Italian Cinema Today

Fresh off the 2017 Cannes Film Festival , director Francesco Colangelo answers a few questions about his film Giochi di ruolo , which was featured in the festival's Short Film Corner. Starring Valeria Solarino  and Andrea Napoleoni, the story is reflective of the changing gender roles in society these days and how the new economic trends are influencing women to adopt some less than flattering male qualities.  Born in the beautiful southern Italian region of Puglia, Colangelo has worked on both sides of the camera in a variety of roles from writer to director to actor with a few in between. He's enthusiastic about his latest work and his new collaboration with actress Valeria Solarino.  Our conversation was originally in Italian, so both versions are included. What can you tell me about this story? It’s the story of a private confession told by a woman to a new aquaintence she meets in the park who turns out to...

Edoardo Leo (photo: ResetVFX) Starting his career as an actor, Edoardo Leo grew to be uninspired by the roles he was being offered, so he took matters into his own hands. Following in the footsteps of his film idol, Carlo Verdone, he decided to begin writing and directing as well as acting. Those efforts culminated recently in Noi e la Giulia , Leo’s 2015 film about a group of 40-somethings looking to reboot their lives. The film won a host of prizes all over the world and is truly a masterpiece. Although the success of Noi e la Giulia has taken Leo’s career to another level, he wasn’t doing so bad beforehand. Upon graduating college in 1999 where he majored in literature, Leo formed an acting troupe with his good friend Marco Bonini, with whom he still collaborates. He perfected his craft while building a solid career as a theater, TV and film actor, but found himself playing the same role over and over again. Tired of being pigeonholed as the handsome ...

A Smetto Quando Voglio trilogy is currently in the works and shooting for the second installment will get started in Rome this March. The original cast- Edoardo Leo , Valeria Solarino , Paolo Calabresi, Stefano Fresi, Libero De Rienzo, Pietro Sermonti, Lorenzo Lavia and Valerio Aprea - is reportedly returning and some new faces may be joining them. I credit director Sydney Sibilia and his amazing cast with making the funniest, most clever film I have ever seen. The story recounts a group of professors and scientists who lost their jobs and were forced to find work washing dishes and pumping gas just to make ends meet. Completely fed up, Pietro (Edoardo Leo) comes up with a plan to develop a legal drug that he could sell to club kids looking for a quick high. He enlists the help of his fellow down-on-their-luck geniuses, which include an economist, chemist and anthropologist. The group goes on to make money beyond their wildest dreams. But with th...

In the mid 1970’s, Italian police seized an underground publishing company for distributing a book called, How to Flee Home and Live Happily . Before the police could halt production, 30,000 copies were sold, exposing a huge problem in Italian society. Teenagers wanted to run away from home. Various reasons were cited. Since the 70’s were a politically tumultuous time in Italy, many parents did not agree with the political beliefs of their children, so those kids wanted to escape the torment of daily quarrels. Others reportedly ran away for economic reasons. Some 40 years later, statistics show that 30% of young people under the age of 20 have run away from   home at least once in their lives, and many are also fleeing from foster homes. Fortunately, the episodes usually just last for a few days because the hard reality of starting over from nothing shatters their dreams of independence. Filmmaker Tommaso Agnese is bringing attention to this national problem w...