L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 L'Italo-Americano F all is around the corner in the Bay Area, and with it comes Lido Cantarutti's Italian F ilm F es tival of acclaimed comedy and drama directly from Italy. The Festival is an abiding favorite, eagerly aw aited by M arin County res idents as w ell as S an Francisco natives. Now in its 39 th year, the F es tival s how cas es the w orks of contemporary, talented Italian filmmakers : Roberto A ndò, P ierfrances co D iliberto, Riccardo Milani, the Manetti brothers , actor Claudio Amendola debuting as movie director, and the late Carlo Mazzacurati, to name but a few. Bay A rea's Italian film enthusiasts will enjoy a series of eight movies that will run from S eptember 26 th through N ovember 7 th 2015 at the S how cas e Theatre in M arin Center. The selection of the Italian films is hand-picked by Lido Cantarutti, who, over the thirty- nine year span of the Italian Film Festival, has developed a time- tested approach to selecting the films for the Festival. In spring, Lido begins researching new Italian films with the help of trusted colleagues, attempting to surmise which films deserve a spot in the Festival. Based on their recommendations, he starts previewing those films as soon as possible. Rather than a specific theme or genre, his concentration is on finding films that exhibit quality: quality in the story line, in the acting, and in the writing. He also concentrates on whether or not the audience of the Italian Film Festival is likely to find them entertaining. After many hours of screening, he narrows the field down to the ones that he thinks would be the best. So far this approach s eems to be working well. The making of this special Festival is conceived by Lido's creativity, tenacity, and passion, along with the support of a five- s tar team of volunteers and collaborators. The technical and operational aspect of the Festival is developed by a group of Lido's long-time as s ociates : Philip Cecchettini, Rich Denney, and M ark S mith; w ithin the S how cas e Theatre, the box office is managed by Chris H aeus er and Bonnie Y uen, whereas the stage management is s upervis ed by G rania F lanagan. A longs ide, is the w elco ming and catering arrangement "Squad" composed by Leilani Carrara, J ennifer Francica, Katie Koelle, Melanie Leavitt-Cantarutti, Joy Massa, Joy Phoenix, and Donna Sidel. Among the most devoted and unfailing presences at the Italian Film Festival "backstage" is Philip Alan Cecchettini, who has been collaborating with Lido Cantarutti for almost twenty years. Philip wears many hats: res earcher, copy w riter, marketing manager, website coordinator. Philip is of Italian heritage and still maintains solid ties with his overseas family. Ph ilip , h ow d id you r collaboration with Lido start? Twenty-two years ago, my wife and I met Lido as students in his College of M arin Italian language class. When I learned about the Festival, I offered to develop a festival website. The web was very new then! That led to recommendations about marketing, for example, replacing the pos ters w ith a detailed printed program brochure and a more intense public relations campaign. That work continues to this day, with graphic and web design done by Mark A. Smith of MAS Creative in Emeryville. D o you fin d th at you r I talian h eritage in flu en ces your work at the Festival? My involvement in the Festival and the friendship with Lido intensified my interest in all things Italian and especially my ERRATUM: In the edition of September 3 we put the wrong caption to the photo in the article "Making Art in Schools Possible". The caption should have been: "Students at St. Thomas More School showing their project from the Ghiberti Doors and the Early Renaissance program" Italian roots. My brother Eugene is the family's genealogist : he has traced the Cecchettinis back to 1620 through intensive work in Lucca archives; so, contacting my family was relatively easy. My relatives live in Piazza di Brancoli near Lucca. M y father's first cousin Italo lives in the village as does his son and his family. Around the turn of the last century, many emigrated to Sacramento. The possibility of employment w ith the Southern Pacific Railroad was a magnet for them and other relatives from Pisa. I travel to Italy frequently and always visit the family in Brancoli. Twice my paths have cros s ed w ith Lido, and now I know his family in Friuli too. In 2000, we even joined Lido at his traditional family's Befana dinner! How d o you th in k th e Festival has changed over the years? There is les s of a classical/contemporary mix of films and almost exclusively contemporary films. Lido has helped fill the gap left by the demis e of art film theaters , having established excellent relations hips w ith Italian distributors. The Rafael and Lark theaters in Marin County are allies in the effort to screen contemporary European films. In addition, the F es tival audience has grown to where most shows are sold out well in advance. The Festival and the draw is Lido! The audience and his students (Lido teaches at the College of Marin) love him. I call him my Italian Life Coach. Info & Tickets : http:// www.italianfilm.com/ - (415) 473-6800 Philip Cecchettini: Backstage at the Italian Film Festival BIANCA FRIUNDI Lido Cantarutti with his Italian Film Festival team . Photo courtesy of Stuart Lirette Philip Cecchettini. Photo courtesy of Joyce Konigsberg Lido Cantarutti. Photo courtesy of Tim Porter

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