CIS 2017
Cinema, fashion, food excellence and social commitment will be protagonists at the 13rd edition of Cinema Italian Style, the Los Angeles showcase for the best Italian movies of the year, supporting the Italian entry to the Academy Awards® 2018 – Best Foreign Language Film, A CIAMBRA, writer-director Jonas Carpignano’s propulsive drama digs a little deeper into one of the characters from his earlier MEDITERRANEA, a street-smart Romani 14-year-old named Pio.
In a 10 day marathon full of events, Los Angeles public will have the possibility to be immersed in the Italian culture by discovering digitally restored masterpieces like BLOW UP and RED DESERT (Deserto rosso) by Michelangelo Antonioni (to remember 10 years of his passing). Both these screenings are part of the official AFI FEST 2017 presented by Audi program.
Ten titles, selected by Artistic Curator Laura Delli Colli with American Cinematheque’s Director of Programming Gwen Deglise, will then be presented as part of the official program of Cinema Italian Style 2017 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, at the presence of directors and actors.
This year’s films include many outstanding performances. Jasmine Trinca, awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival “Un Certain Regard” and best Italian actress 2017 the Nastri d’Argento Awards, will introduce her riveting turn in the title role of FORTUNATA, playing a soon-to-be-single mom struggling to realize her dreams. And Renato Carpentieri (best italian actor 2017- Cinematographic press award Nastri d’Argento) is unforgettable as a retired lawyer in failing health who feels closer to his neighbor’s kids than his own children in Gianni Amelio’s HOLDING HANDS.
Young people are the focus of Andrea De Sica’s (nephew of Master Vittorio De Sica and son of composer Manuel) and Roberto De Paolis’ feature debuts, as De Sica will explain in occasion of the screenings of CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, in which two friends try to shake the wide-ranging restrictions of their boarding school, and PURE HEARTS, when chaste teen Agnese falls hard for Stefano, a young security guard, though the relationship soon gets bumpy.
No survey of Italian cinema could be complete without a little romance. Silvio Soldini in EMMA, explores the feelings between a beautiful but blind osteopath (Valeria Golino) and a womanizing ad agency man (Adriano Giannini). Manetti Bros. will introduce the couple at the center of their musical and dramatic love story, that faces even bigger obstacles – he’s a hit man and she’s a witness he’s been assigned to kill. Set in the beautiful Bay of Naples, LOVE AND BULLETS is not only an action thriller but also a romantic comedy with music that ranges from Neapolitans songs to rap.
Andrea Molaioli’s SLAM, based on the successful novel by Nick Hornby, is the story of a skater dreaming California, facing the most exciting and at the same time frightening of the experiences for a teenager: growing up!
Mismatched couples are played for laughs in two recent Italian comedies. In Francesco Amato’s LET YOURSELF GO, an austere psychoanalyst (Toni Servillo’s THE GREAT BEAUTY leading actor in his first comedy ) tries to lose some weight with the help of a more outgoing personal trainer. Francesco Bruni will explain his central idea in FRIENDS BY CHANCE, in which a tempestuous 22-year-old slacker is forced to tend to 85-year-old (Alzheimer’s sick) wonderful poet (Italian Master Giuliano Montaldo, here excellent actor). In the latest film by comic Italian very popular tv and comedy stars Ficarra & Picone, box office hit comedy IT’S THE LAW!, a small Sicilian village experiences culture shock when its new mayor renounces corruption.
The series also includes short films selected also in collaboration with Rome Creative Contest Festival. Acclaimed actor Claudio Santamaria will introduce his directing debut THE MILLIONAIRS, short film inspired by the graphic novel by Thomas Ott. Other appointments will explore the link between cinema and cuisine, as many different activities in Los Angeles will be part of worldwide events organized for the second edition of the EXTRAORDINARY ITALIAN TASTE – Italian Cuisine in the World Week. Laura Delli Colli, Artistic Curator of Cinema Italian Style, will be introducing her book Bread, Love and Dreams – The taste of Italian cinema, over fifty years of Italian cinema in a tasty journey through images, recipes, memories and backstage stories, on November 15th at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles, followed by the opening of the photographic exhibition “Food and Film Stories”, produced by Istituto Luce Cinecittà with images from the archives of Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.
Cinema Italian Style, created in 2004 by Gwen Deglise, Dennis Bartok (American Cinematheque) and Camilla Cormanni (Luce Cinecittà), is co-presented by the American Cinematheque and Luce Cinecittà, under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles, the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Cultural Institute. Supported by The Leading Hotels of the World. Media partner: Variety.