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'Open Roads' Highlights New Italian Cinema
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 05:00
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Open Roads 2011: New Italian Cinema
This year’s edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual survey, is led by a trio of top-notch non-fiction features. The latest by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), 1960, cannily assembles archival footage to tell a compelling story of a family searching for its son. 71-year-old master Marco Bellocchio
(whose My Mother’s Smile, Good Morning Night and Vincere highlighted recent New York Film Festivals) returns with Sorelle Mai (pictured, right), a personal journey into his family’s life and hometown, Bobbio. Giovanna Taviani’s Return to the Aeolian Islands lovingly explores the isles which were the settings for classics like Antonioni’s L’Avventura and Kaos, the brilliant Pirandello adaptation by the Tavaiani brothers (one of whom is Giovanna’s father, and the other her uncle).
Several of the fiction features take the pulse of contemporary Italian society, with mixed results. 20 Cigarettes, Aureliano Amadei’s pulse-pounding account of an anti-war filmmaker going to Iraq only to become another victim of its random violence, is as volatile and exciting as it is thought-provoking. Contrarily, Love or Slaps (pictured, left) is Sergio Castellitto’s frantically unfunny update of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in which Castellitto and the always dependable 
Laura Morante play good liberal parents who are disappointed their daughter’s new boyfriend isn’t black. Working from his wife Margaret Mazzantini’s flaccid script, Castellitto never finds a consistent tone or point of view, finally just spinning his wheels. (The title’s literal translation is The Beauty of the Donkey, which makes no sense in English unless you’ve seen the movie.)
Director Roberta Torre reteams with her marvelous Angela star (and Bellocchio leading lady) Donatello Finocchiaro in the gentle satire Lost Kisses, in which Finocchiaro burns a hole in the screen as the opportunistic mother of a teenager (the wonderful Carla Marchese) who says that the Virgin Mary spoke to her after a new religious statue lost its head. Whatsoeverly, Giulio Manfredonia’s absurdist take on the intersection of politics, media and celebrity, dishes out as much silliness as it does satiric bulls-eyes. Think Trump or Palin in the land of Berlusconi.
The Woman of My Life, with Stefania Sandrelli as the mother of two sons in love with the same woman, is a trite updating of Gabriele Muccino’s superb The Last Kiss, which also featured Sandrelli. Despite an excellent cast and the magnetic presence of Valentina Lodovini (you definitely believe both brothers would fall for her), the movie becomes exhausting as it goes along. Happily, Giorgia Cecere’s debut, The First Assignment, is a modest, self-assured gem about a young teacher (the terrific Isabelle Ragonese) whose first job in an out of the way village doesn’t go as planned.
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema
Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, NY
http://www.filmlinc.com
June 1-8, 2011
For more by Kevin Filipski, visit The Flip Side blog at http://flipsidereviews.blogspot.com/
Indie Brazil 2011 in Hollywood
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 00:40
- Written by L E Shannon
The 3rd Annual Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival (HBR FEST) takes place June 1 - 4, 
2011 at the Egyptian Theatre and Mann Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood, California. The Festival is dedicated to bringing independent vision and voices from Brazil to Los Angeles audiences.
All films are Los Angeles premieres. This year’s selection represents the newest crop of filmmaking flourishing in Brazil. Many of the films presented have screened at international film festivals, winning awards and receiving critical acclaim.
The Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the cultural and commercial exchange between Hollywood and Brazil. The HBR FEST mission is to create a bridge between the international film community and Brazil, while raising public awareness for the Brazilian culture, as well as production and financing opportunities for international productions shooting in Brazil.
The Opening Night Film is Riscado / Craft, directed by Gustavo Pizzi starring Karine Teles, who co-wrote the script with Pizzi. Teles gives a tour-de-force performance as a talented actress who struggles thro
ugh life with small, humiliating jobs to make ends meet, until she gets what may be her big break. Pizzi and Teles will be in attendance.
The Closing Night Film Is Rosa Morena, directed by Ivan Teixeira. A 40-something a single gay man desperately wants to be a father, but he cannot legally adopt a child in Denmark. So, he decides to visit an old friend in Brazil, where there is a thriving black market for adoption. Maria is beautiful, charming and pregnant, yet she is too poor to support her unborn child. The plan is simple: Thomas will pay Maria and bring her baby back to Denmark as his own. But naturally, complications ensue.
Other films include:
A Fuga Da Mulher Gorila / The Escape of the Gorilla Woman
dir. Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Flora Dias, Morena Catonni, Alberto Moura Jr.
Two sisters decide to embark on a journey through the state of Rio de Janeiro in an old kombi van. Along the way, they offer a lift to an actor who also wants to visit the state, and together the trio decides to organize a spectacular show in which one of them transforms into a gorilla and threatens the audience.
A Alegria / The Joy
dir. Felipe Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Tainá Medina, Junior Moura, Cesar Cardadeiro, Flora Dias, Rikle Miranda
The film follows 16-year-old Luiza, who is tired of hearing about the end of the world. On Christmas Eve, her cousin João disappears in the middle of the night and is shot
in a poor neighborhood. A few weeks later, Luiza finds João, as a ghost, in her living room.
Chantal Akerman De Cá / Chantal Akerman from Here
dir. Gustavo Beck, Leonardo Luiz Ferreira
This documentary features an uncut interview with the prestigious Belgian director as Akerman reflects on her own work and method. She shares the influence of directors such as Jonas Mekas and Michael Snow, her relation with Proust’s novel (which she adapted in La Captive in 2000), and her failed attempt to venture into a more commercial filmmaking.
Estrada Para Ythaca / Road to Ythaca
dir. Guto Parente, Luiz Pretti, Pedro Diógenes, Ricardo Pretti
starring the four directors
This road movie focuses on four friends, played by the four directors, who have recently lost a friend. After a night of heavy drinking, they decide to travel to the mythical Ythaca. They don’t seem to be looking for a real place, but rather for something that has been with them since the beginning of the film: the sprit of friendship.
Por El Camino / Beyond the Road
dir. Charly Braun
A 30-year-old Argentinean travels to Uruguay in search of a piece of land that he inherited from his parents. On his arrival in Montevideo, by chance he meets a young Belgian who came to Uruguay in search of an old love. He offers her a ride, and on the way they realize that they are developing feelings for each other.
Reflexões De Um Liquidificador / Reflections of a Blender
dir. André Klotzel
A hilarious dark comedy about a woman and her talking blender as she searches for her missing husband. The blender narrates the story, weaving between the current investigation and flashbacks of Elvira with her husband. Suddenly they work together to solve the case and find out what really happened to her husband.
Bollywood Dream
dir. Beatriz Seigner (directorial debut)
Three Brazilian women are hoping to make it in Bollywood. But it does not start out well. Their producer doesn’t meet them and their hotel reservations are missing. Forced to fend for themselves, they find a teenage promoter whose lying and choreography skills give them the chance they were hoping for.
Seminars include:
- Film Finance – Topics include international film finance, establishing film funds, securing credit for film production.
- Marketing and Distribution – How to market and secure worldwide distribution.
- Talent Seminars – HBFF will promote Film Project and Script labs to expand the cultural exchange and create world class projects for Brazilian films.
- Technical Seminars – Seminars discuss other technical areas, such as CGI Effects, Film Crew Work, etc.
- Post Production & Labs – HBR Fest will promote the exchange of contact and technical information for post production, including lab visits and technical orientation.
- Film Student Seminars – Top film schools in Hollywood and vicinity will meet film students from Brazil for networking and cultural exchange.
All screenings are FREE and open to the public, other than Opening and Closing night films.
For more information, visit www.hbrfest.com.
Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival
June 1 - 4, 2011
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
323-466-3456
Mann Chinese 6 Theaters
6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
Rio Rocks Hollywood Via Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 05:00
- Written by Film Festival Traveler Staff
Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival brings together two cultures to showcase the best that Brazil has to offer. Drawing on the allure of Hollywood as the crossroads of culture, the festival aims to become both a cultural and business center, with chances for cultural-creative and commercial exchange, taking advantage of the presence of foreign film directors, casting directors and the best of Brazilian film production, as well as financiers and business people.
The 19 films being shown at the 3rd HBFF are independent productions which show the diversity of Brazil through the various languages, with Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Danish, Polish, Hebrew, and Hindi being represented.
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2011
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Monday, 30 May 2011 05:00
- Written by L E Shannon
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is back again from June 1 - 8, 2011 at the Walter 
Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.
This 11th edition also marks the 150th anniversary of the Risorgimento, the movement that united the assorted city-states into the modern Italy that we know and love.
As a tribute to this milestone, the Series is screening two films that commemorate this event:
We Believed / Noi Credevamo
dir. Mario Martone
US Premiere of an epic reconstruction and re-imagination of the social and political forces that led to Italian independence.
1860 (I Figli Di Garibaldi)
dir. Alesasandro Blassetti (1934)
A rare screening, this epic of the Risorgimento follows a group of peasants on their road to joining Garibaldi.
The Opening Night Film is the US Premiere of The Salt of Life, directed by Gianni Di Gregorio. Starring Di Gregorio, Valeria de Franciscis, Teresa Di Gregorio, Alfonso Santagata
In this follow-up to his 2010 sleeper hit Mid-August Lunch, Di Gregorio plays a middle-aged retiree. As his friends snare "beautiful younger women on the sun-kissed cobblestones of Trastevere," Gianni tries his "polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life -- with both hilarious and poignant results." Di Gregorio will be in attendance on June 1.
Some of the other films are:
20 Cigarettes / 20 Sigarette
dir. Aureliano Amadei
starring Vinicio Marchioni, Carolina Crescentini, Giorgio Colangeli
"When a young antiwar activist heads to Iraq to work on a film, he quickly finds himself a victim of sectarian violence and soon an unlikely media sensation. Amadei’s powerful debut feature is based on his own experiences as the only civilian survivor of the 2003 suicide bombing of Italian military HQ in Nasiriyah."
Unlikely Revolutionaries / Figli delle Stelle (Children of the Stars)
dir. Lucio Pellegrini
starring Pierfrancesco Favino, Lidia Biondi, Edoardo Gabbriellini
After botching a high-profile kidnapping, a group of disillusioned northeasterners are forced to learn how to coexist under absurd and clandestine conditions. A comedy of modern times.
The First Assignment / Il primo incarico
dir. Giorgia Cecere
starring Isabella Ragonese, Alberto Boll, Francesco Chiarello
Nena, a girl from the south of Italy, has to travel far from home to get her first job as a teacher. She arrives to find a world beyond her imagination: a school isolated on a high mountain plain, wild children, people she has nothing in common with and a hostile environment.
The Passion / La Passione
dir. Carlo Mazzacurati
After a leak in his Tuscan apartment destroys a 16th century chapel’s fresco, a has-been director agrees to stage some Good Friday celebrations. Dead-easy penance, right? Doesn‛t he wish...
For more information, go to www.filmlinc.com.
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema
June 1 - 8, 2011
Walter Reade Theater
at Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street
New York City
