DARE TO LOVE…
at the 2013 LAVAZZA ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Like the lingering embrace of a cherished lover, the Lavazza Italian Film Festival returns for its 14th season with a sensational line-up of 27 new titles and one superb classic guaranteed to beguile and inspire.
Proudly sponsored by Lavazza, whose divine coffee blends delight coffee aficionados throughout Italy and Australia, this unashamedly romantic celebration of cinema will be held across Australia from early October to mid-November at 14 fabulous Palace locations.
And joining us in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, will be the ravishing French/Italian actress Clara Ponsot – one of Europe’s most sought-after young stars – who will be presenting her new drama Cosimo and Nicole in which she plays a tempestuous young Frenchwoman opposite Italian heart-throb, Riccardo Scarmacio.
This year’s event will be book-ended by two extraordinary films, both of which pay homage to Rome…the eternal city. Starring the incomparable Toni Servillo, The Great Beauty, a critically lauded drama about love and regret from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, This Must Be the Place) will launch the Festival at Opening Night Galas in each state. And for Closing Night, we’re proud to be screening the1972 gem Fellini’s Roma – a gloriously vivid valentine, from the late, great director, Federico Fellini, to the city he adored.
Between these two evocative movies lies an unforgettable journey of love, laughter and raw human emotion that lays bare the many guises of the passionate, Italian soul.
Highlights of the 2013 Festival line-up include:
A Five Star Life (Viaggio sola)
Director: Maria Sole Tognazzi (Starring: Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, & Lesley Manville)
Drama and comedy are effortlessly fused in this clever and stylish world-tour of hotels across Paris, Berlin, the Alps, and Marrakesh. Hotel critic, Irene spends her glamorous days travelling to the world’s best establishments, methodically judging their standards in every fastidious respect. However, she remains supremely unaware of the glaring imperfections in her own life until events shatter her complacency challenging her to find a balance between work and play.
A Perfect Family (Una famiglia perfetta)
Director: Paolo Genovese (Starring: Castellitto, Mark Giallini, Claudia Gerini, & Carolina Crescentini)
In this wry comedy, Leone, a very wealthy, very lonely man, decides to create a family Christmas by writing a script and hiring professional actors to play different family members. When in Leone’s presence, this odd company perform their parts, but his constant mood swings cause havoc with his own script, forcing the actors to improvise. However an unexpected arrival causes a major disruption to proceedings, throwing the script into a disorder that will either make or break this strange family unit.
Alì Blue Eyes (Alì ha gli occhi azzuri)
Director: Claudio Giovannesi (Starring: Nader Sarhan, Stefano Rabatti & Brigitte Apruzzesi)
In this powerful tale, Nader, a 16-year-old Italian-born son of Egyptian Muslim parents, is caught between his peers and his cultural roots. In love with Italian girl Brigitte, Nader defies family wishes by fleeing his home. But when his fiery friend Stefano gets into a fight, Nader stabs a young Romanian in his defence, forcing him go into hiding from the wounded victim’s family, who now seek revenge.
Balancing Act (Gli equilibristi)
Director: Ivano De Matteo (Starring: Valerio Mastandrea, Barbora Bobulova & Maurizio Casagrande)
When husband and father of two Giulio upsets his comfortable life by having an affair, his wife Elena cannot forgive him. He decides to move out but promises that he will continue to support the family financially despite his meagre monthly salary. But where can he go? His friends have their own problems, apartments are too expensive and he resists staying with his mistress. Finding a one-room, shared-bathroom pensione, Giulio plunges deeper into poverty as he struggles to pay for his separation, borrowing more and more money before hitting rock bottom. Told with ironic humour amidst the tragedy, this movie poignantly examines the thin line between having it all and having nothing. Audiences will also remember Mastandrea from last year’s Festival films Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy and Things From Another World. His outstanding performance in this film won him the Best Actor award at the 2012 Venice Film Festival and is widely hailed as the finest of his career.
Honey (Miele)
Director: Valeria Golino (Starring: Jasmine Trinca, Carlo Cecci, Libero De Rienzo & Vinicio Marchioni)
Officially selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2013, this finely-tuned drama is the outstanding directorial debut of internationally famed actress Valeria Golino. Irene is an angel of mercy. Going by the pseudonym “Honey”, she works under the radar and outside the law to assist the terminally ill to pass-on peacefully and with dignity. However the work is not without its costs and Irene lives a largely insulated life with personal liaisons kept at arm’s length. But when retired architect Carlo enlists her services, a tense yet caring relationship results, causing her usually fierce code of ethics to be tested.
The 2013 Lavazza Italian Film Festival will take place nationally at Palace Cinemas as follows:
SA: 22 Oct – 11 Nov Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
For updates, visit: http://www.italianfilmfestival.com.au/
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