First Look: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend

HBO has partnered with RAI, Italy’s public broadcasting company, for My Brilliant Friend, an eight-episode original drama series from Saverio Costanzo based on the bestselling book by Elena Ferrante. The series is filmed in Italian and will air with English subtitles on HBO in the U.S. with Costanzo directing all eight episodes. Here finally we have the first two images of the series with Elisa Del Genio e Ludovica Nasti and Margherita Mazzucco e Gaia Girace in the roles of Elena e Lila.

My Brilliant Friend is the first volume of the four-part Neopolitan Novel series by Ferrante, a pseudonym for an author who has remained anonymous. The story is about the strength of female friendship. When the most important friend in her life seems to have disappeared without a trace, Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman immersed in a house full of books, turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their friendship.

The TV adaptation is penned by Ferrante, Francesco Piccolo, Laura Paolucci and Costanzo. Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani produce for Wildside and Domenico Procacci for Fandango. “We are thrilled to partner with Wildside, Rai and Fandango to bring the powerful, epic storytelling of Elena Ferrante and her Neapolitan Novels to life,” said Casey Bloys, president HBO Programming. “Through her characters, Elena and Lila, we will witness a lifelong friendship set against the seductive social web of Naples, Italy.”