L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano A f t e r a y e a r o f f due to the pan- demic, the Los Angeles, Ita- l i a , F i l m , F a s h i o n a n d A r t Festival returned to Holly- wood's TCL Chinese Theater from March 20-26. Founded and organized each year by Italian film festival mae - stro Pascal Vicedomini, the event aims at highlight- i n g I t a l y ' s c i n e m a t i c , lifestyle, and artistic legacy and also to introduce cur- rent Italian productions to the United States. T h e o p e n i n g c e r e m o n y w a s h o s t e d b y I t a l i a n - American actor Robert Davi, C S I : M i a m i a c t r e s s S o f i a Milos, and Hollywood acting coach Bernie Hiller. Consul G e n e r a l o f I t a l y S i l v i a Chiave and Italian Institute of Culture chief Emanuele Amendola introduced hon- orees. While this edition of LA- Italia commemorated the centennial of the birth of Italian actor, director, and s c r e e n w r i t e r V i t t o r i o Gassman with a mini-retro- s p e c t i v e o f h i s w o r k , t h e most awaited star during the first night was international- ly renowned director Paolo Sorrentino whose latest movie, The Hand of God, got nominated in the Academy's Best International Movie category. Sorrentino came back to the City of Angels after his previous feature film, The G r e a t B e a u t y , w o n B e s t Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe and the BAFTA award in the same category. It was the first Oscar for Sorrentino a n d t h e 1 1 t h w i n f o r a n Italian film since foreign l a n g u a g e f i l m b e c a m e a c o m p e t i t i v e c a t e g o r y i n 1956, the most of any coun- t r y . I t a l i a n f i l m s e a r n e d three additional Academy Awards before that time. In his acceptance speech, Naples-born Sorrentino gave a n o d t o I t a l i a n d i r e c t o r F e d e r i c o F e l l i n i , f o r m e r A r g e n t i n e s o c c e r p l a y e r Diego Maradona - who once p l a y e d f o r N a p l e s s o c c e r club - his wife and the cen- tral focus of his film, Rome. "Thank you to my inspira- t i o n , F e d e r i c o F e l l i n i . . . M a r t i n S c o r s e s e , D i e g o A r m a n d o M a r a d o n a , " h e said from the Dolby Theater s t a g e , " a n d t h a n k y o u t o Rome, Naples... and this is for my parents." And it's indeed to his par- e n t s t h a t t h e N e a p o l i t a n director dedicated his new movie The Hand of God: the filmmaker's parents were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning on the night the 17-year-old went to the sta- d i u m t o w a t c h o n e o f h i s idols, late Argentine foot- baller Diego Maradona, play f o r h i s h o m e t e a m o f Naples. Paolo, how does it feel t o b e b a c k i n L o s A n g e l e s f o r a n o t h e r g r e a t a c h i e v e m e n t i n your career? I a m v e r y h a p p y b u t I have to admit this time I am very relaxed. I am ready to go to the ceremony and see the winners in front of me. I want to enjoy the show this time. T h e H a n d o f G o d i s your most intimate film ever, it's your coming- of-age story. When did you know that it was the right time to tell it? Two years ago I turned 50 years old and I felt that I wanted to do a movie that was important and personal for me. Fifty is an age when you look back to your life and you take stock of things. Being a director is also a very tiring job so I had to choose what I really wanted to do and this one was the first on my list. So I decided to do it. Did it change the way y o u l o o k a t y o u r p a s t now? I t w a s m y s t o r y a n d I knew everything about it, so I didn't learn anything and I felt I didn't have to add any- thing, either. L e t ' s t a l k a b o u t Filippo Scotti, the actor that plays the younger v e r s i o n o f y o u , F a b i o Schisa. He is very talen- ted and brilliant. How did you cast him? H e w a s t h e b e s t a c t o r a m o n g m a n y y o u n g Neapolitan actors. He was s h y a n d t h a t w a s e x a c t l y what I was looking for. After several auditions, I was sure he was the one. T h e p h o t o g r a p h y i s also amazing. What was y o u r a n d D a r i a D'Antonio's (the direc- t o r o f p h o t o g r a p h y ) goal? I have known Daria for m a n y y e a r s , s h e w a s t h e camera operator of all my previous movies. We worked together for commercials and photoshoots, where she was always my director of photography. She worked on other great directors' movies a s w e l l . S h e i s a l s o f r o m Naples so she knows the city very well and she is from a very similar part of town. So we didn't need to talk too much about the movie, she knew the environment, the mood, and the vibe about the city I wanted to convey. The Great Beauty was y o u r t r i b u t e t o R o m e and The Hand of God is your tribute to Naples. W h a t d i d y o u w a n t t o come out about the city, especially for foreigners to see? Trying to depict Naples can be tricky. All the direc- tors that tried in the past to describe Naples didn't do it correctly. To avoid this, I depicted it in the way I had it in my mind when I was younger, the way I remem- bered the city when I was growing up in the 80s. So I didn't try to make it about Naples, it is just the city I grew up in. What's the purpose of cinema? It doesn't serve a n y p u r p o s e , b u t i t s p o i n t i s t h a t i t c a n distract you from rea- lity. This is part of the conversation between the young you and direc- t o r A n t o n i o C a p u a n o . You met him when you were 28 years old and he b e c a m e y o u r m e n t o r . What did Capuano teach you that you valued the most? Capuano influenced me because he is always full of vitality, which is exactly the opposite of me. So I tried to s o a k u p h i s e n e r g y a n d I have always insisted on try- ing to have his same vitality even if it's not my personali- ty at all. We also had a won- d e r f u l r e l a t i o n s h i p a n d friendship based on the fact t h a t w e d i s a g r e e d a b o u t e v e r y t h i n g a n d t h a t w a s actually very stimulating for me. T a l k i n g a b o u t y o u r i d o l a n d i n s p i r a t i o n , s o c c e r p l a y e r D i e g o Maradona: what would you like him to think or s a y i f h e ' d s e e t h i s movie? I don't really know. I met him once very briefly, and after that episode, he called me when I had won my first Oscar but I was on a flight to Rome and the hostess kept telling me to switch off the phone so I couldn't make it to speak with him as long as I wanted to. The second time I m e t h i m a t a f o o t b a l l match but he was arguing with his girlfriend so he was not in a good mood to talk. I know it's impossible but I would love to meet with him and speak with him with no rush, without any distrac- tions. What would you like p e o p l e t o t a k e a w a y from your movie? What is your message? I n m y o p i n i o n , m o v i e s must not have a message. To me, this is the most impor- tant condition to do a good m o v i e . W h a t I c a n s a y t h o u g h i s t h a t t h e r e i s a s m a l l i d e a b e h i n d m y movies and it's for young people: there is a future for everybody even if sometimes in the life of a young person it's difficult to understand that. The future can look dark and hidden, but it's not like that. It can be bright. From left, Consul General of Italy in LA Silvia Chiave, Paolo Sorrentino and Emanuele Amendola (Photo courtesy of LA, Italia Fest) Oscar-nominated Paolo Sorrentino honored at the 2022 Los Angeles Italia Festival SILVIA GIUDICI LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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