted drought in the Italian capital and featuring an A-list local cast comprising Monica Bellucci, Sara Serraiocco and Silvio Orlando.

Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa are producing for Wildside, the Fremantle-owned company behind “The Young Pope,” “My Brilliant Friend” and “We Are Who We Are.” Vision Distribution, which is jointly operated by Comcast’s Sky Italia and five prominent Italian production companies, will distribute in Italy with plans for a theatrical release.

The film follows a group of characters from all walks of life who are tied by a single tragic, mocking thread as each one seeks their redemption.

The story treatment was penned by Paolo Giordano in tandem with Virzi, whose English-language “The Leisure Seeker,” with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren, was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics.

The screenplay for “Siccita,” which means drought in English, was co-written by Francesca Archibugi, Francesco Piccolo with Giordano and Virzi.

Bellucci recently starred in Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” which is on the Oscar best international feature film shortlist. She previously worked with Virzi in “N: Napoleon and Me.”

The “Siccita” ensemble cast also includes Valerio Mastandrea, Elena Lietti, Claudia Pandolfi and Tommaso Ragno.(SD-Agencies)