Skip to main content

Four Contemporary Italian Films at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival

 
Istituto Luce-Cinecittà returns once again to the Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, in New York City Thursday, April 15 through Sunday, April 26, 2015, to showcase four contemporary Italian films: Hungry Hearts, Maraviglioso Boccaccio (Wondrous Boccaccio), Palio, and Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin) that were selected specifically to be shown at the Festival.  
 
Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 15th to April 26th and will present an impressive number of Italian films as International or North America Premieres to the New York public and press.

Four films by multi-award winning Italian maestri: directors Paolo e Vittorio Taviani, will present the brand new Maraviglioso Boccaccio (Wondrous Boccaccio), while director Saverio Costanzo and actress Alba Rohrwacher will launch Hungry hearts, distributed by IFC films. Straight from the Berlinale’s competition is Laura Bispuri’s first feature, Sworn Virgin, which will be shown in Competition.  Fourth title is the documentary Palio directed by Cosima Spender and distributed by Altitude Film Sales on the fascinating horserace, which takes place in Siena.
 
The mission of Istituto Luce-Cinecitta’ is to promote Italian cinema worldwide, and has been long regarded as the production powerhouse in Italy. Roberto Cicutto, CEO of Istituto Luce-Cinecitta’, states, “Italian cinema is once again at its peak, and we are delighted to see how Italians continue to play a major role in the industry creating incredible works that are appreciated universally. Moreover, having Tribeca Film Festival recognize the talent of these five Italian directors reinforces Italy as a strong leader of contemporary cinema.”
 
Istituto Luce-Cinecitta’ is one of the major players in the film industry, which works to support the development and promotion of Italian cinema in Italy and abroad, and is distinguished by the ability to integrate different areas of activity, which are essential in order to respond the competitive global market.

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001, The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.
 
The following includes a list of contemporary Italian films that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival: Hungry Hearts, Meraviglioso Boccaccio (Wondrous Boccaccio), Palio, and Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin).
 
Hungry Hearts- directed by Saverio Costanzo
Synopsis: In the tiny basement bathroom of a Chinese restaurant, Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) gets trapped with stranger Jude (Adam Driver) when the door sticks shut. After having spent the night together, then Costanzo cuts to Mina on the toilet with a pregnancy test.
They decide to get married, and at their wedding, Jude’s mother, Anne (Roberta Maxwell), dances over to Mina, telling her that she will struggle to be part of the family. During her pregnancy, Mina consults a psychic, who tells her she has an “indigo baby,” meaning a child with paranormal powers. The pregnancy goes on with troubles, until she gives birth to the baby. Once back home with her underweight infant the mildly neurotic Mina barely takes care of the child, undermining the existence of the infant as well as Mina and Jude’s marriage.
 
Meraviglioso Boccaccio (Wondrous Boccaccio)- directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Synopsis: Florence, Thirteenth Century. The "Black Death" is spreading. Ten kids (three boys and seven girls) decide to escape and to seek shelter in the countryside, away from the horrible consequences of the plague. In order to kill time, each kid tells a particular story, but no matter how different their stories may be, they all have one aspect in common: love. A love that will help the characters cope with the numerous uncertainties of a very arduous age.

Palio- directed by Cosima Spender
Synopsis: Twice a year the Italian city of Siena goes crazy for the oldest horse race in the world: the Palio. Not your average race: strategy, bribery and corruption play as much a part as the skill of the riders. Horses are allocated by lot four days prior to the race. This is when the madness truly begins. In the eye of the storm stand the jockeys. Loved and loathed by the districts they represent, they forge alliances and make deals promising large cash sums to try and get the best start. Legendary rider Gigi Bruschelli has won 13 Palios in 16 years and is accused by his critics of monopolizing the race. He works the system, paying off younger jockeys and fixing the race with average horses. Two races away from beating the world record, Bruschelli will do anything to win. But one jockey stands in his way, his former trainee, a handsome young Sardinian, Giovanni Atzeni, who is quietly determined to challenge his old mentor. Less interested in bribes and collusion, he rides for the love of the race. PALIO is the thrilling story of a young 'outsider' keen to break in to the dangerous but lucrative race and the corrupt 'insider' who has manipulated the city of Siena for a decade. Their passionate and dramatic battle is an epic and cinematic tale of Italian life in microcosm.
 
Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin) - directed by Laura Bispuri
Synopsis: Sworn Virgin is a journey inside the feminine universe told in its many contradictory forms. It is the story of a woman who sacrifices her femininity for freedom, and then sacrifices her honour to go back to being a woman again. She does this without ever setting her feelings aside. Hana Doda, still a girl, escapes from her destiny of being a wife and servant which is imposed on the women in the inhospitable mountains in Albania and appeals to the old law of the Kanun, swearing eternal virginity and therefore becoming a 'sworn virgin'. She turns into a man, takes up a rifle and becomes Mark Doda. As Mark, she enjoys the same consideration as any other man, but after over ten years spent in solitude in the mountains, Hana decides to change her life. She leaves Albania and goes to Milan, where she meets caring, loving, people that life had denied her so far. Hana struggles to leave her man clothes and learns to be woman, learning to piece back together the two souls that for years have coexisted inside her body.
 
To see films and attend events at the Tribeca Film Festival, you will need to purchase an Individual Ticket, Ticket Package or Festival Pass. Single screening tickets are $10 for the matinee and $18 for the evening & weekends. $2 discount per each Evening/Weekend screening ticket (Available for students with valid ID, seniors age 62 and over, and select downtown resident).

For more information, visit the festival online at... http://tribecafilm.com/festival.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ornella Muti: Five decades of Acting and Still Going Strong

Ornella Muti was born Francesca Romana Rivelli in Rome in 1955 to a Neapolitan father and an Estonian mother. She began her career as a model during her teenage years and made her film debut in 1970 with “La Moglie più bella” (The Most Beautiful Wife).  Her follow-up role was in the 1971 film, “Sole nella pelle” (Sun on the Skin), in which she played the daughter of wealthy parents who runs off with a hippie they don’t approve of. The film offers a telling journey through Italian society in the seventies, with its political climate, breathtaking seaside, and the styles and cars of that time.  Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and captures the innocence and beauty of first love.   Muti made her American film debut in 1980 with "Flash Gordon." She played the role of Princess Aura. She’s appeared in two other American films, including “Oscar,” directed by John Landis and starring Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, and Sylvester Stallone. In 1992, she w...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Conversation with Documentary Filmmaker Luigi Di Gianni

His documentary films have given voice to a people who would have otherwise been forgotten while preserving rituals and traditions no longer practiced. Visually stunning and emotionally moving, they reflect an Italy we’re not used to seeing in cinema.   Born in Naples in 1926, Luigi Di Gianni captured a dimension of Italy that people outside the South didn’t even know existed. He began his career working in the region of Basilicata, which back then was referred to as Lucania. He first visited the region with his parents when he was a boy. His father, being from the Lucanian village of Pescopagano, wanted to show his son his homeland.    That trip made an impression on the 9-year-old and created a deep affection that would one day inspire him to return. “I always remained very emotional about returning to this part of my homeland of Lucania,” he says. “It seemed like a different planet compared to Rome, where I lived. The tiring journey, the unpaved roads, the difficulti...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Life and Work of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci as Malèna Born in Umbria in 1964, Monica Bellucci is one of the most recognizable faces of international cinema. But she didn't always have her sights set on the spotlight. She went to college to study law and modeled to pay her tuition. Her success in the fashion world coupled with the offers that were pouring in to appear on the big screen eventually took over, changing her fate. Bellucci made her on-screen debut in the 1990 television movie, " Vita coi figli." Just two years later, she scored her first American role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula."   In addition to her native language, she speaks fluent English and French, which has made for a smooth transition from Italian to international cinema. Stateside, she has acted in blockbusters such as "The Matrix-Reloaded,"     " The Passion of the Christ" and " The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She has also appeared in several French films, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Alessandro Gassmann: Born to Act

Alessandro Gassmannin his directorial debut "Razzabastarda" Alessandro Gassmann is the son of the iconic Italian actor/director Vittorio Gassman and French actress Juliette Mayniel. He was born in 1965 and grew up around cinema royalty.  He made his cinema debut in 1982 at the age of 17 in his father's autobiographical film, "Di padre in figlio." He went on to study his craft under his father's direction at the Theatre Workshop of Florence.  Vittorio Gassman was very active in theater and seemed just as comfortable on stage as he did in front of the camera. Known for his powerful interpretations of Dante's "Inferno" and "Paradiso," it is no surprise that he nurtured his son's acting aspirations on stage before he launched his career in television and film. One of Gassmann's strong qualities, which he undoubtedly inherited from his father is his incredible range and ease in going from genre to genre. He can play ...
Post a Comment
Read more