Ciao and welcome to our preview of the Italian Film Festival for 2013.
For 18 years now us lucky Kiwis have experienced an abundance of Italian cinematic delights, courtesy of New Zealand’s largest cultural film fest. The 2013 edition opens in Auckland today, then makes it way around the country until December.
Here we preview all the films, make some recommendations and let you know when the fest is coming to your town (or a town near you).
One particular film of note is Andrea Segre‘s Shun Li and the Poet, which we were lucky enough to catch at the Wellington media preview. It’s a moving, bittersweet film that will most definitely feature on our Favourite Films of 2013 list come December.
Divertiti!
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Here’s the Italian Film Festival schedule:
Auckland (Newmarket): Rialto Cinemas – 25 Sept to 13 Oct
Auckland (Northcote Point): Bridgeway Cinemas – 26 Sept to 13 Oct
Wellington: Paramount Cinemas – 9 Oct to 27 Oct
Christchurch: Hollywood Cinema – 16 Oct to 30 Oct
Dunedin: Rialto Cinemas – 23 Oct to 5 Nov
Nelson: Suter Theatre – 30 Oct to 13 Nov
Tauranga: Rialto Cinema – 6 Nov to 20 Nov
Hawke’s Bay: MTG Hawke’s Bay – 13 Nov to 27 Nov
Hamilton: Lido Cinemas – 14 Nov – 4 Dec
Check out the ‘Calendar’ section of the Italian Film Festival website (here) for the full list of screening times at each cinema.
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Here are the films and our recommendations:
(Note: Not many of the trailers have English subtitles. But I’m pretty sure the actual films will.)
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CAESAR MUST DIE……MUST SEE
2012 | 76 minutes | Drama
Directors: Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani
Cast: Salvatore Striano, Cosimo Rega, Giovanni Arcuri
Winner of the coveted Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, ‘Caesar Must Die’ follows the inmates of the high-security Rebibbia prison as they rehearse for a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Critically lauded, this festival highlight is an absolute must-see.
Shakespeare’s legendary scenes play out in the prison cells and courtyard, as the rehearsal process infiltrates the inmates’ day-to-day lives. Tensions between the prisoners rumble to the surface as life imitates art, and the Shakespearian tragedy provides the context for revelations of feelings of fraternity, power and betrayal.
Distributor: Palace Films
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DIAZ – DON’T CLEAN UP THIS BLOOD……MUST SEE
2012 | 115 minutes | Drama
Director: Daniele Vicari
Cast: Claudio Santamaria, Jennifer Ulrich, Elio Germano
Violent clashes between police and demonstrators at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa and the brutal death of a young 20 year-old have left the city on tenterhooks. As world leaders spend their last night in the northern Italian city, authorities look to minimise further high profile violence.
Friends and demonstrators, journalists and alternatives from all over Europe settle down for the night at Diaz school, a temporary media centre. But this is to be anything but a peaceful night as 400 riot police storm the premises, claiming it to be the hide-out for anarchists and other political extremists.
Distributor: Palace Films
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ISLANDS……MUST SEE
2011 | 93 minutes | Drama
Director: Stefano Chiantini
Cast: Asia Argento, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anna Ferruzzo, Pascal Zullino, Paolo Briguglia
Undocumented émigré worker Ivan (Czech actor Ivan Franek, ‘We Believed’) desperate for employment, gets up every morning and takes the ferry from Tirana in Albania to work on one of the nearby Italian Tremiti islands. One day, after insisting on being paid for his work he is beaten up by local residents and finds himself penniless and unable to make his way back home to his ailing father. Help arrives, almost magically, in the form of a mute young woman. Martina (Asia Argento) lives with gruff middle-aged priest, Don Enzo (Giorgio Colangeli), who has raised her as a daughter. After taking shelter for the night, Ivan’s presence has a thawing effect on both prickly Enzo and reserved Martina.
Their relationships grow almost effortlessly: both the friendship between the old priest and the foreigner, and the romantic tension that develops between Ivan and Martina. As their lives intertwine, emotions are laid bare in this absorbing drama that plays on geographical and human solitude.
Distributor: Palace Films
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KRYPTONITE!……MUST SEE
2011 | Comedy, Drama | 98 minutes
Director: Ivan Cotroneo
Cast: Valeria Golino, Luca Zingaretti, Cristiana Capotondi
Set in 1970s Naples, bullied nine year-old Peppino is watching the world around him as his extended dysfunctional family change. Psychedelic flower power and hippie love is threatening the old traditional southern Italian family. Dad (Luca Zingaretti) is having an affair and Mum (Valeria Golino) has taken to her bed with depression.
Super-mod brother and sister Titina and Salvatore take the boy under their wings, introducing him to demonstrations and love-ins, whilst caped superhero Gennaro visits Peppino even after being knocked down and killed by the number 12 bus. It is the imaginary appearances of this older superman cousin that help the nine-year-old navigate the complicated adult world.
Distributor: Palace Films
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LOVE IS IN THE AIR
2012 | 95 minutes | Comedy, Romance
Director: Fausto Brizzi
Cast: Fabio De Luigi, Claudia Gerini, Filippo Timi, Giorgia Wurth, Alessandro Sperduti
The saucy saga of Andrea and Giulia (Claudia Gerini), a long-married couple whose non-existent sex life perks up when Giula’s close high school friend and now Hollywood porn star Max (Filippo Timi (Vincere) drops in for an extended visit.
When Giulia confides to Max about their problems in the bedroom he advises them on ways to spice things up. Max also provides the couple’s teenage son with some relationship tips. Add a sprinkling of secret videotapes, awkward moments and embarrassing mistakes and you have a hilarious comedy full of endearing characters
Distributor: Palace Films
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MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE
2012 | 107 minutes | Comedy, Drama
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Cast: Elio Germano, Margherita Buy, Vittoria Puccini, Giuseppe Fiorello, Andrea Bosca, Alessandro Roja
This deliciously dark tale tells the story of Pietro, an aspiring actor, who discovers that the old grand house he has recently purchased in Rome is occupied by a collective of ghosts who once formed a vaudevillian troupe in the 1940s. At first Pietro is terrified, while others (including his wacky cousin, Maria) believe he is going mad. However, as he struggles to come to terms with his own homosexuality and failed auditions, Pietro begins to enjoy their companionship. While forming a relationship with the inhabitants of his house, Pietro embarks on a journey to investigate the mystery surrounding their tragic death all those years ago.
Distributor: Palace Films
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MOZZARELLA STORIES
2011 | 100 minutes | Comedy
Director: Edoardo De Angelis
Cast: Aida Turturro, Luca Zingaretti, Luisa Ranieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Andrea Renzi
If only the Chinese hadn’t started producing mozzarella in Campania, the home of Italian mozzarella, then Don Ciccio – the King of Mozzarella, Mr. Buffalo Cheese himself – would have continued producing and selling, selling and producing and, of course, paying kickbacks to the local Camorra. But the Chinese have flooded supermarkets and restaurants with their first-rate and, more importantly, half-price cheese! As bankruptcy – and the Camorra – loom Ciccio needs money, triggering a series of events that will affect everyone around him.
Distributor: Bavaria Media Italia srl
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ONE DAY MORE
2011 | Comedy, Romance | 107 minutes
Director: Massimo Venier
Cast: Fabio Volo, Isabella Ragonese, Camilla Filippi, Pietro Ragusa, Irene Ferri, Roberto Citran
Giacomo is 40 years old, has had many girlfriends and does not intend to marry. His mother, friends and colleagues all try to talk sense into him, describing the joys of marriage and fatherhood, but their stories fail to convince him. Every morning on the tram, however, he is unable to take his eyes off an intriguing woman. One day, after many exchanged glances, she invites him to dinner, only to tell him that she is leaving for New York in a few days and leaving Giacomo with a difficult decision to make.
Distributor: Palace Films
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OPERA ON ICE……MUST SEE
2012 | 77 minutes | Music
Director: Christian Biondani
Conductor: Fabio Mastrangelo
Featuring: Carolina Kostner, Stephane Lambiel, Qing Pang, Jian Tong, Tatiana Totmianina, Maxim Marinin
A magnificent combination of figure skating and opera from the world’s largest open-air theatre in stunning HD.
For the first time in its distinguished history, Italy’s historic Verona arena opens its doors to figure skating for this ground-breaking new show. Combining the beauty and skill of ice skating with some of the most famous arias from 12 of the world’s greatest operas, this is an event to bring together aficionados of music and sport.
Among the skaters taking part are world number one Carolina Kostner, winner of the European Championships, and Olympic champion Stephane Lambiel. In a truly international line-up, they are joined by champions from China (Qing Pang, Jian Tong) and Russia (Tatiana Totmianina, Maxim Marinin).
For the music, top-level international opera stars collaborate with the 200-strong Verona Arena Orchestra and Chorus
Distributor: Nexo Digital srl
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PIAZZA FONTANA: THE ITALIAN CONSPIRACY……MUST SEE
2011 | 128 minutes | Drama
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Cast: Valerio Mastrandrea, Pierfrancesco Favino, Michela Cescon, Laura Chiatti, Fabrizio Gifuni
An explosion at the Banca Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Milan in 1969 resulted in 17 deaths and injury of dozens more. The protests sweeping Europe and the fear of communism led the police to focus their investigations on anarchist groups. But the Police Commissioner is convinced it’s not that simple. When known non-violent protestor Giuseppe Pinelli dies in police custody, Calabresi’s enquiries reveal a multi-layered conspiracy to discredit the Left by foreign and state governments, the police, the secret service and extreme right-wing Neo-fascist groups.
Distributor: Palace Films
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SHUN LI AND THE POET……MUST SEE
2011 | 103 minutes | Drama
Director: Andrea Segre
Cast: Tao Zhao, Rade Serbedzija, Marco Paolini
Shun Li is a softly spoken young Chinese immigrant. Her Chinese broker transfers her from a clothing factory in the outskirts of Rome to a new job in the small fishing community of Chioggia, in the Venetian lagoon – a city with a strong territorial identity in a region that has transformed from a land of emigration to one of immigration.
There she manages a bar and serves the fishermen regulars in halting Italian. Among these is Bepi, nicknamed “The Poet”, a Slav, who has just retired from a long fishing career. The discovery of a shared love of poetry and similar family backgrounds tied to the sea forges a bond between the two foreigners. Soon the all too familiar forces of racial prejudice and paranoia disrupt their friendship.
Distributor: Palace Films
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TAKE IT EASY!
2011 | 97 minutes | Comedy, Drama
Director: Francesco Bruni
Cast: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Filippo Scicchitano, Barbora Bobulova
After losing faith in the education system, retired teacher and novelist Bruno (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) has all but given up on life. A ghost writer for sports and television celebrities, he is currently writing the biography for former adult star Tina (Barbora Bobulova), while also tutoring privately to make ends meet. One of his students is Luca (Filippo Scicchitano), a drifting and despondent teenager who is on the brink of failure at school.
Luca’s mother takes a six-month job in Mali, and asks Bruno to look after her son while she’s away. Confused by the request, Bruno’s world is turned upside down when she reveals he is Luca’s father.
Distributor: Palace Films
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TERRAFERMA
2011 | 90 minutes | 90 minutes
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Cast: Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Mimmo Cuticchio, Claudio Santamaria
Giulietta (Finocchiaro) decides to rent out the small apartment she shares with her son to summer visitors to make some extra money, and the family move into the garage next door. Meanwhile, Filippo and his grandfather come across a drifting boatload of African immigrants while out on a fishing run. Though Ernesto duly alerts the coastguards, he also goes against official instructions by taking on board a group of immigrants who jumped into the sea from the boat. Among them is Sara, a pregnant Ethiopian woman played by Timnit T – one of only five survivors of a boatload of 70 immigrants that washed up on Lampedusa while the director was working on the treatment for the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZTDrojDutM
Distributor: Hopscotch Films
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THE BIG HEART OF GIRLS
2011 | 82 minutes | Drama, Romance
Director: Pupi Avati
Cast: Cesare Cremonini, Micaela Ramazzotti, Gianni Cavina, Andrea Roncato
Good-looking Carlino Vigetti is not the brightest man in the village. But, like his father and grandfather before him, he is irresistible to the local womenfolk.
Poverty and the fear of eviction from their farm force the Vigetti family to make a deal with the rich landowners, the Osti family. Saddled with two unmarried daughters over the age of 30, Sisto Osti reluctantly accepts Carlino as his son-in-law in return for tenancy security and a sleek Guzzi motorbike. Sisto is given a month to decide which daughter Carlino will marry, but the unexpected arrival home on the decision-day of a third sister, the young and beautiful Francesca upsets all plans. It is love at first sight between Francesca and Carlino, and so plans for the wedding ensue. However, not even marriage to the girl of his dreams keeps promiscuous Carlino on the straight and narrow.
Distributor: Palace Films
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THE ENTREPRENEUR……MUST SEE
2011 | 97 minutes | Drama
Director: Giuliano Montaldo
Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Carolina Crescentini, Francesco Scianna
The story of factory owner Nicola Ranieri who is struggling both professionally and emotionally. The banks are foreclosing and pride has taken him to the brink of ruin as he refuses to use his wife’s wealth and family name as a guarantor against further loans. He is just days away from bankruptcy unless the German company Zenith confirms the fifteen million euro share option deal.
But Nicola also suspects his beautiful architect wife is having an affair. Following her, he discovers a regular rendezvous with Gabriel, a Romanian musician and car park attendant. Attempting to secretly help her husband financially, Laura finds herself instead at the centre of Nicola’s intense jealousy, which leads to tragic results.
Distributor: Palace Films
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THE IMMATURE: THE TRIP
2012 | 112 minutes | Comedy, Romance
Director: Paolo Genovese
Cast: Ambra Angiolini, Luca Bizzarri, Barbora Bobulova, Raoul Bova, Anita Caprioli, Paolo Kessisoglu, Maurizio Mattioli
Giorgio, Lorenzo, Piero, Luisa, Virgillio and Francesca reunite (with some new additions) to embark on what is intended to be a relaxing holiday to Greece and a chance to reconnect with one another. However, temptations are rife on the island, in more ways than one. Their relationships are tested as plans for the holiday become skewed. A mix of treacherous tequila, hazardous watermelons, unexpected ex-girlfriends, and a secret illness make for a balanced mix of humour and tenderness, all set in an idyllic location.
Distributor: Palace Films
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THINGS FROM ANOTHER WORLD
2011 | 86 minutes | Comedy, Drama
Director: Francesco Patierno
Cast: Diego Abatantuono, Valerio Mastandrea, Valentina Lodovini
Bigoted businessman Mariso Golfetto (Diego Abatantuono) uses his self-funded television channel to preach racism and repatriation, at the same time leading a double life visiting a black prostitute. Railing against migrant workers on his nightly programme, he calls for a ‘purifying tsunami’ during a mysterious thunderstorm. By the following morning, one million migrants throughout Italy have vanished.
Chaos ensues. Hospitals and factories close, food is rationed as delivery vans and trucks are found abandoned on motorways. In Golfetto’s hometown of Mestre, rubbish quickly piles up and pensioners, without their carers, are left to wander the streets. In the midst of it all, Detective Ariele Verderame (Valerio Mastandrea) reluctantly tries to find Nadim, his ex-partner’s lover and father to her unborn child.
Distributor: Palace Films
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WELCOME TO THE NORTH
2012 | 106 minutes | Comedy
Director: Luca Miniero
Cast: Claudio Bisio, Valentina Lodovini, Alessandro Siani and Angela Finocchiaro
Following his eye-opening experience in the south, Alberto (Claudio Bisio) returns home to the north with the promotion to Milan he had always dreamed of. Meanwhile, his old friend Mattia (Alessandro Siani) from the laidback post office in Campania is trying to prove to his wife (Valentina Lodovini) that he is committed to working harder to fulfil her dream of moving out of her mother-in-law’s home and into their own love-nest. But when his work colleagues misunderstand and submit his transfer request, he finds himself unexpectedly transferred to Milan.
Distributor: Palace Films
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A superb line–up. What are your picks?
