Portobello is a biographical drama television miniseries co-written and directed by Marco Bellocchio, based on the 2016 posthumous nonfiction book Lettere a Francesca by Enzo Tortora. It stars Fabrizio Gifuni as Tortora, a famous RAI television host whose career was interrupted by allegations of mafia ties in the 1980s. The series also stars Lino Musella, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Barbora Bobuľová, Gianfranco Gallo, Alessandro Preziosi and Valeria Marini.
The first two episodes of the series premiered out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 2025. The series premiered globally on HBO Max on 20 February 2026. It received positive reviews from critics.
Contents
Premise
In 1983, Enzo Tortora, host of the popular RAI variety show Portobello, is arrested on charges of mafia ties and drug trafficking, after numerous former Camorra members give false testimonies, including Giovanni Pandico and Pasquale Barra. By the early 1980s, the Nuova Camorra Organizzata, based in Naples and led by Raffaele Cutolo, was under heavy scrutiny in Italy, specially for the inability of the Italian judiciary to disassemble it. After Pandico, Barra, and Giovanni Melluso testify, Tortora goes to trial under circumstantial evidence. Giorgio Fontana, the investigating judge who orchestrated Tortora's arrest, denies multiple house arrest requests from Tortora, despite his deteriorating health.
After Tortora is granted house arrest in 1985, the center-left Radical Party offers him a candidacy to the European Parliament, which he wins in a landslide. In 1986, the Court of Appeals of Naples fully acquits Tortora of his charges, after which he returns for a final season of Portobello in February 1987. However, Tortora develops lung cancer and dies in May 1988. The series associates his death with the Chernobyl disaster, which had exposed most of Europe's population to nuclear contamination.
Cast
Fabrizio Gifuni as Enzo Tortora
Barbora Bobuľová as Anna Tortora, Enzo's sister
Romana Maggiora Vergano as Francesca Scopelliti, Enzo's third wife
Carlotta Gamba as Silvia Tortora, Enzo's daughter
Giada Fortini as Gaia Tortora, Enzo's daughter
Davide Mancini as Raffaele Della Valle, Enzo's lawyer
Paolo Pierobon as Alberto Dall'Ora, Enzo's lawyer
Lino Musella as Giovanni Pandico
Massimiliano Rossi as Pasquale Barra
Alessio Praticò as Domenico Barbaro
Gianfranco Gallo as Raffaele Cutolo
Gualtiero Burzi as Angelo Citterio
Fausto Russo Alesi as Diego Marmo
Salvatore D'Onofrio as Giudice Michele Morello
Gigi Savoia as Francesco Cedrangolo
Tommaso Ragno as Marco Pannella, Radical Party leader
Francesca Benedetti as Paola Borboni
Pier Giorgio Bellocchio as Ugo
Valeria Marini as Moira Orfei
Alessandro Preziosi as Giorgio Fontana
Production
Principal photography began in September 2024. Filming took place in Rome, as well as Sardinia, Campania, and Lombardy.
Release
A promotional clip was released on 17 June 2025. The first two episodes of the series were presented at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 2025. It was also presented at the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. The series premiered on HBO Max on 20 February 2026 as the platform's first Italian original series.