Gianni Di Gregorio's Lontano Lontano (Citizens of the World) premiered at the Torino Film Festival in November and opened in Italy on February 6. The film marks Ennio Fantastichini's last role. The actor passed away on December 1, 2018.
Lontano Lontano follows three Italians in their seventies, all dealing with their own problems, who suddenly decide to quit their community life to settle abroad. The Professor, retired after teaching Latin his whole life, is getting bored. Giorgetto, one of the last true Romans, struggles every month to make ends meet. Attilio, a hippie antique dealer, wants to experience the emotions of his youth again. The only decision is where to settle.
Inspired by conversations which led to the publication of the anthology Stories from the Eternal City, Gregorio cowrote the screenplay and made sure to pay homage to his beloved hometown of Rome. We'll keep you posted on the film's availability in the U.S. Perhaps this one will make it to Open Roads: New Italian Cinema in June!
Flavio Bucci has passed away. Bucci was a masterful character actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s with roles in Dario Argento’s Suspiria and the successful television series Ligabue and Martin Eden. He worked steadily through the decades dividing his time between the stage, film and television.
In 2008, he played the role of Franco Evangelisti in Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo and in 2016, starred in Antonio Andrisani and Pascal Zullino’s satire shot in Matera, Il vangelo secondo Mattei. I met him in 2015 while he was shooting that film. We met at a cafe with the crew and he seemed so happy with his aperitivo being adored by these young filmmakers who were so honored to have this maestro in their film.
In 2018, those filmmakers along with Marco Caldoro and Riccardo Zinna, made a documentary film about Bucci’s life that premiered at the 2018 Rome Film Festival. The film, Flavioh, is a labor of love by a group of filmmakers paying homage to one of their idols. Click here to read my interview with Caldoro about this documentary film.
Three additional Italian films have been named in the official lineup of The 2020 Berlin Film Festival and actor Elio Germano stars in two of them.
Bad Tales (Favolacce)
Italy / Switzerland
by Damiano & Fabio D’’Innocenzo
with Elio Germano, Barbara Chichiarelli, Lino Musella, Gabriel Montesi, Max Malatesta
World premiere
Siberia
Italy / Germany / Mexico
by Abel Ferrara
with Willem Dafoe, Dounia Sichov, Simon McBurney, Cristina Chiriac
World premiere
Hidden Away (Volevo nascondermi)
Italy
by Giorgio Diritti
with Elio Germano
World premiere
Faith di Valentina Pedicini
Here is the complete list of Italian productions...
La casa dell'amore by Luca Ferri: Forum Cesare deve morire by Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani: On Transmission Faith di Valentina Pedicini: Berlin Critics' Week Favolacce by Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo: Competition Palazzo di Giustizia by Chiara Bellosi: Generation 14plus Pinocchio by Matteo Garrone: Berlinale Special Gala Progresso renaissance by Marta Anatra: Generation 14plus The Queen by Stephen Frears: Homage and Honorary Golden Bear for Helen Mirren Semina il vento by Danilo Caputo: Panorama Siberia by Abel Ferrara: Competition Sole by Carlo Sironi: On Transmission Volevo Nascondermi by Giorgio Diritti: Competition Zeus machine. L'invincibile by David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi: Forum
In addition, a digitally restored version of Fellini’s Il bidone (The Swindle) will be shown to mark the maestro's 100th birth year and Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio will be shown in the Panorama section. The Berlin Film Festival will be held February 20 - March 1. Click here for more information.
I've been seeing so many posters on social media promoting Giuseppe Bonito's new film Figli (Children), which will open in Italy on January 23. The film stars two of my personal favorites, Paola Cortellesi as Sara and Valerio Mastandrea as Nicola, a happily married couple with a 6-year-old girl daughter, Anna. The arrival of their second child, Pietro, upsets the balance of the whole family, giving rise to hilariously tragic situations. Extravagant grandparents, friends on the verge of nervous breakdowns and unlikely babysitters will not help them. Between moments of happiness and situations of despair, Sara and Nicola do all they can to cope and stay together.
The release of the film will undoubtedly be a bittersweet experience for the cast and crew because the writer, Mattia Torre, passed away after losing his battle with cancer in July of last year at the age of 47. In a director's note, Bonito stated that he feels Figli is a film by Torre because he didn't simply write the script but "lived" it as the story was inspired by his own life experiences. "Figli is the comic and moving story of a couple, two people who love each other and try to withstand the shock wave of parenting in a chaotic time and in an increasingly hostile country," explained Bonito.
Torre was a beloved, gifted writer who worked in theater, television and film. He is best known for his work on the television series Boris, a satire about Italian television fictions. The show ran between 2007 and 2010. Three season were made available on Netflix in Italy. Torre directed season 2. Numerous actors appeared in the series over its run including Carolina Crescentini, Marco Giallini, Valentina Lodovini and Filippo Timi, just to name a few. Then in 2011, Boris: The Film was released with the same premise as the series. Composer Giuliano Taviani worked on both the series and film. He also wrote the soundtrack for Figli.
Check out this beautiful tribute that was made following Torre's death..
We are buried under the snow on this frigid January Sunday in upstate New York, which means it's a perfect day to watch movies. Given the fact that no women directors were nominated for an Oscar this year, I feel like celebrating one- Laura Bispuri.
Bispuri made her feature film debut in 2015 with the award winning Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin). Staring Alba Rohrwacher, the film is based on the true stories of women in Albania who choose to live their lives as men in order to be granted certain freedoms. The film was shown all over the world and earned Bispuri numerous awards, including the Nora Ephron prize for Best Female Director at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Bispuri returned to Tribeca with her follow-up film Figlia Mia (Daughter of Mine), which delves into the complex world of adoption as a mother develops a curiosity and affection for the child she gave up a decade ago. Set amid the majestic sea and mountains of Sardinia, Figlia Mia is an emotional yet simple story of three women in conflict who share a strong bond of love.
The triangle began when Angelica (Alba Rohrwacher), young and poor, gave birth to Vittoria. Tina (Valeria Golino), married and financially secure, was willing and able to take the burden off Angelica’s hands. Ten years later, Vittoria emerges sheltered and protected but with a fierce independence and free spirit. One day at the beach when she comes face to face with Angelica, she immediately senses something isn’t right. After another encounter, Vittoria starts sneaking away to spend time with her suspected biological mother. After a few afternoons, the natural mother-daughter bond becomes apparent and they can no longer deny the truth. Despite her efforts and sincere love for her daughter, Angelica’s demons make it dangerously hard for the two to get close.
Cinecittà Studios presents a permanent exhibition-installation dedicated to the Maestro Federico Fellini curated by his production designer Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo.
January 20, 2020, marks the 100th birthday of Fellini. To mark the event, Cinecittà will present him with a gift, Felliniana - Ferretti dreams of Fellini. The exhibit will be housed in Cinecittà studios within the historic 'Palazzina Fellini'.
The work bears the signature of Dante Ferretti, the Oscar-winning scenographer who for Fellini was one of the magical architects of his visions, an artist-craftsman capable of giving shape to his dreams, and Francesca Lo Schiavo, a close associate of Ferretti, and an internationally acclaimed scenographer and set decorator. The exhibition offers full-immersion into Fellini's imagination as well as the dreamlike and suggestive story of an artistic partnership and friendship.
Felliniana, produced and promoted by Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, is a small city within Cinecittà, a physical and dreamy space that in a collected journey contains mementos of the entire Fellini universe. The exhibition unfolds in three main areas- three stages of a journey, the places of his inspiration.
The Central Room, graced by the posters of the films as in a magnificent fresco, tells the story of the car, a regular ritual between the director and the set designer: the journey on the Fiat 125, with which Federico Fellini went to Cinecittà often accompanied by Dante Ferretti, and with which he loved to wander the streets of Rome at night with his friends (featured in Ettore Scola's How Strange to Be Named Federico). The central room is a physical and temporal space where conversations and exchanges of ideas took place, but also tales of dreams, on which Fellini questioned his scenographer.
The route continues in the Pleasure House, a synthesis room of the imagination contained in The City of Women, with the toboggan slide and the soubrettes that surround Marcello Mastroianni.
It leads to the final room, that of the Fulgor, theemblematic place for Fellini's childhood and his initiation into cinema. The iconic theater was recently restored by Ferretti in Fellini's hometown of Rimini. In the three rooms, Ferretti has built a new ideal home for Fellini.
Cinecittà’s Felliniana, which will open its doors at the end of January, is one of many worldwide celebrations for someone considered the most representative of Italian directors in the world. Among the celebrations is the great restoration of all of Fellini's work by Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, Cineteca di Bologna and CSC-Cineteca Nazionale. These works, which include The White Sheik, I vitelloni, La dolce vita, 8 ½ and Amarcord will be shown at retrospectives around the world, including the prestigious BFI in London and the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles designed by Renzo Piano.
Cinecittà is located on Via Tuscolana in Rome. If you are traveling by subway, take the Red Line in the direction of Anagnina and exit the Cinecittà stop. For more information, visit Cinecittà online at www.cinecitta.com and www.cinecittasimostra.it.
Director Michele Diomà's new film, Dance With Me Again Heywood!, starring novelist James Ivory, made its world premiere in New York as a Special Event at the 2019 edition of N.I.C.E. (New Italian Cinema Events) in November.
The story centers on Heywood, a poet who works several jobs to make ends meet. He lives a lonely life with two homeless men as his only friends until an expected encounter changes everything. One morning, he meets a woman suffering from "Moon Butterfly Syndrome”, a condition that makes her invisible to everyone except carriers of the syndrome, such as himself. The two start seeing each other, often to dance the waltz on a Manhattan rooftop. At the same time, Heywood starts wondering whether he'll be able to ignore the prejudice cast upon him by people who could only see a man talking to himself on the streets, while in fact he was with this invisible woman. Heywood's challenge to muster up the courage to be himself and not worry about the opinions of others is the very core of this New York fairy tale, a film that combines two narrative threads while honoring the history of cinema thanks to the presence of James Ivory.
Italian Cinema Today's New York correspondent, Lucia Grillo, had a spirited conversation with Diomà about some unique elements of the film while he was there presenting it.
Igor Mitoraj's Tindaro Screpolato in the Boboli Gardens
The idea for this blog, Italian Cinema Today, came about in 2006 when I started a publication called Pyramid Arts & Literature Magazine to bridge the art and cinema worlds between New York and Rome. The response was so positive that eventually we encompassed all of Italy. I made the publication into a blog in order to reach more people and of course it just naturally gravitated toward cinema over the years. In an effort to get back to the origins of the blog, I am going to be including more art related stories. So with that said, here is the first...
I recently discovered a website that gives you the opportunity to enjoy one of the world’s most renowned collections of paintings without leaving the comforts of home. Your online hub for everything you’ll want to know about Firenze’s Uffizi Galleries can be found on the gallery’s official website at https://www.uffizi.it/en. Read the latest news about the collection, browse through past, current and upcoming exhibitions or plan your next trip.
Immerse yourself in the rich history of Firenze with stunning images and videos of magnificent locations like Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens and Corridoio Vasariano. Click on the Digital Archive tab, where you’ll have access to 600,000 images. That should keep you busy during these cold winter months!
She studies cinema and television production at the Accademia Delle Belle Arti Di Napoli but even before enrolling, she was well on her way to becoming a gifted storyteller and filmmaker. Born in Naples in 1996, Angela Bevilacqua knew early on that she had a passion for cinema and she didn’t waste any time exploring it. She made her first short film when she was just 17-years-old. Il teatro dei ricordi (The Theater of Memories) stars Alessia Alciati and veteran French actor Jean Sorel who is known for his role opposite Claudia Cardinale in Luchino Visconti's 1965 Sandra. An ambitious first effort, the film premiered as a Special Event at the 2014 Giffoni Film Festival.
Il teatro dei ricordi is an enigmatic tale of a tormented woman looking for a temporary escape. The film opens in a dense forest as a young woman is walking around looking dazed and confused. She starts to run as if in a panic while a violin resounds. Shortly thereafter, she finds herself in an theater with the great Jean Sorel who introduces himself simply as the guardian. A series of flashbacks follow, which reveal the problems from which the young woman is trying to escape. Just when the film seems to be ending, the story takes an unexpected turn, making a shocking revelation.
In addition to the compelling story, the locations of the film are also quite stunning. Shot entirely in the region of Lazio, the Teatro Flavio Vespasiano, where most of the film takes place is a 19th century theater and opera house located in the town of Rieti.
Three years later, Bevilacqua published her first novel La Città del Vizio (The City of Vice), a thriller that explores a personification of the Seven Deadly Sins as they are misguided by the Devil to a supposed place of material and spiritual delight called, "The City of Vice.” But the city itself hides a secret that each and every resident finds out sooner or later. The book is similar to her debut film in that it deals with human nature and overcoming obstacles but with an eerie quality that sets the stage for a surreal atmosphere.
Last year, she released her second short film, L'Attesa, (The Wait), the suspenseful story of a mother who is frantically trying to locate her son after she hears about a terrorist attack in London where he is studying abroad. The 24-minute film is carried entirely by actress Lucianna De Falco who gives an articulate performance filled with a whole host of emotions that reels you right into the fear and dread she is experiencing.
Perhaps the most striking quality of this sophomore effort is the age gap between the director and her protagonist because it’s remarkable that a 23-year-old can write and direct the part of a middle—aged mother so precisely and sensitively. De Falco’s performance is subtle yet intense. She is a character actress who has appeared in numerous movies over the years and has worked with the likes of Ferzan Ozpetek, Carlo Vanzini and Paolo Genovese. The collaboration between this veteran actress and newcomer resulted in a thrilling movie that kept audience members at the edge of their seats.
Italian Cinema Today's makeshift producer, Mauro Ianari and I were at the Rome premiere and caught up with Angela Bevilacqua in the chaos after the screening to ask her a few questions. We were both so mesmerized by this film.
How did this project come about?
I felt this need to write something that conveyed a strong emotion. So I thought, since I am a very anxious person, I'll write about the anguish that we all feel when we are waiting for something important. So L'Attesa was born from the idea of this worried mother who does not know the fate of her son.
What was your motivation to write specifically about a terrorist attack in another country?
The theme of the attack is unfortunately a very current reality, but I chose this theme because it's a subject that could speak to the viewer. It's the world in which we all live now.
Watch Bevilacqua's first film, Il teatro dei ricordi...
What ignited this particular career path?
I have always been passionate about cinema. For me, the central point of my work is writing. First of all, I feel I am a screenwriter and then a director. I attend The Academy of Fine Arts but started this path when I was 17-years-old with a short film called The Theater of Memories with which I had the privilege of directing Jean Sorel. It was presented as a Special Event at the Giffoni Festival. And now this is my second work, so it continues.
Watch a clip from our interview..
L'Attesa was recently awarded the "Premio Lazio Film Commission" by the Biennale Marte Live film competition. For more information about Angela Bevilacqua, visit her online at http://www.angelabevilacqua.com.
While looking for more information on the photos I saw in November at Biblioteca Nazionale di Rome’s Sala Pasolini, I came across a fascinating website (in English!) that provides every single location in Rome frequented by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
“Pasolini Roma” provides a virtual tour of sites relevant to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s filmmaking and writing. The tour takes you through 50 addresses and dates accompanied by a map and photos of Pasolini’s life in Rome. The tour spans 25 years, beginning with his first day in Rome in 1950 to his last day, which took place on the day of his funeral in 1975. In between, you will visit his first job, homes and film locations.
Featured are: black and white set photos taken during the filming of Accattone in Rome’s Pigneto neighborhood with a young Bernardo Bertolucci as his assistant and the story of how a famous scene from Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City influenced him to shoot in that neighborhood; candid shots of Pasolini directing Anna Magnani in Mamma Roma; and evenings spent at Piazza del Popolo’s legendary Canova Café, specifically his meeting with Federico Fellini who hired him as a scriptwriter for Nights of Cabiria.
Producer Dino De Laurentiis was one of the most prolific filmmakers ever, having produced or co-produced more than 600 films during a career that spanned seven decades. His legacy continues not only through the work of his children and grandchildren but also by a new generation of filmmakers in his Italian hometown.
De Laurentiis was born in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius on Aug. 8, 1919, in the city of Torre Annunziata, located just minutes from the ruins of Pompeii. As a child, he worked at a local pasta factory owned and operated by his father. That experience had a profound effect on him, shaping a lifelong passion for food and an appreciation for business.
At the age of 17, he decided to leave home for the big city. He arrived in Rome and enrolled in the prestigious film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. After attending the school for about a year, he managed to produce one film in 1940, The Last Combat, before having to leave Rome temporarily for military duty during the years leading up to World War II.
Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano in Bitter Rice
He found his way back to Rome in 1944, starting his own production company in 1947 and releasing the first of many blockbusters two years later with the neorealist classic, Riso amaro (Bitter Rice). The film follows seasonal workers in the rice fields of northern Italy during the post-war economic depression. It stars Silvana Mangano and Vittorio Gassman, two stunning young actors at the beginning of their legendary careers. De Laurentiis not only had a hit movie on his hands, he found a life partner in Mangano. The couple wed that year and went on to have four children: Veronica, Raffaella, Francesca and Federico.
De Laurentiis teamed up the following year with another prolific producer, Carlo Ponti. Their collaboration lasted seven years. Among the many successful films they produced were The Unfaithfuls by Mario Monicelli (1953); Where Is Freedom? by Roberto Rossellini (1954); La Strada by Federico Fellini (1954); The Gold of Naples by Vittorio De Sica (1954); Ulysses by Mario Camerini, starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn along with Mangano (1954); and the 1956 Italy/America production of War and Peace, directed by King Wallis Vidor and starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda.
After parting ways with Ponti, De Laurentiis established his own film studios on the outskirts of Rome in an area known as the Castelli Romani. He named it Dinocittà, to mimic Rome’s Cinecittà. The idea came after the worldwide success of the 1957 Ben Hur which was filmed at the iconic Rome studio. The production ignited an international desire to shoot in Rome, so De Laurentiis, being the business man that he was, capitalized on this new demand and built the enormous production facility. The studio was quite popular during the 1960s and early 70s and attracted big names in Italy and the United States. On any given day, there would be the likes of Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, John Huston, Charlton Heston, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Fonda.
It was a time of experimentation with a bit of fun thrown in. Italian directors worked with American actors and vice versa. B-grade westerns and war pictures were made, like Sergio Corbucci’s Navajo Joe (1966), starring Burt Reynolds, and the Civil War drama The Hills Run Red, starring American writer/actor Thomas Hunter. A couple of the more high profile films to come out of Dinocittà were The Taming of the Shrew by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (1967); Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda (1968); Anzio, starring Robert Mitchum (1968); and Waterloo with Orson Welles and Christopher Plummer (1970).
Although production continued at Dinocittà through the 70s, it was arguably one costly 1966 production that marked the beginning of financial problems that would eventually lead to the demise of the facility. The 1966 film, The Bible: In the Beginning, was a big budget, elaborate production directed by John Huston with an ensemble cast that included Ava Gardner and Peter O’Toole. The plot covered the major events of the Bible in an abstract, artistic way but lacking in depth of storytelling. It was the highest grossing film of the year in 1966 but was not able to turn a profit. The property was seized by the government for nonpayment of taxes, in the 1970s. Shortly thereafter, De Laurentiis picked up and moved his film career and his family to the United States. He told the Italian press, "I left Rome because of intolerance towards politicians, trade unions, wrong laws, the impossibility of turning an artisanal cinema like the Italian one into an industrial and international cinema."
Dinocittà was no longer in business but his production company was. Shortly after moving to Hollywood, he made his mark there with a string of hits that included Serpico (1973), Death Wish (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975). The success of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws inspired him to remake the 1933 King Kong but with a sentimentality that he felt Jaws lacked. One of his infamous quotes was "When Jaws dies, nobody cries. When Kong dies, we all cry." With that thought in mind, De Laurentiis got to work on his big budget remake. The 1976 film starring Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin turned out to be an international hit, even though critics did not completely embrace it.
Silvana Mangano in Dune
A trio of box office successes followed with Flash Gordon (1980) Ragtime (1981) and Conan the Barbarian (1982). Then in 1984, De Laurentiis released Dune which at the time was called “his most ambitious project yet.” Adapted from Frank Herbert's popular sci-fi novel by the same name, Dune, although not a great commercial success at the time, was responsible for the launch of numerous careers in the 1980s, including director David Lynch and cast members Kyle MacLachlan and Virginia Madsen. The period of the early 80s also marked the beginning of De Laurentiis’ collaboration with his daughter Raffaele, who followed in his footsteps becoming a producer in her own right.
Apart from those over the top, action adventure and sci-fi films, De Laurentiis produced two exceptional dramas in the mid-80s. He teamed up again in 1986 with director David Lynch and actor Kyle MacLachlan for Blue Velvet. Isabella Rossellini accepted the lead role of tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens after Helen Mirren reportedly turned it down due to the provocative nature of the character. Laura Dern and Dennis Hopper costar. Lynch created a surreal world inside this film, making it a cult classic.
One year later, De Laurentiis produced the lesser known Black Eyes (also called Dark Eyes), a 19th-century period film recounting the story of an Italian who falls in love with a Russian woman. A 1987 Italy/Russia coproduction starring Marcello Mastroianni and Silvana Mangano, the film was made two years before Mangano passed away. She was 57-years-old and still so beautiful. It is no longer in print or available on VOD. However, there are clips on YouTube worth checking out to see two legendary actors together in the twilight of their careers. It was Mangano’s last principle role. She and De Laurentiis separated in 1983 and divorced in 1988 but continued to work together until her untimely death at the age of 59.
Watch the trailer for Black Eyes...
De Laurentiis married fellow producer Martha Schumacher in 1990 and the couple continued to produce films. Among them were Hannibal (2001) and Hannibal Rising (2007). He passed away on Nov. 10, 2010, at the age of 91 at his home in Beverly Hills, but his legacy lives on in so many ways.
His widow, Martha, is at the helm of the De Laurentiis Company, which has studios in Vermont, Australia and Morocco, and has provided production facilities for recent blockbusters like Aquaman, Iron Man 3 and Fox Television’s Sleepy Hollow. Dino’s nephew Aurelio De Laurentiis has his production company, Filmauro, and is a long-time collaborator of Carlo Verdone in particular. On this side of the Atlantic, Dino’s daughter Raffaella continues to work as a film producer.
De Laurentiis’ daughter Veronica has found her niche in activism, in particular, empowering women and helping them overcome abuse and get their lives back on track. In 2011, she started the non-profit Silvana Mangano Center “to create a network to help, educate and give a second chance to all victims of violence, abuse and stalking.” She also started her own web series that invites abused women to tell their stories. “Dillo a Veronica” (Tell Veronica) is broadcast on YouTube and Facebook. Visit veronicadelaurentiis.com for more information.
Giada De Laurentiis on location in Florence for Giada in Italy
In the spirit of his humble beginnings and the DDL Food Show, an Italian specialty foods store that Dino De Laurentiis started in New York and California in the early1980s, his granddaughter, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis has carried on his legacy and passion for food. Since she made her debut on the Food Network in 2003, Giada has always been open about the influence her grandfather has had on her becoming a chef. During the first season of her Food Network series, Giada in Italy, she went right back to where it all started. In the episode titled, Dino’s Pasta Factory, Giada and her Aunt Raffaella (Aunt Raffy) visited Torre Annunziata, birthplace of Dino and where her great-grandparents once owned a pasta factory. Afterwards, they created some regional dishes inspired by the day. Click here to watch clips from the episode.
During Season 3, Giada brought her mother, aunt and daughter to Capri, Italy, the family’s longtime vacation spot and a stone’s throw from Torre Annunziata, to celebrate her grandfather’s 100th birthday. The episode, titled, “Dino's 100th Birthday Party” is a moving, sentimental tribute to her grandfather’s legacy and her own Italian origins. Season 3 is still available on VOD. Recipes from all three seasons of Giada in Italy are available on the Food Network’s website.
Presenting my short film at the 2018 Cortodino Film Festival
Founded in 2010, the Cortodino Film Festival showcases short films from all over the world and carries on De Laurentiis' legacy. Held at a high school, the audience is made up of students during the day and then in the evening, the adults come together to discuss cinema with guest filmmakers. Fra Noi attended the 2019 edition and spoke with the festival’s director, Filippo Germano, about its significance. “The festival is dedicated to Dino De Laurentiis because he was born here in Torre Annunziata and it’s the hometown of his family. We also remember his brothers, producers Luigi and Aurelio De Laurentiis.” Germano went on to explain how the screenings are continuing Dino’s legacy for the next generation of filmmakers. “Dino De Laurentiis was known in his career as a producer for discovering new talents. So our festival is aimed at young filmmakers under the age of 35 for Italian cinema in order to pull up new, young talent for Italian cinema. Many of the films are presented by the filmmakers, creating a path of film literacy for the young people of our community to ensure that they can also be inspired by the world of cinema and find their own creative voice.” Watch a clip from my interview with Filippo Germano...
Many films that De Laurentiis produced or coproduced are easily available online. Today, the grounds of Dinocittà are being enjoyed by a whole new generation. Cinecittà World, a theme park with spectacular recreations of famous movie sets, was built on the site of the old studios. Visit https://www.cinecittaworld.it for more information.
