New
Authors of Italian Cinema: An Italian Film Festival
November 17
– 23, 2003
New Authors of Italian
Cinema: An Italian Film Festival is a collaboration of Italia
Cinema, the Center
for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and
International House. This year’s festival, the Fifth Edition,
will offer as one of its highlights a panel discussion including
Millicent Marcus, Director of the Center for Italian Studies
and Film Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania and
Antonio Monda, Professor of Film Studies at New York University.
As always, the festival has as its
purpose to bring to the viewing public those new efforts on
the part of Italy’s growing pool of talented filmmakers.
Although contemporary Italian cinema may maintain an artistic connection to the works of Fellini, Rosselini, de Sica and other
past masters, it has developed its own voice, a voice that speaks
as a new expression of Italy’s national culture. This
generation of Italian filmmakers has re-imagined and re-defined
the styles, themes and structures of the past. Today’s
Italian cinema incorporates many of the influences of the emerging
global dialogue yet at the same time retains its fervent interest
in the regionalism and smaller, interlocking sub-cultures that
are specific to Italian identity. New Italian cinema in its
creative diversity remains a point of reference for all lovers
of fine films.
Free admission. Tickets available
one hour before showtime at the International House box office.
Monday
to Sunday, November 17 - 23
FELLINI PHOTO EXHIBIT
Dedicated to Federico
Fellini to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.
“Fellini
and Rossi: the Sixth Vitellone” :The exhibition on Fellini told
by Moraldo Rossi, his assistant for several years, curated by
the Cineteca of Bologna. In collaboration with KIT-Kairos Italy
Theater Inc.
Tuesday,
November 18 at 8:00 PM
IO SONO UN GRAN BUGIARDO (Fellini,
I Am a Born Liar)
dir.
Damian Pettigrew, 2003, Italy, 35mm, 105 mins, color and b/w,
Italian w/ English subtitles
A year before the great filmmaker's death, Damian Pettigrew
sat down for a long and detailed conversation with Fellini about
his vision and his work. The result is unique and entertaining,
the interviews peppered with scenes from the legendary filmmaker's
films, behind-the-scenes footage and private 8mm films.
Wednesday, November 19 at 8:00 PM
ROSA FUNZECA
dir. Aurelio Grimaldi, Italy, 2002, 35mm,
90 mins, b/w, Italian w/ English subtitles
 Aurelio
Grimaldi’s film is a declared homage to Pasolini’s
Mamma Roma. Shot in voluptuous black and white, Rosa
Funzeca is about a prostitute in Naples who tries to escape
her old way of life to sort things out with her growing son.
After twenty years on the streets, the still good-looking middle-aged
woman decides to give up prostitution. She looks forward to
being reunited with her teenage son Fernando, who was brought
up by priests. She spends her savings on a house and opens a
flower stall. But it soon becomes apparent that she cannot manage
financially and she is forced to take to the streets again.
Her close bond with Fernando turns out to be a relationship
filled with contention. Both are heading for a tragic and inevitable
fate. With great feeling for the local language and regional
culture, Grimaldi has made a film about the sorrow and joy,
hope and despair in everyday life. The difficult role of Rosa
is played by the excellent Ida di Benedetto. The other performances,
including that of the unusual Mafioso loan shark and former
pimp are equally excellent. Rosa Funzeca is a subtle
and moving melodrama that is eloquent in its simplicity.
Thursday,
November 20 at 8:00 PM
VELOCITÀ
MASSIMA (V-Max)
dir. Daniele Vicari, Italy, 2002, 35mm, 111
mins, color, Italian w/ English subtitles
 Velocita
Massima, Daniel Vicari’s exploration of Italy’s
street racing and customized car scene depicts a relatively
uncharted Roman subculture. This well-paced, entertaining drama
tells of the friendship that develops between 17 year-old Claudio
and 35 year-old Stefano when the young boy comes to live and
to work in Stefano’s struggling auto workshop in Ostia.
Claudio’s remarkable talent with cars soon makes him a
valuable asset in both the business and the nighttime street
racing contests in which Stefano is involved. The two overhaul
a beat-up Ford, install computerized equipment, and an eye-popping
exterior in the hope of winning the cash prize in the big race.
But their hopes and their friendship are compromised by Claudio’s
romance with the restless Giovana, who, like Claudio, longs
to escape the confines of the economically depressed region
on the outskirts of Rome. The story revolves around the themes
of ambition, friendship and betrayal which culminate in a climactic
showdown and bittersweet conclusion. Director Vicari’s
robust cinematic style is sharp, fast and entertaining, backed
by a lean musical score.
Friday,
November 21 at 7:30 PM
Panel Discussion with Millicent Marcus, University of Pennsylvania
and Antonio Monda, New York University
Followed
at 8:00 PM by
PLACIDO RIZZOTTO
dir. Pasquale Scimeca, Italy, 2000, 35mm, 110
mins, color, Italian w/ English subtitles
Drama about mafia
and jealousy in post-war Corleone. The story of one hero –
one of many
at Venice 57, who lived in the mountains of Sicily but could
really be anywhere in the Southern hemisphere - from Colombia
to Iran. Placido, the son of Carmelo Rizzotto comes back from
the war armed with a new anti-fascist consciousness but purer
than ever of heart. He cannot accept the arrogance of the land
managers and the brutal way in which they select those lucky
few who will work the fields and whose families will be able
to eat. He organizes the peasants and persuades them to occupy
the land. His magnetic personality pulls the people in and he
looks down on the world from his perch in the wind-swept mountains.
He rebels against mafia power, and convinces his father that
he is right and the mafia is wrong.
Saturday,
November 22 at 8:30 PM
IL CIELO CADE
(The Sky Is Falling)
dir .Andrea and Antonio Frazzi, Italy, 2000,
35mm, 103 mins,color, Italian w/ English subtitles
 A
little girl begins the passage into adulthood when the innocent
joys of childhood are transformed into tragedy by the German
occupation of Italy. Penny and her sister, Baby, are orphaned
when their father is killed in an automobile accident. They
go to live on the beautiful Tuscan estate of their aunt and
uncle. In the course of the idyllic summer of 1944, they grow
to love their Uncle Wilhelm, a compassionate Jewish intellectual.
The Germans occupy the villa, but it is not until the Allies
approach that the Nazis close the door forever upon Penny’s
childhood and innocence. Il cielo cade is based upon
the autobiographical novel by Lorenza Mazzetti in which the
author recounts the events of the summer of 1944. Her uncle,
Robert Einstein, cousin of the mathematician, had been assimilated
into Italian society. Einstein’s wife was a Christian,
and his daughters were baptized and raised Catholic. Nonetheless,
they became victims of the retreating Germans. Jeroen Crabbe
and Isabella Rossellini ably portray the Einsteins in this beautifully
crafted film translation of the novel. Franco DiGiacomo’s
cinematography and Luis Bacalov’s score give additional
emotional resonance to the screenplay by Suso Cecchi d’Amico.
Veronica Niccolai’s performance as Penny/Mazzetti captures
the nine-year-old’s joys and childish fears which culminate
in the wrenching anguish inflicted by the Nazi brutality.
Sunday, November 23 at 8:00 PM
DILLO CON
PAROLE MIE (Ginger and Cinnamon)
dir. Daniele Luchetti, Italy/France, 2003, 35mm,
105 mins, color, Italian w/ English subtitles
Dillo con parole
mie is a light comedy, fizzing with female sexuality, without
any politically
correct considerations. The main star is Meggy , a 14 year old
girl who is undergoing major hormonal changes which make her
want to escape from the boring scouts summer camp to run away
with her aunt, Stefania to “the island of love”,
Ios. The aim: to lose her virginity. In that sun-drenched place,
filled with night owls aged under 30, who go about in swimming
costumes and bikinis, the aunt seems like the only oldie…
but suddenly another one comes along: Andrea , the former boyfriend
of her aunt, who manages to seduce the young virgin. The newest
film by Daniele Luchetti (La scuola, Il portaborse),
Dillo con parole mie, set on the Greek island of Ios, is made
up of chatter and misunderstandings, myths, sweets, sun rashes,
Homeric questions, fixations, broken diets, anti-histamines,
and messages of love. Luchetti, working from a screenplay by
Stefania Montorsi (who also plays Stefania in the film), offers
a wry and revealing look at the dreams, illusions and realities
of love and romance as they play across very different generations.
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