Italian Cinema Today

Gianni Di Gregorio's "Lontano Lontano" (Citizens of the World) premiered at the Torino Film Festival in November and opened in Italy on February 20. 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. 

The tempestuous weather in the Eternal City Wednesday appropriately set the tone for La stoffa dei  song   (The Stuff of Dreams) , the new film by Gianfranco Cabiddu, one of the most significant auteurs of Italian cinema.  La stoffa dei sogni tells the story of a modest theatre company (to say the least) that is shipwrecked with a group of dangerous organized crime mobsters on the coast of Asinara, the location of an island-prison in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The story explores the role of art in our lives, bringing to light the universal themes of guilt, revenge, redemption, and pardon.  Director Gianfranco Cabiddu and Sergio Rubini Vincenzo Carpineta's stunning cinematography sets the stage for what at first seems like a drama but quickly turns into a comedy at the hands of veteran actor/director Sergio Rubini. Adapted from The Tempest by William Shakespeare and L’arte della com media by Eduardo De Filippo, the dialogue betwe...