Italian Cinema Today

Every now and then, someone comes along and changes the way things are done.   They raise the bar to a higher standard and offer a different way of looking at life. In the case of Italian cinema, that person is Alessandro Piva. About 15 years ago, this unknown, aspiring filmmaker took his own money, recruited his brother and hired a number of local actors to make a small, experimental film called La CapaGira . The film tells the story of a group of guys doing what is necessary to make a living.   Each journey is nearly the same and their conflicts in following the path are very real. There is no pretense, no glamour and no second-guessing. The intense honesty of the story and edgy style in which it was shot, went on to win the approval of audiences and critics all over Italy. Since the release of La CapaGira , the trends of Italian films shifted in a new direction. Italian filmmakers followed Piva’s lead in making smaller films throughout communities and regions outside...

Interview: Vito Facciolla - "Pasquale" Today is the day that we Italian cinema aficionados have been waiting for: Anime nere (Black Souls) officially opens on this side of the Atlantic. We meet Pasquale in the opening moments of Anime nere and he stays with us during the duration of the film, giving support and a bit of comedy relief to the characters as well as the audience as we all watch and digest the painful tones of  the story. Vito Facciolla is a Pugliese-born character actor with a wicked sense of humor and impeccable comic timing. He's appeared in a number of Italian films including, Kim Rossi Stuart's, Angel of Evil . However, it seems that Facciolla is really starting to hit his stride. He had a a key role in Ricky Tognazzi's recent RAI television movie, Pietro Mennea - La Freccia del Sud   and is experiencing international stardom with the success of Francesco Munzi's Anime nere . We have much more to discover about Vito Facciolla, b...