Rome forever at the Italian Film Fest UK

ROME FOREVER IN THE ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL UK
8 to 28 April 2005

All roads lead to Rome for the 12th edition of the Italian Film Festival UK, the annual showcase for the best of il cinema italiano, supported by the country’s cultural institutions in Scotland and London and a whole host of companies with Italian connections. It runs in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Aberdeen and Dundee from 8 to 28 April 2005.

The Eternal City will be the focus for a unique Retrospective and associated Exhibition in both London and Edinburgh.

As always there are many reasons to be optimistic about il cinema italiano, not least the amazingly varied selection of titles in this year’s festival line-up embracing in the Panorama section new works by such favoured directors as Silvio Soldini (reunited with his Bread and Tulips muse Licia Maglietta); Gianluca Maria Tavarelli and Liberi; Paolo Virzi delivering an exhilarating portrait of present day Italy in Caterina and the City; Sergio Rubini’s dark comedy Love Returns; the wartime saga, The Line of Fire; Edoardo Winspeare’s affecting take on the power of love The Miracle; and Guido Chiesa’s flash back to the radical 1970s,Working Slowly (Radio Alice).

There’s an equally rich seam to be mined in Nuovo Cinema with two of the films, Consequences of Love, a cool thriller and Private dealing with the Israeli-Palestine conflict both finding a UK release later in the year through distributors Artificial Eye and Metrodome respectively. These two titles have found their way on to the international arena which for first or second-time filmmakers is no mean achievement, and demonstrates the persuasive strength of their story-telling.

Nuovo Cinema has other treasures in store including a film buffs’ delight, After Midnight, set in Turin’s Museum of Cinema; Vincenzo Marra’s challenging Earth Wind and Alessandro Piva’s My Brother in Law, recalling the great tradition of Italian screen comedy with the fabulous double act of Sergio Rubini and Luigi Lo Cascio. Two films deal with teenage trials, both powerful and arresting – Saimir from Francesco Munzi, and Stolen Childhood by the Frazzi bothers Andrea and Antonio.

This year’s special Retrospective claims Rome as one of the world’s most cinematic cities. IFF UK programmers have avoided the obvious and readily available to concentrate on some rare gems: such as the 1924 silent version with piano accompaniment of Quo Vadis; Anna Magnani’s tour de force in Angelina; Fellini’s rarely screened The White Sheik; Dino Risi’s classic Poor But Beautiful and Mauro Bolognini’s On Any Street as well as Elio Petri’s cultish The Tenth Victim; Ettore Scola’s We All Loved Each Other So Much with Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi and Stefania Sandrelli and Nanni Moretti’s celebrated Dear Diary. The selection comes bang up to date with Ettore Scola’s portrait of his own city, People of Rome, again with the vivacious Stefania Sandrelli.

The Roman extravaganza will be complemented by an Exhibition of photographs and costumes from many of the films, on show at the Italian Institute in London from 12-20 April and later 26 May-16 June at the Italian Institute in Edinburgh. This project was realised with Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Cineteca Nazionale: Francesco Alberoni (Presidente), Gabriele Testi (Direttore Generale), Sergio Toffetti (Direttore della Cineteca Nazionale), Laura Argento (Responsabile Diffusione Culturale), Antonella Felicioni (Fototeca), in collaboration with Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Mediaset – Cinema Forever and MAT. Special thanks to Farani Sartorie Teatrali di Luigi Piccolo,GP 11 Sartorie Teatrali, Sartoria Annamode 68 and Bonaveri Mannequins.

Appunti romani, one of the four documentaries selected for Real Cinema section, also embraces the Eternal City while the other directors deal with topics as varied as oil and the environment, football, and communal living in the country. An eclectic selection of shorts helps to pinpoint the talents of tomorrow.

The festival acknowledges support from: Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh (founders) and the Italian Cultural Institute, London; ACQUA SUIO; APRILIA; BDB LIMITED; BIRRA PERONI UK; CA-PLUS; CENTOTRE; CAFFE; FIAT; FOOD MATTERS; FRATELLI SARTI; ITALFLIGHTS; ITALIAN BOOKSHOOP/EUROPEAN SCHOOLBOOKS Ltd; LIBERTY WINE; NIFEISLIFE; RIVER CAFE; SAN PELLEGRINO; SANTINI; SOFITEL ST. JAMES LONDON; SOFITEL ROMA; STRADA; TM ROBERTSON; 21ST CENTURY KILTS; THE POINT HOTEL, Edinburgh; ART HOUSE, Glasgow; SUB-TITLD and UGC Cinemas.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Giulia Maione, Press & PR Officer The Italian Cultural Institute
39 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8NX Tel 020 7235 1461 Direct line 020 7396 4402 Giulia.Maione@italcultur.org.uk

John Letham, Press and Marketing, Glasgow Film Theatre, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB 0141 332 6535 marketing@gft.org.uk

Beverley Nicolson, Filmhouse development officer, Filmhouse Ltd, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9ND 0131 623 9031 beverley.nicolson@filmhousecinema.com

VENUES

GLASGOW FILM THEATRE
EDINBURGH FILMHOUSE
ABERDEEN THE BELMONT
DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS CINEMA
LONDON Riverside Studios Crisp Road, Hammersmith
UGC SHAFTESBURY AVE
MANCHESTER CORNERHOUSE

Bruno Chatelin