The eighth edition of CINEMA MADE IN ITALY will launch at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington on Wednesday 7th March. Paolo Taviani’s World War II drama RAINBOW (Una Questione Privata), starring Luca Marinelli and Valentina Bellé will open the five-day event. In addition to eight new Italian productions, the 2018 programme also includes the 1977 classic title A SPECIAL DAY (Una Giornata Particolare), directed by the late maestro Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
One of the highlights to look forward to this year is Andrea Pallaoro’s heart-rending drama HANNAH, which earned Charlotte Rampling the Best Actress Award at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival. Other titles in the line-up which premiered in Venice are the wildly enjoyable musical LOVE AND BULLETS (Ammore e Malavita) by Antonio and Marco Manetti; the slick and creative animation film CINDERELLA THE CAT (Gatta Cenerentola) by Alessandro Rak; and Sebastiano Riso’s impressive second feature UNA FAMIGLIA.
Leonardo di Costanzo, who presented his award-winning film The Interval in London in 2012, will be making a welcome return with his latest feature THE INTRUDER (L’Intrusa), which screened in Directors’ Fortnight at last year’s Cannes International Film Festival. Sergio Castellitto’s social melodrama FORTUNATA also premiered in Cannes, in Un Certain Regard, landing Jasmine Trinca with the section’s Best Actress Award for her gritty performance as a poverty-stricken single mother. Lucia Mascino also delivers a stunning performance in STORIES OF LOVE THAT CANNOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD (Amori Che Non Sanno Stare al Mondo), by acclaimed director Francesca Comencini.
CINEMA MADE IN ITALY is organised by Istituto Luce-Cinecittà’s promotional department in Rome (Filmitalia), with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in London, the official agency for the promotion of Italian language and culture in England and Wales. For further details on their activities, please visit: www.filmitalia.org / www.icilondon.esteri.it. The films were selected by Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London. As always, screenings will be followed by film-maker Q&A sessions, giving viewers the chance to become engaged in lively discussions.
VENUE AND BOX OFFICE INFORMATION:
Ciné Lumière : 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT, T +44 (0)20 7871 3515
Tickets: £12/£10 (conc.); £9/£7 (conc.) for films in the ‘Sunday Classics’ section;
£5 for viewers aged 25 and under, if registered for the ’25 and Under £5 Scheme’ on the French Institute website
SCREENING PROGRAMME – CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 2018
Wednesday 7th March
6.30 pm Rainbow
Intro and Q&A with Paolo Taviani (director)
Thursday 8th March
6.15 pm Stories of Love that cannot belong to this World
Intro and Q&A with Francesca Comencini (director)
Friday 9th March
6.30 pm Hannah
Intro and Q&A with Andrea Pallaoro (director)
8.40 pm Love and Bullets
Intro and Q&A with Antonio and Marco Manetti (directors)
Saturday 10th March
6.30 pm The Intruder
8.40 pm Fortunata
Intro and Q&A with Jasmine Trinca (actress)
Sunday 11th March
2.00 pm A Special Day
4.00 pm Cinderella the Cat
Intro and Q&A with Alessandro Rak (director)
6.30 pm Una Famiglia
Intro and Q&A with Sebastiano Riso (director)
LINE-UP FOR CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 2018
RAINBOW (Una Questione Privata) – Opening Night
Director: Paolo Taviani
Cast: Luca Marinelli, Lorenzo Richelmy, Valentina Bellè, Anna Ferruzzo, Giulio Beranek, Antonella Attili, Lorenzo Demaria, Alessandro Sperduti, Mauro Conte, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Fabrizio Colica, Francesco Turbanti, Guglielmo Favilla, Alessandro Bertoncini, Josafat Vagni, Jacopo Crovella, Matteo Davide, Tommaso Maria Neri, Giuseppe Lo Piccolo, Marco Brinzi, Francesca Agostini, Fabrizio Costella, Vincenzo Nemolato, Andrea Di Maria, Luca Cesa, Francesco Durando, Federico Palumeri, Edoardo Chiabolotti, Gianluca D’Ercole, Mario Bois, Lorenzo Massa, Cristian Mazzotta, Margherita Gallian, Francesco Paulucci, Luca Tanganelli, Elena Sala
It is the summer of 1943 in Piedmont, Northwest Italy. Milton (Luca Marinelli (who made his name in They Call Me Jeeg) is torn between the anti-fascist resistance movement and his obsession for the beautiful Fulvia (Valentina Bellè from Medici: Masters of Florence). When Milton discovers that his friend Giorgio (Lorenzo Richelmy, who played Marco Polo in the Netflix TV series) had a secret affair with the girl he is in love with, he starts to question not only their friendship, but also his commitment to the cause. The screenplay written by the Taviani brothers is based on the novel ‘A Private Affair’ by Beppe Fenoglio, and offers an elegantly told tale about the bittersweet realities that temper idealistic love.
STORIES OF LOVE THAT CANNOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD (Amori Che Non Sanno Stare al Mondo),
Director: Francesca Comencini
Cast: Lucia Mascino, Thomas Trabacchi, Carlotta Natoli, Valentina Bellè, Camilla Semino Favro, Filippo Dini, Iaia Forte
Flavio (Thomas Trabacchi) and Claudia (Lucia Mascino) are in their fifties, and have been drifting apart. When they go their separate ways, they find themselves navigating a new and unsure path of modern dating and all that this entails. Flavio finds his feet sooner than Claudia does, and embarks on a passionate romance with the much younger Giorgia. Claudia on the other hand finds herself attracted to Nina, whom she knows from a former university post. Francesca Comencini (TV’s Gomorrah) makes her return to feature filmmaking with a brilliant relationship dramedy, which recounts the ups and downs following the break-up of a long term relationship.
HANNAH
Director: Andrea Pallaoro
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, André Wilms, Stéphanie Van Vyve, Simon Bisschop, Jean-Michel Balthazar, Luca Avallone, Fatou Traore
Set in an unnamed Belgian city, Hannah unfolds in the wake of a terrible crime that is never explicitly identified, but which can be guessed via snippets of evidence, glimpsed as the story advances. Hannah is a respectable, retirement-age woman, who is left to pick up the pieces following her husband’s imprisonment. Through the exploration of her fractured sense of identity and loss of self-control, the film investigates modern-day alienation, the struggle to connect, and the denial of reality. Charlotte Rampling delivers an emotionally unsparing performance without a hint of vanity in the title role, which earned her the Best Actress Award at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival.
LOVE AND BULLETS (Ammore e Malavita)
Directors: Antonio and Marco Manetti
Cast: Giampaolo Morelli, Serena Rossi, Claudia Gerini, Carlo Buccirosso, Raiz, Franco Ricciardi, Antonio Buonomo, Rosalia Porcaro, Antonio Fiorillo, Lucianna De Falco, Graziella Marina, Andrea D’Alessio, Pino Mauro, Antonino Iuorio
Set against the backdrop of (organised) crime in the beguiling Bay of Naples, Love and Bullets has all the elements of a dramatic love story, accompanied by car chases, shoot-outs and spontaneous dance numbers. Defined by some as a ‘Mafia musical’, the latest film by the Manetti Brothers shakes up cinematic genres, serving a heady cocktail laced with an ingenious soundtrack, which effortlessly skips to the beat of Neapolitan songs, eighties classics, and rap tunes. This is a musical like no other, brought to the screen by the ingenious duo whose directing credits include Paura 3D and Song ’e Napule.
THE INTRUDER (L’Intrusa)
Director: Leonardo di Costanzo
Cast: Raffaella Giordano, Valentina Vannino, Marcello Fonte, Riccardo Veno, Martina Abbate, Anna Patierno, Gianni Vastarella, Flavio Rizzo, Maddalena Stornaiuolo, Emma Ferulano, Giovanni Manna
Raffaella Giordano delivers a powerful performance as an idealistic social worker who runs a children’s centre in a dilapidated suburb in Naples. Her mission is to offer a safe haven for each and every child in need, but her morals are put to the test when it becomes apparent that one of the latest additions to her brood is the daughter of a notorious Mafia enforcer on the run. Presented at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes last year, Leonardo Di Costanzo’s second feature is a gritty, heartfelt tale which succeeds in pulling off the delicate balancing act of offering social commentary without feeling preachy.
FORTUNATA
Director: Sergio Castellitto
Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Stefano Accorsi, Alessandro Borghi, Federica Sabatini, Hanna Schygulla, Edoardo Pesce, Emanuela Aurizi, Rosa Diletta Rossi, Liliana Fiorelli
In Fortunata Jasmine Trinca plays a freelance hairdresser caught up in the struggle of raising her spirited eight-year-old daughter, opening a hair salon with her doped up childhood friend Chicano (Alessandro Borghi), and trying to steer clear of an abusive ex-husband. Further complications are added to her life when the handsome psychologist Dr. Patrizio (Stefano Accorsi) comes on the scene. Set in the eastern outskirts of Rome, some of the main characters as well as the overall mood of the film recall Pasolini’s neo-realist classic Mamma Roma. Featuring stalwart performances all round, Jasmine Trinca went on to win the Best Actress Award for the title role in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes International Film Festival.
A SPECIAL DAY (Una Giornata Particolare)
Director: Ettore Scola
Cast: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, John Vernon
Set in Rome on 8th May 1938, the historic day when Benito Mussolini rolled out the red carpet for Adolf Hitler, A Special Day portrays an unexpected friendship which blossoms between a conservative housewife and a liberal radio broadcaster awaiting deportation. Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni deliver two of the finest performances of their careers in this deeply moving story of two individuals helpless in the rise of Fascism.
CINDERELLA THE CAT (Gatta Cenerentola)
Directors: Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone
Cast (voices): Massimiliano Gallo, Maria Pia Calzone, Alessandro Gassman, Mariano Rigillo, Renato Carpentieri
The classic Cinderella fairy-tale gets an unexpectedly dark and grown-up reboot in this strikingly animated film from the Italian directorial quartet Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri and Dario Sansone. Set almost entirely on a retro-futuristic ship in the harbour of Naples, the story re-imagines Cinderella as a 17-year-old hipster on the verge of getting married to a narcissistic drug lord, who dreams of turning Naples into the crime capital of the world. Meanwhile, the evil stepmother is raising her own children to be caberet dancers. Luckily, a heroic policeman is waiting in the wings, and might just be able to secure a happy ending for this kooky, music-infused joyride. In this animated film noir, Cinderella meets Gomorrah in a violent sci-fi tale of crime and vengeance.
UNA FAMIGLIA
Director: Sebastiano Riso
Cast: Micaela Ramazzotti, Patrick Bruel, Pippo Delbono, Fortunato Cerlino, Gaetano Bruno, Sebastian Gimelli Morosin, Alessandro Riceci, Marco Leonardi, Matilda De Angelis, Ennio Fantastichini
At first glance, Vincent (Patrick Bruel) and Maria (Micaela Ramazzotti) seem like any other couple, but a dark secret lurks beneath the surface. The truth is that they conceive, deliver and sell babies to couples in need. However, when Maria decides that she wants to have a child of her own, their clandestine project threatens to go off course. Una Famiglia unveils the dangers of making a living as illegal ‘donors’ in a country where all forms of surrogacy are illegal.
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