<<< June 3  - 13, 2004 >>>

Presented in association with Cinecittà Holding A.I.P. FilmItalia and the Italian Film Commission, with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, and in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute.

Continuing in the glorious tradition of such filmmakers as Federico Fellini (whose complete retrospective in new prints from Cinecittà Holding played in May at American Cinematheque), Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti and Bernardo Bertolucci, contemporary Italian cinema remains among the most vibrant and unpredictable anywhere in Europe, examining and celebrating an Italy both ancient and modern, pastoral and urban.

This two-week showcase of the best and most challenging in new Italian filmmaking opens with a special night at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater, "Italy On Film: La Bella Vita," celebrating the ongoing dialogue between American and Italian filmmakers.

The series kicks off at the Egyptian Theatre the next night with one of the most acclaimed Italian productions of the past decade, the 6-hour BEST OF YOUTH from director Marco Tullio Giordana (soon to be released by Miramax Films in the U.S.), a stunning portrait of forty years in the life of one Italian family and the unbreakable bond between two brothers.

The series closes with the L.A. Premiere of NON TI MUOVERE (DON’T MOVE), a heart-wrenching new drama from director/actor Sergio Castellitto, starring Spanish actress Penelope Cruz in arguably her finest performance, as a lonely Albanian woman who falls into a relationship with a married doctor.

The series features recent films from acclaimed directors including Ermanno Olmi (the haunting medieval drama IL MESTIERE DELLE ARMI); Pupi Avati (the lovely comedy INCANTATO – a.k.a. IL CUORE ALTROVE); Ettore Scola (GENTE DI ROMA, a wry portrait of modern Rome); Cristina Comencini (IL PIU' BEL GIORNO DELLA MIA VITA, starring a wonderful Virna Lisi); and Nanni Moretti (the bittersweet documentary "L'Ultimo Cliente" – a.k.a. "The Last Customer" – about the closing of a 100-year old, family-owned pharmacy in New York City).

Continuing the tradition of Neo-Realism, also featured are two beautiful movies with non-professional actors from the South of Italy: Salvatore Mereu's BALLO A TRE PASSI (winner of the Donatello Award for Best First Film) and Edoardo Winspeare's IL MIRACOLO.

Emerging filmmakers in the series include director Gabriele Muccino, with the beautifully-crafted family drama REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE (RICORDATI DI ME), starring Monica Bellucci, Laura Morante and Silvio Muccino; Paolo Virzi’, with the biting high school comedy CATERINA VA IN CITTA’; Giovanni Veronesi, with a sexy portrait of teenagers vacationing in Greece, CHE NE SARA' DI NOI (WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?); and a showcase of superb short documentaries produced by Nanni Moretti and directed by young filmmakers; plus much more!

We are thrilled to welcome as our guests for the "Cinema Italian Style" Series actors Maya Sansa (BEST OF YOUTH), Silvio Muccino (WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?; REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE) and Beppe Fiorello (SALVO D’ACQUISTO), and directors Giovanni Veronesi (WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?), Gabriele Muccino (REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE), Edoardo Winspeare (THE MIRACLE), and Salvatore Mereu (THREE STEP DANCE).

Thursday, June 3 – 8:00 PM [Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater]
"ITALY ON FILM: La Bella Vita" – A Special Film Program Presented as the Opening Night of the "Cinema Italian Style: New Films from Italy (Under The Sign Of Fellini) Series"

In association with the Italian Consulate in Los Angeles, the Italian Cultural Institute and "Los Angeles/Italian Week."

Even before the very first Special Academy Award for a foreign language film was presented to SHOE-SHINE in 1947, (an award that was the forerunner of the present "Foreign Language Film" Oscar), an important dialogue began taking place between movie makers in the United States and Italy. Films shot in Italy often feature the country itself as one of its characters, and the American public continues to embrace films like ENCHANTED APRIL, IL POSTINO and UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, much as they did the work of Fellini, Rossellini and Antonioni.
That dialogue continues to this day, with prominent directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci working in both countries. In addition, many significant contributions have been made to American and international film production by numerous Italians working in the various crafts, including composers, and production and costume designers.
And Italian films continue to be recognized by the Academy, receiving 11 Oscars in the Foreign Language Film category to date, from 27 nominations. Italian performers have also broken new ground, with the only statuettes won by actors for a non-English language leading performance going to Sophia Loren (TWO WOMEN, 1961) and Roberto Benigni (LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, 1998).
The longstanding love affair between Italian and American film makers and movie lovers will be celebrated at this Academy program, featuring film clips and conversation with professional filmmakers from both countries. This evening will launch American Cinematheque’s major retrospective of recent Italian films, to be screened at the Egyptian Theatre.

The program will be hosted by Michael York, who co-starred early in his career in director Franco Zeffirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET (1968), shot on location in Italy. Program participants include director Michael Radford, Oscar nominated for 1994's IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN), and writer/director Edoardo Ponti, who will be representing his mother Sophia Loren, Oscar winning actress for TWO WOMEN (1960).

[Please note that this event is a presentation of the Academy and will not take place at the Egyptian Theatre. Tickets for this event are $5 and are sold separately by the Academy. For more information, please call (310) 247-3600 or check the Academy website at: www.oscars.org.]

Friday, June 4 – 8:00 PM

L.A. Premiere!! LA MEGLIO GIOVENTU’ (BEST OF YOUTH) – Part I, 2003, Miramax, 180 min. approx. Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana. One of the most flat-out amazing cinematic experiences of the past five years, the 6-hour, made for television BEST OF YOUTH recently swept Italy’s Donatello Awards, winning Best Picture, Director and Screenplay. BEST OF YOUTH covers 40 years in the life of a "typical" Italian family, the Carati’s, focusing on two brothers: slender, intense Nicola (brilliantly played by Luigi Lo Cascio), who will grow up to be a psychiatrist; and gorgeous, brooding Matteo (the equally great Alessio Boni), a scholar of religious poetry who will wind up a career policeman, but forever haunted by inner demons. From the idealistic days of their youth in the mid-1960’s (the Florence floods, love affairs in Norway), through marriage, disillusionment, the Red Brigade attacks of the 1970’s, and up to the present day, the story grows, deepens, spreads in all directions like a 19^th century Russian novel, until it seems the whole of Italian life has somehow been distilled into one great, heartbreaking tale of endurance, loss, acceptance and (above all else) love for family. By any standards, this is a masterpiece. Co-starring Fabrizio Gifuni, Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco, Maya Sansa, Jasmine Trinca and Valentina Carnelutti. [BEST OF YOUTH will be released theatrically by Miramax Films on July 2^nd.] Part II screens 6/5 at 5:00 PM. Introduction to screening by actress Lidia Vitale. www.miramax.com

Saturday, June 5 – 5:00 PM

L.A. Premiere!! LA MEGLIO GIOVENTU’ (BEST OF YOUTH) – Part II, 2003, Miramax, 180 min. approx. Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana. [See 6/4 for description.] Discussion following with actress Lidia Vitale. www.miramax.com

Saturday, June 5 – 9:30 PM

CHE NE SARA’ DI NOI (WHAT WILL BECOME OF US?), 2004, Aurelio De Laurentiis/Filmauro, 100 min. Dir. Giovanni Veronesi. Silvio Muccino, one of Italy’s hottest young actors (also the film’s co-writer) stars as Matteo in this coming-of-age comedy that was recently nominated for 12 Italian Donatello Awards. Heading a sexy young cast of high school graduates heading out into the real world, Matteo convinces two cronies to vacation with him on a Greek island. While the getaway is planned to celebrate their recent graduation, Matteo’s older girlfriend also happens to be visiting the island. Soon, the three pals face fading friendships and the realities of the grown-up world. Discussion following with producer Aurelio De Laurentis & actor Silvio Muccino. www.chenesaradinoi.it/

Sunday, June 6 – 12:30 PM [Spielberg Theatre]

SALVO D’ACQUISTO, 2003, Sacha Film Co., 119 min. Dir. Alberto Sironi. Originally created for Italian television, this film re-tells the true story of soldier Salvo D’Acquisto’s ultimate sacrifice during WWII. On the morning of September 23, 1943, a Nazi patrol gathered 22 men for execution, as a reprisal for the recent murder of two German soldiers. Young Italian officer D’Acquisto accused himself of the crime in order to save the lives of the 21 others. Winner of 2 Italian Emmy awards. Discussion following with actor Beppe Fiorello.

Sunday, June 6 – 4:00 PM

IL PIU’ BEL GIORNO DELLA MIA VITA (THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE), 2002, Cattleya/RAI Cinema, 102 min. Acclaimed director Cristina Comencini (MARRIAGES) paints a beautiful portrait of a modern Italian family on the verge of dysfunction in THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. When widowed Irene (played by famed Italian actress Virna Lisi) invites her three grown children and their families to join her at the dilapidated family home in celebration of a young granddaughter’s communion, misunderstandings, poor communication and unspoken truths put their collective love and trust to the test. Touching, delightful performances abound from Lisi, Margherita Buy as lonely, widowed Sara, Sandra Ceccarelli as married-but-bored Rita, Luigi Lo Cascio (BEST OF YOUTH) as painfully uncommunicative Claudio, and Marco Quaglia as Claudio’s forsaken ex-boyfriend. www.cattleya.it/; www.raicinema.it.

Sunday, June 6 – 6:45 PM

RICORDATI DI ME (REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE), 2003, Roadside Attractions, 125 min. Acclaimed young director Gabriele Muccino (THE LAST KISS) guides an outstanding cast (including Monica Bellucci, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Laura Morante, and the director’s younger brother, Silvio Muccino) in this skillfully crafted family drama. Long-married Carlo and Giulia realize they have neglected their creative passions - of writing and acting, respectively - for a comfortable, often unhappy middle-class life. Their teenage children are no better off: Paolo is a reckless slacker and the beautiful young Valentina is desperate to break into TV stardom. Beginning with an affair between Carlo and high school sweetheart Alessia (stunningly portrayed by Monica Bellucci), a chain of unfortunate choices and unexpected events unravels upon the family. [REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE will be released theatrically in the U.S. by Roadside Attractions.] Discussion following with director Gabriele Muccino and actor Silvia Muccino. www.roadsideattractions.com.

Tuesday, June 8 – 7:30 PM

GENTE DI ROMA, 2003, Istituto Luce, 100 min. The latest film from acclaimed director Ettore Scola (A SPECIAL DAY; WE ALL LOVED EACH OTHER SO MUCH), GENTE DI ROMA is a wry, sarcastic look at modern Rome with all its eccentricities, racial divisions, tourist traps and ancient glory very much intact. Scola describes the city in a series of episodic, neo-documentary style "essays," traveling in and around the Eternal City during a typical day as his camera lingers on the homeless, loudmouthed bus riders, unfaithful wives and more. The encounter between a young punk and an old man who knows every possible nickname for "penis" is priceless. www.luce.it/.

Wednesday, June 9 – 7:30 PM

VIAGGIANDO CON IL CHE (TRAVELING WITH CHE), 2004, Surf Film, 110 min. Dir. Gianni Mina’. In 1952, 23-year-old medical student Ernesto Che Guevara and his 29-year-old biologist friend Alberto Granado set out on a 6-month journey across South America, a trip that would change the way Guevara looked at the world. Over fifty years later, Granado returned to retrace his footsteps on that legendary journey with Italian documentary director Gianni Mina’ and his film crew, in this bittersweet portrait of youth and old age, rebellion and survival. A companion piece to the upcoming feature film THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (star Gael Garcia Bernal and director Walter Salles appear here), and a selection of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. www.surffilm.com.

Friday, June 11 – 7:00 PM

IL MIRACOLO (THE MIRACLE), 2003, RAI Cinema, 93 min. In director Edoardo Winspeare’s (PIZZICATA, LIFE BLOOD) third feature, a hit-and-run traffic accident leaves 12-year-old Tonio (a remarkable performance from newcomer Claudio D’Agostino) in a coma. Upon awakening, Tonio "saves" a fellow patient and is rapidly considered a miracle worker. As his parents scramble to exploit his newfound gift, Tonio develops a secret bond with the "missing" driver who hit him. Paolo Canera’s astounding cinematography captures the southern Italian countryside at its most beautiful, as the film challenges notions of faith, love and miracles. Discussion following with director Edoardo Winspeare. www.raicinema.it.

Friday, June 11 – 9:30 PM

IL CUORE ALTROVE (INCANTATO), 2003, Northern Arts Ent., 107 min. Dir. Pupi Avati. In 1920’s Bologna, young Latin schoolteacher Nello (Neri Marcore’) is still a bachelor - to the consternation of his parents - until he meets the striking, wealthy and temporarily-blind femme fatale Angela (Vanessa Incontrada). Blinded by love, the inexperienced and gauche Nello falls prey to the manipulative beauty. With the great Giancarlo Giannini as Nello's father, the adulterous and profane tailor to the Vatican. A universal fable about love by master Pupi Avati, with extraordinary cinematography, period costumes, lush music by Riz Ortolani and abounding quotations by Latin poets Lucretius, Ovid and Virgil - ! [INCANTATO will be released theatrically in the U.S. by Northern Arts Ent.]

Saturday, June 12 – 5:00 PM

New from Nanni Moretti:

"L'Ultimo Cliente" ("The Last Customer"), 2003, Sacher Film, 23 min. Director Nanni Moretti’s (LA STANZA DEL FIGLIO, CARO DIARIO) latest film is a touching documentary on a New York pharmacy about to be demolished to make way for a skyscraper. Moretti examines the feelings of the Gardini family, who have put their heart and soul into running the drugstore, as well as the emotional farewells of the customers and the clearing out of the shop on the last day of business. Followed by three shorts taken from I DIARI DELLA SACHER, a longer series produced by Nanni Moretti. These films are drawn from diaries that were donated by Italians to a national archive to document the changing Italian cultural landscape. Beautifully shot and interspersed with fascinating newsreel and archival footage.

"Davai Bistre! Avanti! Presto!," 2001, Sacher Film, 27 min. Dir. Mara Chiaretti. A powerful, timely documentary about an Italian man’s experience as a Russian prisoner-of-war during WWII.

"I Quaderni Di Luisa," 2001, Sacher Film, 27 min. Dir. Isabella Sandri. A woman’s testimony on enduring an abusive husband and how she finally escaped his clutches, as well as her oppressive cultural upbringing.

"In Nome Del Popolo Italiano," 2001, Sacher Film, 27 min. Dir. Valia Santella. A fascinating self-narrative from a career criminal, with music from the 1960’s jogging his memory as pen is put to paper.

Saturday, June 12 – 7:30 PM

IL MESTIERE DELLE ARMI, 2001, Canal +, 100 min. Director Ermanno Olmi’s (TREE WITH THE WOODEN CLOGS) haunting, visually-ravishing medieval epic follows the ill-fated 1526 winter campaign of young Captain Giovanni De Medici (beautifully played by Bulgarian actor Hristo Jivkov) against overwhelming forces. Unfolding in a series of stunning images – mist along the shoreline, the spidery outlines of frozen trees, knights in full armor massed for battle – the film explores the young captain’s heartwrenching memories of his past, as his future grows more and more uncertain. Winner of nine Donatello Awards in 2002, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Cinematography (by Fabio Olmi, the director’s son). www.studiocanal.fr ; www.raicinema.it/.

Saturday, June 12 – 9:45 PM

CATERINA VA IN CITTA’ (CATHERINE IN THE BIG CITY), 2003, Cattleya, 106 min. One of Italian cinema’s most interesting young filmmakers, Paolo Virzi’ (OVOSODO, FERIE D’AGOSTO) returns with this humorous and surprisingly adult portrait of a likable, somewhat naïve teenage girl, Caterina (Alice Teghil), whose life is turned upside down when her slightly psychotic teacher father, Giancarlo (wonderfully played by Sergio Castellito, director of NON TI MUOVERE), decides the family should move to Rome. Caterina is immediately torn between two different factions at school – the Preppies and the Communists – each trying to convert her to their way of life, while her long-suffering mother attempts to deal with Giancarlo’s increasingly desperate and bitter attempts to make something of his own life. www.cattleya.it/; www.raicinema.it/.

Sunday, June 13 – 4:00 PM

BALLO A TRE PASSI (THREE STEP DANCING), 2003, Eyescreen S.r.l./Lucky Red, 107 min. With this astonishingly beautiful journey through the Sardinian landscape, first time director Salvatore Mereu follows the seasons and unfolds four peasant stories in a world almost untouched by modernity. In the spring of their lives, a group of small rowdy boys gets a ride in the back of a truck and is moved to tears when they discover the sea for the first time. In the heat of the summer, lonely mountain shepherd Michele (Michele Carboni) goes to the nearest seaside restaurant to sell his cheeses, only to find himself seduced by a gorgeous French pilot (Caroline Ducey). When nun Francesca (Yael Abecassis) leaves her quiet convent life to attend her sister's wedding, autumn weather with its abrupt rain-shower disrupts a village's joyful celebration. On a winter night, elderly Giorgio returns to his lonely apartment and calls a prostitute to come sing with him. A poetic and magical film that captures rural life with simplicity and great visual style, this is a strong example of the renaissance of Italian independent cinema. Winner of this year’s Donatello Award for Best First Film. [In Sardinian dialect with English subtitles.] Discussion following with director Salvatore Mereu. http://www.luckyred.it/ballo/

Sunday, June 13 – 6:30 PM

NON TI MUOVERE (DON’T MOVE), 2004, Cattleya/Medusa, 119 min. Spanish actress Penelope Cruz (OPEN YOUR EYES) gives arguably her best-ever performance as a dark-eyed Albanian woman who falls into an emotionally-brutal, adulterous affair with married Italian physician Sergio Castellito (who also directs). Based on a prize-winning novel by Castellito’s wife Margaret Mazzantini, the film is told in a series of fragmented flashbacks that unfold as the physician’s daughter hovers near death from a motorcycle accident, prompting him to recall and relive the last, self-deceiving years of his life. Winner of Donatello Awards for Best Actor and Actress. "Cruz’s performance… is bound to evoke comparisons with Charlize Theron’s recent, glammed down stint in MONSTER." - Deborah Young, Variety. Discussion following with actress Penelope Cruz. http://www.nontimuovere.it/