L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS industry. Al Pacino, Anjelica Huston, Liza Minnelli and Sylvester Stallone are the prior recipients. "It's a wonderful honor to receive this award. I am from New Jersey where my mom was born too, while my father was born in New York. My grandpar- ents are from San Fele, in Basili- cata. Being Italian –American, my parents were loving and car- ing, but in my house there was also this thing: no matter where you were, if there was an Italian doing something on TV, like Perry Como or Dean Martin, my father would get you and stick you in front of the tv, we had to be glued to watch it. He was very proud of any Italian being suc- cessful and being recognize for that. When I met Jack Valenti through Kirk Douglas, he made me feel like I was back home because he was very proud of me, he was genuinely happy for me making movies. So tonight you make Jack very happy by giving me this award." "We are extremely honored and delighted to be presenting this year's Valenti Legend Award to the talen- ted Danny DeVito," said festival founder and producer Pascal Vicedomini and festival honorary chair Mark Canton. "I remember when I first met him in a Wash- ington DC, he was one of the guest at a Bill Clinton's event, and another time in 2004 at the Academy Theater: he was there with Dino De Laurentiis who loved him as a brother." Danny De Vito was also awarded with the "Grand Officer" of the Order of Merit of the Ital- ian Republic. "Awarding Danny De Vito with such a high Italian honor - underlines Consul Gener- al Antonio Verde who personally rewarded the Italian-American actor - represents the heartfelt recognition of our country for one of the most loved actor who dur- ing his long career has proudly claimed his profound attachment to his Italian roots and to the val- ues of his cultural heritage". DeVito is one of the entertain- ment industry's most versatile players, excelling as actor, direc- tor and producer. The Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner is known for his roles in televi- sion series Taxi and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Terms of Endearment, Romancing the Stone, Twins, Ruthless People, and Tin Men. LA Italia wrapped up its 13th edition with a closing night full of awards and big Hollywood names. "We are extremely proud to be honoring our Italian Acade- my Award-nominees Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito and Alessandra Querzola," said LA, Italia Festival honorary chairman Mark Canton and Festi- val founder and producer Pascal Vicedomini. "As in prior years, our event comes to Hollywood on the eve of the Oscars with a star- studded array of Italian, Italian- American and international artists all scheduled to participate in a week-long pre-Academy Awards celebration showcasing the best of Italian culture through a series of premieres, screenings retro- spectives and exhibitions." "It feels greato to be aknowl- oedged and awarded, I feel the spokeman for my movie Call me by Your Name." Luca Guadagni- no tells L'Italo-Americano. "Los Angeles is almost my second home now; I have many friends here." Italian-American actress Melissa Leo has received the Ital- ian-American Actress of the Year Award. Leo won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Fighter at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011. "My Italian relatives moved from Salerno to Germany and then to the US, so for a long time I believed my heritage was Ger- man. I found out only recently about my Italian ancestors," Melissa Leo tells L'Italo-Ameri- cano. "I am so touched by this award. It's important because we need people and venues to pro- mote our work and to show our films. I'd love to shoot something in Italy". Set Decorator Alessandra Querzola and the Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner were also honored for their amazing work on Blade Runner 2049, directed by Dennis Villenevue. "It was an amazing task to work on this film. The best thing is to share Italian knowledge with Dennis Gassner, he's my mentor, he's been my guide during the movie, which was very challenging. But it was fun and we discovered a lot." Alessandra Querzola says. This year's festival was also dedicated to Italian iconic film- makers: Lina Wertmuller, Franco Zefferelli and Bernardo Bertoluc- DeVito's long career honored in L.A. ci. Wertmuller is the first woman to ever receive an Oscar nomina- tion as Best Director for her 1977 classic Seven Beauties. As part of a year-long celebra- tion marking Wertmuller's 90th birthday (August 14th) LA, Italia has screened Valerio Ruiz's 2015 documentary Behind the White Glasses, a musical portrait that shines a spotlight on the unknown aspects of her creative, visionary and groundbreaking talent. Zef- firelli, who turned 93 on February 12th, has been celebrated with a retrospective of several of his most endearing films, including his 1968 masterpiece, the double Oscar-winning Romeo & Juliet, which this year will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Other films are: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, The Champ and The Taming of the Shrew. The program also included the US premiere of AMBI Media Group's Beyond the Sun, a mod- ern-day tale of faith, hope and courage written and directed by Graciela Rodriguez and featuring a special appearance by Pope Francis; Before Your Eyes, Wal- ter Veltroni's poignant documen- tary about the Italian holocaust survivor Sami Modiano; The Song Prince, a biopic about the legendary Italian music icon Fab- rizio De Andre'; and a special screening of Bernardo Bertoluc- ci's, The Last Emperor, which has marked the 30-year anniver- sary since his classic film took Hollywood by storm by winning an amazing nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director (1989). The 13th Annual Los Angeles, Italia – Film, Fashion and Art Fest was presented by the Capri in the World Institute under the auspices of the Italian Consulate General in Los Angeles with the ongoing support of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism (DG Cin- ema), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ANICA, APT, and the Italian Trade Commission, as well as AMBI Media Group, Rai Cinema, and Rai Com, Rainbow, Medusa, Mediaset Italia and ISAIA. Additional AMBI Media Group movies that were shown during the course of the Festival were the US Premiere of Beyond the Edge, starring Antonio Ban- deras and Milos Bikovic, and a special screening of Michael Radford's Andrea Bocelli biopic The Music of Silence. Top Italian films that have been showcased include director Riccardo Milani's comedy Like A Cat On A Highway, (Italy's Box Office Champion of the Year, with a domestic gross of more than €10 million), Luca Miniero's I'm Back, Gabriele Salvatores' Invisible Boy - Sec- ond Generation, Paolo Gen- ovese's The Place, as well as Francesca Archibugi's Couch Potatoes, Francesca Comencini's Stories of Love That Cannot Belong To This World, Alessan- dro Gassman's The Prize, Sergio Rubini's Let's Talk, and Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Rainbow- A Private Affair. The documentaries section has featured Vasco Rossi Modena Par - The Movie, directed by Pepsy Romanoff and Piazza Vit- torio, directed by Abel Ferrara. The Festival's TV showcase also included: Taodue's top shows Rosy Abate, directed by Beni- amino Catena and Renata Fonte, directed by Fabio Mollo; Lux Vide's The Boss Hunt directed by Giulio Manfredonia and Casanova Multimedia's Back Home, directed by Riccardo Donna. L.A., Italia's sister events are Capri-Hollywood – The Interna- tional Film Festival, which takes place each December, and the Ischia Global Film & Music Fes- tival, which takes place each July. Continued from page 1 Mark Canton, Danny DeVito, Pascal Vicedomini during the award ceremony. Photo: Pietro Coccia Marco Morabito, Mark Canton, Luca Guadagnino, Melissa Leo, Pascal Vicedomini. Photo: Pietro Coccia

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