L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2017 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 26 LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY A window on Italy: Cinema Italian Style Consul General Antonio Verde, Sarah Gadon, Camilla Cormanni. Photo: Stefania Rosini Film directors Mario and Antonio Manetti. Photo: Stefania Rosini Jonas Carpignano. Photo: Stefania Rosini T he 13rd edition of Cinema Italian Style, held on November 13- 21, is Los Angeles showcase for the best Italian movies of the year. Ten movies were selected by Artistic Curator Laura Delli Colli, in col- laboration with American Cine- matheque's Director of Program- ming, Gwen Deglise. Their selection was presented as part of the official program of Cinema Italian Style 2017 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, at the presence of directors and actors. The event was produced by Luce Cinecittà, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heri- tage, Activities and Tourism, in collaboration with the Italian Con- sulate, the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Cultural Institute. This year's edition focused on supporting the Italian entry to the Academy Awards 2018 for Best Foreign Language Film, A Ciam- bra, by Jonas Carpignano. The movie, shot in the south of Cala- bria, is centered on the life and community of a marginalized Romani boy -played by amateur actor Pio Amato,who stars as him- self - as he sets out to prove he's a grown man. In a ten day marathon full of events, Los Angeles' audience had also the possibility to discover digitally restored masterpieces like Blow Up and Red Desert by Michelangelo Antonioni, to pay him homage on the tenth anniver- sary of his death.Both screenings were part of the official AFI FEST 2017 presented by the Audi program. "Cinecittà has 80 years of experience and it is an amazing place to produce films and tv series. The best talents enriched it over the years: let us not forget this place has once been home to Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Sophia Loren, Mar- cello Mastroianni" said Roberto Cicutto, President and CEO of Luce Cinecittà.   Award winning actress Sarah Gadon, star of Netflix's critically acclaimed Alias Grace, was hono- red by Luce Cinecittà with the inaugural Cinecittà Key during the black carpet on November 15 at Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.  She is a Canadian and Italian citizen and she played in movies such as Denis Villeneu- ve's Enemy, David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, A Dangerous Method and Maps To The Stars, Amma Asante's Bell and James Shamus' Indignation.   During the opening night event, held on November 16 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, we interviewed actor and voice- actor Ron Perlman: "I am a fan of Italian movies. I made a movie in Italy, based on a book by Umber- to Eco, The Name of the Rose. That was a dream come true and the root of a love and admiration for Italian cinema that has defined my life. My favorite Italian direc- tor at the moment is Paolo Sorren- tino, he can't do no wrong. He creates amazing images, even if he makes a mistake. Some artists' worst stuff is better than others' masterpieces. Paolo is like that." Acclaimed actor Claudio San- tamaria told us about his direc- ting debut with The Millionairs, a short film inspired by Thomas Ott's graphic novel, selected in collaboration with Rome's Creati- ve Contest Festival. "It's a com- pletely different thing, you are in charge of the whole creative pro- cess and it's something that I have always missed as an actor, where you're really more of a pawn. For me directing is way more sati- sfying. Going on set as a director is like getting ready to sail: everything needs to be ready, because directing, sometimes, is like being on a ship in a stormy weather." When asked about his relationship with old Italian cine- ma he told us: "Fellini was my source of inspiration, just like Antonioni, Pasolini, and Bertoluc- ci, with whom I was lucky enough to work when I was only 23." Manetti Bros's movie Love and Bullets, dubbed by some "the Italian LaLaLand," is set in the beautiful Bay of Naples. It's not only an action thriller, but also a romantic comedy with music that ranges from Neapolitans songs to rap. "Our movie had a good suc- cess when recently screened in Seattle. We understand why it was considered "the Italian LaLa- Land" at the Venice Film Festival this year, even though the two movies have nothing in common. Love and Bullets is more of a crime musical, where actors not only dance and sing but also fire guns. Our inspirations come from countries like China: we love Hong Kong cinema. Also the Sta- tes have a huge tradition in musi- cal, but ours is more inspired by India, it is more like a Bollywood kind of musical." This year's films included many outstanding performances. Jasmine Trinca, awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festi- val for Un Certain Regard, and best Italian actress at the 2017 Nastri d'Argento Awards, presen- ted the movie Fortunata, by direc- tor Sergio Castellitto, in which she plays a soon-to-be-single mom struggling to realize her dreams. Andrea De Sica's, nephew of master Vittorio De Sica and son of composer Manuel, and Roberto De Paolis' proposed their feature debut, Children of the Night, where two friends try to shake the wide-ran- ging restrictions of their boarding school. In Pure Hearts Roberto De Paoli tells the story of chaste teen Agnese, who falls hard for Stefano, a young security guard. Silvio Soldini presented Emma, a movie exploring the feelings between a beautiful blind osteo- path, played by Valeria Golino, and a womanizing ad agency man, played by Adriano Giannini.   Andrea Molaioli's Slam, based on the successful novel by Nick Hornby, is the story of a Califor- nia-dreaming skater facing the most exciting, yet frightening, of the experiences for a teenager: growing up. Two recent Italian comedies based on the lives of mismatched duos were also shown: Francesco Amato's Let Yourself Go, where an austere psychoanalyst, played by Toni Servillo - La Grande Bel- lezza leading actor -tries to lose some weight with the help of an outgoing personal trainer, and Francesco Bruni's Friends by Chance, the story of a 22-year-old slacker who's forced to tend to an 85-year-old poet suffering from Alzheimer's, played by Italian master Giuliano Montaldo.   It's the Law, a movie by very popular tv duo and comedians Ficarra and Picone, was a box office hit comedy in Italy and tells the story of a small Sicilian villa- ge that experiences culture shock when its new mayor says no to corruption. To wrap up the Festi- val, Gianni Amelio's Holding Hands, where Renato Carpentieri, best Italian actor 2017 at the Nastri d'Argento Awards, plays a retired lawyer who feels closer to his neighbor's kids than his own children. SILVIA NITTOLI Film director Francesco Bruni with Raffaella Leb- boroni. Photo: Stefania Rosini

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