The Tiger and the Snow, which Benigni has started shooting in Italy, closely follows the Oscar-winning blueprint of his 1997 film La Vita e' Bella (Life is Beautiful).

As in Life is Beautiful, Benigni takes the starring role, again chasing after his real-life wife Nicoletta Braschi. And, once again, the story unfolds against the backdrop of a world conflict that he says has invaded 'our dreams.'

'It's certainly not a documentary. But everything, right from the beginning of the (Iraqi) conflict is extremely well documented,' said Benigni in an interview with Italian newspapers. He hopes to have the film in cinemas by late next year.

Benigni won an Oscar as best actor for Life is Beautiful in which he played a Jewish father who protects his son from the horrors of a concentration camp by pretending it's all a game.

He was criticised by some for taking a light-hearted approach to such a grim subject, but Benigni said both humanity and his films drew inspiration from desperation.

He doesn't say how his main character in The Tiger and the Snow, a hapless poet named Attilio, arrives in Iraq, but says it happened 'by chance.'

He describes Attilio as "the type who sees an explosion of life in a grain of sand ... And he ends up in a situation that overwhelms him. It's a huge comedy of our times."

Italians largely opposed the war in Iraq, and have been anguished by a series of hostage dramas there.

Like most people, Benigni closely followed the saga of two Italian charity workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who were abducted for three weeks and freed Tuesday.