Italian Cinema Today

If Life Gives You Lemons   by Ciro D'Emilio The nominees for the 10th Mario Verdone Prize in Lecce have been announced. The 12 films are: Si muore tutti democristiani by Pietro Belfiore, Davide Bonacina, Andrea Fadenti, Andrea Mazzarella and Davide Rossi In viaggio con Adele by Alessandro Capitani If Life Gives You Lemons by Ciro D'Emilio Boys Cry by Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo Zen in the Ice Rift by Margherita Ferri We’ll Be Young and Beautiful  by Letizia Lamartire Tonno spiaggiato by Matteo Martinez That's Life by Francesca Mazzoleni The End by Daniele Misischia Look Up by Fulvio Risuleo Nobili bugie  by Antonio Pisu The Armadillo's Prophecy by Emanuele Scaringi The award will be presented at the 20th European Film Festival in Lecce, which will be held in the Pugliese city April 8 - 13, 2019. Click here to visit the website.

It premiered at the 2018 edition of the Rome Film Festival and will be shown next in Matera on February 28. The documentary film,  Flavioh , is a labor of love by a group of filmmakers paying homage to one of their idols, Flavio Bucci. Bucci rose to fame in the 1970s in cult classics like Dario Argento's Suspiria and the biographical film, Ligabue , in which he took on the title role as the eccentric painter Antonio Ligabue. Bucci acted steadily through the 80s and 90s in television and film, working on projects of all budgets, including contemporary blockbusters like Paolo Virzì's Caterina va in citt à  and Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo . Flavioh was executive produced by Marco Caldoro and directed by the recently deceased Neapolitan filmmaker Riccardo Zinna. The film was Zinna's last project, and to watch him in scenes with Bucci is deeply moving. The film is essentially a road trip with stops in significant periods of Bucci's life and career. The advent

Francesca Archibugi's Couch Potatoes A new exhibition, Belle speranze: il cinema italiano e i giovani (1948-2018) ,   traces the imagination and experience of young filmmakers in Italian cinema over a 70-year span. Through multimedia, visitors will travel through various periods of cinema from the post-war period though the 1960s to the cinema of today's millennials.  The exhibit is on view at the La Pelanda space at the Mattatoio Roma in Testaccio, and will run through March 15, 2019. Click here for more information.

Italian artist and filmmaker Nello Petrucci recently unveiled the largest collage installation by any artist in history. The Essence of Lightness occupies the 45th Floor at 3 World Trade Center in New York and was inspired by the art and culture of his city of Pompeii. Petrucci began his career in film, working with the likes of Martin Scorsese and the Manetti Brothers. He then moved to Naples where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts to study set design. His experience in cinema was ultimately the inspiration which led to his work in the visual arts field. Check out Petrucci’s art and story online at  https://www.nellopetrucci.com .