This seventh edition of the festival brings a brand new array of exciting and inspiring films to the South Kensington cinema. Screenings are followed by Q&A sessions with the film-makers, offering audiences the opportunity to get involved in lively discussions.
This year’s line-up comprises nine new feature films, plus the recently restored version of Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1966 masterpiece THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (La Battaglia di Algeri), distributed in the UK by CultFilms: www.cultfilms.co.uk. It will be the very first time this restored version is shown on the big screen in the UK.
Opening night film 7 MINUTES (7 Minuti) was selected for the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival Competition, and was in the official selection at the 2016 Rome International Film Festival. The Biennale College Cinema gem EARS (Orecchie) screened at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, as did Michele Vannucci’s I WAS A DREAMER (Il più grande sogno), Pippo Delbono’s VANGELO, and Irene Dionisio’s PAWN STREETS (Le Ultime Cose).
PERICLE THE BLACK (Pericle il Nero), starring Italy’s much-loved Riccardo Scamarcio, was in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at last year’s Cannes International Film Festival. Roberto Andò’s THE CONFESSIONS (Le Confessioni), starring Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil and Connie Nielsen, has screened at a multitude of festivals around the world, and was awarded the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the 2016 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif is back with his latest feature film IN GUERRA PER AMORE, which was shown at both the Rome and Busan International Film Festivals last October. Andrea Molaioli’s SLAM (Tutto per una ragazza), featuring Luca Marinelli (who starred in last year’s They Call Me Jeeg) and based on Nick Hornby’s novel of the same name, premiered at the recent Torino Film Festival.
The five day annual event 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. Eight titles were chosen by the film critic and festival programmer Maurizio Di Rienzo, and two films were selected by Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London.
VENUE AND BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Screenings: Wednesday 1 - Sunday 5 March 2017
Ciné Lumière : 17 Queensbury 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
Full programme and booking details:
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SCREENING PROGRAMME
Wednesday 1st March
6.30 pm 7 Minutes 88’
Intro and Q&A with Clémence Poésy (actress), Ambra Angiolini – TBC (actress), Cristiana Capotondi (actress)
Thursday 2nd March
6.30 pm Ears 90’
Intro and Q&A with Alessandro Aronadio (director)
8.50 pm Pericle the Black 100’
Intro and Q&A with Stefano Mordini – TBC (director) and Riccardo Scamarcio (actor)
Friday 3rd March
6.30 pm The Confessions 100’
Intro and Q&A with Roberto Andò (director)
8.50 pm In Guerra Per Amore 99’
Intro and Q&A with Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif (director and writer) and Michele Astori (writer)
Saturday 4th March
6.15 pm Pawn Streets 85’
Intro and Q&A with Irene Dionisio (director)
8.50 pm Slam 100’
Intro and Q&A with Andrea Molaioli (director) and Nick Hornby – TBC (writer)
Sunday 5th March
2.00 pm The Battle of Algiers (distributed in the UK by CultFilms: www.cultfilms.co.uk) 121’
4.20 pm Vangelo 87’
Intro and Q&A with Pippo Delbono (director and actor)
6.40 pm I Was a Dreamer 100’
Intro and Q&A with Michele Vannucci (director) and Mirko Frezza (actor)
LINE-UP FOR CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 2017
7 MINUTES (7 Minuti) – Opening Night
Director: Michele Placido – 88 mins
Cast: Ambra Angiolini, Ottavia Piccolo, Cristiana Capotondi, Fiorella Mannoia, Maria Nazionale, Violante Placido, Clémence Poésy, Sabine Timoteo, Anne Consigny, Michele Placido, Bruno Cariello, Mimma Lovoi, Donato Placido, Gerardo Placido, Luisa Cattaneo, Erika D’Ambrosio, Balkissa Maiga, Lee Colbert
Following a takeover, the new owner of an Italian textile plant (played magnificently by Anne Consigny, who was most recently seen in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle), flies in from Paris to propose the plan masterminded in order to preserve the workers’ future. When the women in the plant’s council learn that nobody will lose their job, provided everyone gives up seven minutes of their daily break, it seems too good to be true. But when they start to analyse what the seven minutes actually represent, it soon dawns on them that more is at stake than merely their workers’ rights. Based on a true story, 7 minutes is a taut and gripping drama featuring emotionally anchoring performances from notably Clémence Poésy, Ambra Angiolini and Ottavia Piccolo.
EARS (Orecchie)
Director: Alessandro Aronadio – 90 mins
Cast: Daniele Parisi, Francesca Antonelli, Silvana Bosi, Masaria Colucci, Silvia D’Amico, Piera Degli Esposti, Ivan Franek, Sonia Gessner, Paolo Giovannucci, Rocco Papaleo, Andrea Purgatori, Re Salvador, Niccolò Senni, Pamela Villoresi, Milena Vukotic, Massimo Wertmüller
Following his brilliant debut feature Due Vite per Caso (which has won over 15 awards), Alessandro Aronadio is back with a sharp and witty comedy. Stylishly shot in black and white, Ears follows a day in the life of a hapless young university lecturer, as he wanders around the streets of Rome, questioning the true purpose of his life. Clarity is obtained after a succession of Kafkaesque situations, which include an encounter with a bevy of mistrusting nuns, an outlandish rapper, and an impertinent ear specialist. Made on a micro budget under the umbrella of the Biennale College Cinema programme, Alessandro Aronadio’s absurdist comedy was an instant hit when it premiered at last year’s Venice International Film Festival.
PERICLE THE BLACK (Pericle il Nero)
Director: Stefano Mordini – 100 mins
Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Marina Foïs, Valentina Acca, Gigio Morra, Maria Luisa Santella, Lucia Ragni, Eduardo Scarpetta, Seloua M’Hamdi, Samuel Laurie
Co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, and loosely based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s Pericle il Nero, Stefano Mordini’s third feature is a contemporary Italian mafia film set in Belgium and France. Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt, Effie Gray, Third Person) is a loyal Camorra low-life who makes ends meet by doing dirty jobs for Don Luigi, a Neapolitan crime lord and pizzeria owner based in the outskirts of Liège. When a job goes wrong, he has no choice but to go on the run, and after a brief spell in hiding, ends up in Calais. Alienated, and deep down yearning to be part of a family, he seeks refuge in the form of divorced bakery worker Anastasia, played superbly by French actress Marina Foïs (Paris Follies, Polisse, Irréprochable). They embark on a bittersweet whirlwind romance, as they endeavour to sidestep the shadow of his tormented past.
THE CONFESSIONS (Le Confessioni)
Director: Roberto Andò – 100 mins
Cast: Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, Connie Nielsen, Pierfrancesco Favino, Moritz Bleibtreu, Marie-Josée Croze, Richard Sammel, Johan Heldenbergh, Stéphane Freiss, Aleksei Guskov, Ernesto D'Argenio, Lambert Wilson, Julian Ovenden, Togo Igawa, Andy de la Tour, John Keogh, Giulia Andò
Produced by Angelo Barbagallo (Dear Diary, The Son’s Room, Certified Copy), Roberto Andò’s slick mystery thriller centers on a simple monk of the Carthusian order, who shakes things up at a G8 meeting held in a luxury hotel on the Baltic Coast. After a high-ranking official is found dead in his room, it transpires that the purpose of the state treasurers’ gathering is to introduce radical economic reforms that will have irreparable destructive effects on less-developed countries in the world. Stopping them soon becomes a race against time…. The elegant mise en scène, Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani’s exquisite score, along with a stellar cast including Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, and Connie Nielson, make for irresistible viewing.
IN GUERRA PER AMORE
Director: Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif – 99 mins
Cast: Andrea Di Stefano, Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif, Sergio Vespertino, Maurizio Bologna, Miriam Leone, Samuele Segreto, Stella Egitto, Antonello Puglisi, Vincent Riotta, Maurizio Marchetti, Mario Pupella, Aurora Quattrocchi, Rosario Minardi, Orazio Stracuzzi, Lorenzo Patanè, David Mitchum Brown, Forest Baker, Salvatore Ragusa, Domenico Centamore
Following on from The Mafia Kills Only in Summer, Pierfrancesco Diliberto (aka Pif) brings us another funny and touching tale peppered with historical facts. It is 1943, and World War II is in full swing. In the heart of New York fresh faced Arturo (played by Pierfrancesco Diliberto) has fallen head over heels for his restaurant boss’ daughter Flora. The feeling is mutual, but Flora has been promised to the son of an influential New York mobster. The only way Arturo will be able to marry his beloved, is if he is granted approval by her father, who lives in a small town in Sicily. Young and broke, Arturo enlists in the US Army, which is preparing to invade the island, an event which will change the history of Sicily, Italy, and the Mafia forever.
Francesco Diliberto (aka Pif) was assistant director to Marco Tullio Giordana on the anti-Mafia film I Cento Passi in 1998. Besides being a film director, writer and actor, he is also a satirical current-affairs broadcaster who has contributed to numerous Italian TV shows, including Le Iene. He has had his own show, Il Testimone, on MTV since 2007 and hosts the radio show I Provinciali on RAI 2, along with his screenwriting collaborator Michele Astori.
PAWN STREETS (Le Ultime Cose)
Director: Irene Dionisio – 85 mins
Cast: Fabrizio Falco, Roberto De Francesco, Christina Rosamilia, Alfonso Santagata, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anna Ferruzzo, Nicole De Leo, Maria Eugenia D'Aquino, Margherita Coldesina, Matteo Polidoro
Set in Turin, Pawn Streets reveals an insider’s view of the goings on behind the closed doors of a local pawnbrokers, and the wheeling and dealing which takes place in the streets outside. Each and every object tells a different story: a cherished fur coat is handed over by a transvestite who has become estranged from her family; a precious gold necklace fetches a moderate price for a desperate mother of two. Meanwhile, a penniless grandfather unwillingly becomes embroiled in black market pawnbroking, so he can afford to buy a hearing aid for his three year old grandson. Irene Dionisio, who is also a documentary film-maker, succeeds in rendering an honest account of some of the circumstances which might drive people to pawn their most cherished belongings, as a last resort. Pawn Streets is produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina, whose previous credits include The Wonders and Corpo Celeste.
SLAM (Tutto per una ragazza)
Director: Andrea Molaioli – 100 mins
Cast: Ludovico Tersigni, Barbara Ramella, Jasmine Trinca, Luca Marinelli, Pietro Ragusa, Fiorenza Tessari, Lidia Vitale, Fausto Sciarappa, Gianluca Broccatelli, Tony Hawk
Sam is a 16 year old skateboarding fanatic who has his whole life ahead of him. When his girlfriend breaks the news that she is pregnant, the only person he can turn to is his all-time hero and skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk. Reminiscent of the film Sliding Doors, Sam is inexplicably hurtled into the future and offered a glimpse of what will be…. or what could be. At the end of the day, it is up to Sam to make the right decisions. Based on Nick Hornby’s successful novel of the same name, Slam is all twists and turns and heel flips, and features a splendid performance by Luca Marinelli, who starred in last year’s They Call Me Jeeg Robot. Prior to making his first feature film, Andrea Molaioli worked as assistant director and second director on numerous films, including Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room and Dear Diary. In 2008 his film The Girl By the Lake won three David di Donatello Awards.
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (La Battaglia di Algeri)
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo – 121 mins
Cast: Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef
The Battle of Algiers tells the story of the life-and-death struggle between the French colonial government of Algeria and the Algerian Liberation Front, the FLN, who wanted the French out and were willing to set off bombs to do it. The French sent in their elite Paratroopers with the order to use Any Means to break the insurgent – torture included. It’s a true story, done on location with many of the FLN appearing in it, including the producer who was an FLN leader. This film, which was first released in 1966, is a passionate yet completely impartial record of struggle which led to Algeria’s Independence.
The Battle of Algiers is distributed in the UK by CultFilms: www.cultfilms.co.uk. Digitally re-mastered in high definition from restored archive elements approved by the filmmakers, this all-time classic release of The Battle of Algiers also commemorates the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence. The new version also includes some previously unseen footage, making this the most complete edition ever. The restoration was curated by Cineteca di Bologna and Istituto Luce-Cinecitta, in collaboration with Surf Film, Casbah Entertainment, and CultFilms.
VANGELO
Director: Pippo Delbono – 87 mins
Cast: Pippo Delbono, Safi Zakria, Nosa Ugiagbe, Petra Magoni, Pepe Robledo, Ilaria Fantin, Bobò Robledo
In Vangelo theatre director Pippo Delbono visits a migrant centre and meets the refugees who have come to seek shelter there. They are in limbo, waiting to find out if they will be allowed to stay, or simply be moved on to the next holding area. He becomes part of their everyday lives, in which they are suspended between painful memories and an uncertain future. Slowly but surely, the refugees open up to him, and tell him their stories. Some of these feature on screen, others remain secret. Through the lives of these people, the inevitable protagonists of a new age, Delbono’s vision for his theatrical production of the Gospel starts to take shape.
I WAS A DREAMER (Il più grande sogno)
Director: Michele Vannucci – 100 mins
Cast: Mirko Frezza, Alessandro Borghi, Vittorio Viviani, Milena Mancini, Ivana Lotito, Ginevra De Carolis
Mirko is a 39 year old father of two, who returns home after an eight year stint in jail. He dreams of being given a second chance, and attempts to leave behind a life of violence and petty crime once and for all. The perfect opportunity arises when he is unexpectedly elected president of the neighborhood committee in his local area in a run-down suburb of Rome. Before long, Mirko starts putting all his energy into transforming the lives of those around him, setting up a soup kitchen and food bank, and even persuading fellow down-and-outs to grow tomatoes on a nearby allotment. Little by little, he manages to reconcile with his two daughters, and prepare for the arrival of his third child, which his ever-patient wife is expecting. Michele Vannucci met lead actor Mirko Frezza when he was auditioning for his graduation film in 2012. Hanging out with him for three years inspired Vannucci to write the screenplay for I Was a Dreamer, which is based on Mirko’s real-life experiences.