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Showing posts from September, 2017

"A Ciambra" - A Collaboration between the Regions of Basilicata and Calabria is Italy's Oscar Entry

It was just announced that Italy's entry for the Oscar race will be a small, independent film made in the south. "A Ciambra,"  directed by Jonas Carpignano with Martin Scorsese as one of the executive producers, takes place within a small community in Calabria. 14-year-old Pio Amato is in a hurry to grow up and follows his older brother Cosimo everywhere. Through him, he learns how to navigate the streets of their hometown. One night, Pio sets out to prove to his brother that he is as good or better than him but when things go wrong, a series of events will forever change the way he sees the world. The film is one of the first projects produced by Lu.Ca . , a partnership between the regions of Basilicata and Calabria. Launched last year with the short film " The Millionairs ," which also served as the directorial debut for award-winning actor Claudio Santamaria with his longtime friend and collaborator Gabriele Marinetti at the helm as executive produc

Italian filmmaker Emanuela Ponzano takes her award-winning short film on racism to L.A.

"The Sled" (La Slitta) by director and actress Emanuela Ponzano is set for its second showing  in Los Angeles. The film was previously featured at the Los Angeles New Filmmakers Festival. It is slated for a theatrical release from September 15 - 21  at the Regent Theatre on Broxton Avenue . This marks the first American theatrical release for the film, which has been screened at more than 100 international film festivals and has racked up nearly 40 awards. Shot in Basilicata, "The Sled" follows Alfred, a child who lives with his family in the woods near an isolated village in the mountains of Italy. His parents have strong prejudices against immigrants. Bored and unhappy, they often quarrel, and they pay little attention to their son and usually disregard his needs for attention and affection. One day, wishing to get away from this oppressive atmosphere, Alfred disobeys his father’s strict orders for him to stay at home and he leaves the house to go and s

Interview: Alessandro Borghi on Suburra, Italian Cinema Across the Globe and the Ties of Friendship

Actor Alessandro Borghi is emerging as one of contemporary Italian cinema’s great talents. Battling 4-for-4 in the hit film department with a whopping five projects currently in production, Borghi was born in Rome in 1986. He began his acting career 20 years later with the television show Distretto di polizia and went on to make numerous other appearances on popular TV series, including regular roles in the recent 2013 series L’Isola followed by the 2015 series Squadra Mobile .  The same year, he transitioned to film with Claudio Caligari’s posthumous hit Non essere cattivo (Don’t Be Bad), which was also Italy’s entry for Oscar consideration that year. Caligari’s tragic story of the bond of friendship between the two main characters, Vittorio and Cesare captivated American cinephiles when it premiered at Cinema Italian Style - an annual showcase of contemporary Italian cinema in Los Angeles. With Borghi as Vittorio and Luca Marinelli as Cesare, the two team up to explore a