A movie about kidnapped Italian Jew Edgardo Mortara is moving forward without Steven Spielberg

(JTA) – For years, Steven Spielberg intended to direct a movie about Edgardo Mortara, a 19th-century Italian Jew who was kidnapped by the Catholic Church and raised Christian, eventually becoming a priest, while his Jewish family lobbied to free him.

But Spielberg is no longer making the film after having trouble casting the role of the young Mortara. Instead, viewers' best chance to see Mortara's story onscreen will now be via a separate Italian production helmed by director Marco Bellochio ("The Traitor"), who shared details about his take on the material at the Cannes Film Festival.

Spielbe...