Tuesday 19 November at the RIFF - Rome Independent Film Festival at the Nuovo Cinema Aquila directed by Fabrizio Ferrari will be Love & Pride Day - The value of diversity a day dedicated to raising awareness of LGBTQ issues with many guests expected, on the eve of TDoR - Transgender Day of Remembrance - the world day of commemoration of the victims of hatred and transphobic prejudice (November 20).

 

For the Italian Documentary Competition will be presented A man must be strong, in which the directors Ilaria Ciavattini and Elsi Perino, against the backdrop of the province of Northern Italy, bring a touching transition path to the big screen. For the occasion, Vladimir Luxuria will accompany the documentary at the Nuovo Cinema Aquila, together with the two directors and the protagonist Jack Tarullo.

The screening will take place at 8.40pm.

For the doc. three other works will be projected on the LGBTQ theme: at 4.30 pm Madame by the Swiss Stéphane Riethauser, a family saga in which the filmmaker grandmother and nephew explore gender identity in a patriarchal environment.

The film won the Jury Prize at the Documentary Festival of Madrid, competing in Locarno and presented as a world preview at Visions Du Reel 2019. At 6.30 pm the Argentine Miserere by Francisco Ríos Flores will be presented, among others at the Berlinale (Talents section) on male prostitution in large Latin American cities; at 20.00 the poetic Mr. Dimitris and Mrs. Dimitrula of the Greek Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, another transition path in a conservative village, in the presence of the director together with Sebastiano F. Secci and a representative of the Mario Mieli Homosexual Culture Circle. The US short film Cousin John - The Arrival by Tom C J Brown will follow. While "Cousin John" is in town, the residents of the Carrington House Hotel yearn for his return, posing as if they were a music video.

 

For international feature films still LGBTQ at 22.00 with Tremors by Guatemalan Jayro Bustamante, Which will be presented by the president of the Gay Center Angela Infante. The story is that of Pablo returning from his family to Guatemala City in love with Francisco, questioning all the values ​​of relatives, deeply religious evangelicals.

At 16.30 for the doc. Pastrone Italians! In which Lorenzo De Nicola, present at the festival, pays tribute to one of the most emblematic figures in the history of cinema, Giovanni Pastrone, director of the 1914 blockbuster Cabiria and author of many other famous films.

 

At 6.20 pm the Focus on Ukrainian Cinema closes My father is my mother's brother by Vadim Ilkov the doc. which is a touching family story and creative inspiration in life and art.

 

At 8.20 pm for the feature films in competition the expected Affittasi Vita by Stefano Usardi, which will introduce the film to the audience together with the protagonist Massimiliano Varrese and the rest of the cast. Michele, in full creative crisis, fails to finish a fresco on which his artistic career depends. Abandoned to himself by the rich girlfriend, he is forced to leave his home with few means of livelihood. In search of inspiration, perhaps he will find it in the extravagant neighbors of his new rented house.

 

The day ends with short films starting at 10 pm, all in the presence of the directors in the hall: the Italians Cento metri pictures by Giulia Di Battista and Pianta on vase with legs by Mirco Bruzzesi and for the internationals In The Name of The Daughter by Liran Shitrit ( Israel).

 

The RIFF - Rome Independent Film Festival, conceived and directed by Fabrizio Ferrari, is realized with the contribution and the patronage of the General Direction Cinema - Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, of the Department of Culture and Youth Policies of the Lazio Region and with the Patronage of the Municipality of Rome Department of Cultural Growth.