Cinema Made in Italy | London 2019
With tensions between France and Italy at an unprecedented high for two member EU states, it seems ironically an appropriate time for the annual Cinema Made in Italy film festival which is hosted yearly at the Ciné Lumière within the Institut Français in London. This annual film festival highlights the work of many of the country’s ground-breaking filmmakers alongside showcasing gems from the archives produced by Italy’s cinematic giants.
This year’s festival, its 9th, includes a tribute to the late, great Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci with a screening of The Conformist. The film, which made Bertolucci’s name internationally, is considered by many to be his masterpiece. The Conformist is a timely look at an Italy torn between fascist and anti-fascist forces. Other gems screening in the festival include Loro, a satirical look at the life of the country’s former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, the director of the critically acclaimed The Great Beauty. Loro unpicks the often complex and at times perplexing motivations of one of the world’s most colourful public figures. Adrian Wotten, the festival curator, states of Loro, “Brilliant, savage, scintillating satire on the bunga bunga personal life of former Italian premier Berlusconi from modern maestro Paolo Sorrentino”.
Other films which will be screened include Valeria Golino’s Euforia, with Riccardo Scamarcio appearing in the lead role. This film charts the complex relationship between two seemingly different brothers, who have more in common than first appears.
Another gem is Gianni Zanasi’s comedy Lucia’s Grace. A modern day fable about a surveyor whose magical visions could jeopardise not only her employment but the employment of all those she works with. Both films were screened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight respectively.
We’ll be Young and Beautiful (Saremo Giovani e Bellissimi) by talented first-time director Letizia Lamartire is another gem of the festival, one which looks at the emotionally and musically close relationship between a mother and son, a relationship which comes under strain when the son develops a passion for an entirely different style of music.
Although the tensions between Italy and France may continue to simmer, culture as always offers a much needed bridge of understanding between the two countries.
Cinema Made in Italy 2019 at London’s Ciné Lumière TUESDAY 26th FEBRUARY - SUNDAY 3rd MARCH
form-idea.com london, 25th February 2019
Made in Italy 2019
Lucia’s grace | Trailer
LUCIA'S GRACELoro | Trailer
LOROSaremo giovani e bellissimi | We’ll be young and beautiful (2018)
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