Giant Pictures Acquires CABARET MAXIME, Starring Michael Imperioli

Giant Pictures has acquired the US rights for Bruno de Almeida's new movie, Cabaret Maxime, starring Michael Imperioli. It will open theatrically at the Metrograph in NYC on February 21st, ahead of a national, multi-platform rollout on March 3rd.

Michael Imperioli plays Bennie Gazza, the owner of Cabaret Maxime, a nightclub in an old, red-light district where a group of colorful characters perform musical numbers, as well as burlesque and striptease acts. Bennie runs the cabaret like a tight family, dealing with each artist's unique personality while taking care of his performer wife, Stella, who suffers from manic depression. When the once-decadent neighborhood starts to become gentrified, Bennie struggles to keep his club afloat. As the residents are being bought up and pushed out, Benny is violently threatened when he refuses to sell. The pressure builds to a dramatic climax as Benny is forced to take a stand against the powers that be.

Michael Imperioli is best known for his Emmy-winning role as Christopher Moltisanti on the HBO television series, The Sopranos. In 1990, he made his film debut as Spider in Martin Scorsese's, Goodfellas. He has since appeared in more than 90 feature films and television series. He has worked with such notable directors and actors as Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Abel Ferrara, Peter Jackson, Walter Hill, Mary Harron, Cindy Sherman, Ben Gazzara, Robert De Niro, Rachel Weisz, Christopher Walken, Joe Pesci, Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, and many others. He also has long been active on the New York theater scene as an actor, writer, director and producer. He wrote several episodes of The Sopranos and was a co-writer and executive producer on Spike Lee's Summer of Sam. In 2009, he wrote, produced, and directed his first film, The Hungry Ghosts. Since 2018, he has been performing excerpts from his novel, The Perfume Burned His Eyes, at nightclubs and theaters in the USA and Europe. This is Michael's third film with Bruno de Almeida.

Bruno de Almeida is an independent filmmaker whose work navigates between fiction and documentary films, and alternates between projects in both English and Portuguese. Bruno began his career in the early 90s in New York, where he lived for 25 years. His fiction films juxtapose drama and comedy while featuring marginal characters lost between existentialist poetics and urban realism (The Lovebirds, On the Run, The Collection and Operation Autumn.) In his documentary work, he has explored such diverse topics as boxing (Bobby Cassidy, Counterpuncher,) Fado music (Amália Rodrigues in The Art of Amália and Camané in Fado Camané,) contemporary art (6=0 Homeostética,) and satirical performance (Candidate Vieira.) His 1993 black comedy The Debt, won the award for best short at the Cannes Film Festival Critic's Week.

Cabaret Maxime co-stars a number of actors who have been continuously collaborating with Bruno de Almeida for more than twenty years, as if they were a small theater group. They include: John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco in The Sopranos,) Nick Sandow (Orange is the New Black,) Drena De Niro (Showtime,) Sharon Angela (The Sopranos,) Ana Padrão (Checkers,) Arthur Nascarella (The Sopranos,) and John Frey (The Lovebirds.) Guest actors include David Proval (Means Streets,) and Mike Starr (Goodfellas.)

Cabaret Maxime was produced by Bruno de Almeida, Michael Imperioli and Jason Kliot. It is a BA Filmes production, in association with Archangela Productions and Open City Films.