New Italian Cinema in San Francisco

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 16 November 2009 01:20

Written by Lynne E Shannon

New Italian Cinema Returns for the 13th Triumphant Year in San Francisco at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema, November 15–22, 2009.

The mainstay of New Italian Cinema is the competitive section featuring seven films by emerging directors. NIC opens with a three-film tribute to director Marco Risi, one of Italy's most celebrated filmmakers and closes with Marco Bellocchio's latest tour de force, Vincere, an operatic take on the true story of Mussolini's first wife and their secret child.

“The 2009 New Italian Cinema festival offers yet another provocative, yet often light-hearted, lineup of recent works by up-and-coming directors,” said Film Society programmer Rod Armstrong. “This year's edition covers issues of local politics, father-son relationships, romantic conundrums and mafia depredations.

The New Italian Cinema Events (NICE) organization in Florence—working with selection committee members Rod Armstrong and journalists Deborah Young and Barbara Corsi—chose the best Italian entries from the year's major European film festivals to present in the 2009 New Italian Cinema competition. Most filmmakers are expected at the Embarcadero for Q&As with the audiences. The NICE City of Florence Award will be decided by audience ballot and announced at the Closing Night Award presentation following the screening of Vincere.

The Opening Night presentation is the West Coast Premiere of Fortapàsc, directed by Marco Risi, who will be presernt.  The film relays the account of Neapolitan journalist Giancarlo Siani, who was murdered in 1985 for his reporting on the local crime organization, the Camorra. Risi's fast-paced, coolly observational drama pays tribute to Siani's life and reportage by detailing the events leading up to his death. With Libero de Rienzo, Valentina Lodovini, Massimiliano Gallo, Michele Riondino and Ernesto Mahieux.

Following the opening night film is Marco Risi in Retrospect, featuring films that show the broad range of Risi's talent, from gritty drama to female-focused farce. Films include: Three Wives (Tre mogli), a farcical road-trip movie about three women from different socioeconomic classes who chase their husbands across Argentina, where the men have fled after they rob an Italian bank, starring Francesca d'Aloja, Iaia Forte and Silke Klein. Boys on the Outside (Ragazzi fuori) is Risi’s hard-hitting story of crime and joblessness among Palermo youth who leave a juvenile reformatory and try to reenter society. Featuring stunning performances by several nonprofessional actors. With Francesco Benigno, Maurizio Prollo, Alessandro di Sanzo, Roberto Mariano.

Also included in the program are City of Florence Award Competition Films, many of which are having North American premieres. Among them are:

The Sicilian Girl (La siciliana ribelle), directed by Marco Amenta who will be in attendance. The film is about 17-year-old Rita Atria, who visits a tireless anti-Mafia judge to denounce the organization responsible for the murders of her father and brother. With Veronica d'Agostino, Gérard Jugnot, Miriana Faja.

The North American Premiere of Ex, directed by Fausto Brizzi, who will also be in attendance. This mostly comic study focuses on six different couples and the ups and downs of their relationships. With Claudio Bisio, Alessandro Gassman, Cécile Cassel, Nancy Brilli, Cristiana Capotondi.

The House in the Clouds (La casa sulle nuvole), also a North American Premiere, directed by Claudio Giovannesi who also will attend. Two brothers of different temperaments attempt to come to terms with their irresponsible and self-absorbed parents in this intimate family drama. With Emanuele Bosi, Adriano Giannini, Emilio Bonucci.

Another North America Premiere is Different from Whom? (Diverso da chi?), with director Umberto Carteni attending. Carteni's comedic debut concerns a gay man whose life is complicated when he runs for office in a right-wing town. With Luca Argentero, Claudia Gerini, Filippo Nigro.

The Closing Night film is the West Coast Premiere of Vincere, Marco Bellocchio's latest masterpiece about the life of Ida Dalser, the mother of Benito Mussolini's only acknowledged illegitimate child. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Corinne Castelli.

New Italian Cinema is presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, San Francisco under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy.

Full schedule and information: www.sffs.org.

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