Italian Cinema Today

Born in Naples in 1958, Riccardo Zinna truly is a jack of all trades. He's a natural born artist who does it all.   He's an actor, musician and visual artist with no formal training.   Yet, he has risen to the top of his game in each of his artistic fields. He credits his mother's passion for life and her support and confidence in him to live his life freely and do what makes him happy.   Zinna is best known in Italy as a television and film star. He has done many supporting roles in high profile films such as Gabriele Salvatores ' thriller, Io non ho paura and Nanni Morretti's , Caro diario . However, he’s proven that he can carry the lead role as well. He did so with great success in Toni D'Angelo's 2008 breakout hit, Una Notte . The story centers on a group of old friends who were brought together by the sudden death of one of their comrades. Zinna takes on the role of a musician who gave up on his dream for a more realistic career in finance. He ...

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...

It seems these days that everyone is talking about Matera. A designated  UNESCO World Heritage Center , the "Sassi" (rock) neighborhoods of the southern Italian city have recently been featured in a number of high profile newspapers and travel publications including the  New York Times ,  Lonely Planet   and England's   The Guardian . Tourists from all over the world are lining the ancient streets curious to explore the history and stunning beauty of the unique landscape. Monte Vulture taken from a bus going through Spinazzola in Puglia It’s refreshing to see mainstream publications writing positive articles about Basilicata even though they are   focusing predominately on Matera's recent rebirth. In the past, foreign journalists quoted the decades-old writings of Carlo Levi, declaring the region remote and difficult to reach. These days, nothing could be farther from the truth. One direct bus from Rome is all you need to reach the natural par...

The people of Basilicata, Lucani, possess many admirable qualities like strength, integrity, and creativity. However, the quality I admire most is their sense of humor. For years, their region has been the subject of unfounded criticism. In one recent article, a Rome-based foreign journalist described the region as “dying mountain towns.” Since Matera was named the 2019 European Capital of Culture just over a year ago, travel agencies worldwide have designed tours, bringing thousands upon thousands to see the Sassi of Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Throughout the years, Hollywood and Cinecittà have transformed this so-called dying region into movie sets for films like "The Passion of the Christ," "Ben Hur," and Edoardo Leo’s award-winning "Noi e La Giulia."   Matera The Lucani have thick skin and usually laugh off empty criticism. However, they have been facing a serious issue for the past couple of years.  A 2014 report released by th...

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 id...