Italian Films at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival

Update May 19, 2018

Two Italian filmmakers were awarded prizes at Cannes -
Best Screenplay went to Alice Rohrwacher for Lazzaro Felice..
Best Actor went to Marcello Fonte for his role in Matteo Garrone’s Dogman
&
Gianni Zanasi's comedy Lucia’s Grace was named Best European Film in the Directors’ Fortnight
Stefano Savona's Samouni Road won the L'Oeil d'or for Best Documentary given by the French Society of Multimedia Authors (Scam)

Congratulations!

Original Post

Five Italian films made the official program of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival plus one in the Directors' Fortnight category. They are:

AS IT IS ON EARTH by Pier Lorenzo Pisano: Cinéfondation Selection

The village was small, and now it's even smaller; only four houses still standing and a street. There is no one around. Nobody to say "hi" to, no one to whine about the heat to. The earthquake didn't even spare the sound of breathing. The story of two souls trying to mend a wound in a torn town.

DOGMAN by Matteo Garrone: En Competition

DOGMAN is the name of a pet grooming shop and also the tragic prediction of the main character’s metamorphosis from man to animal. Based on a true story that took place 30 years ago and of which nobody will ever know the truth, DOGMAN digs deep into the human dilemmas of the violence hidden inside each one of us.

EUPHORIA by Valeria Golino: Un Certain Regard

The film revolves around two distant brothers, forced together by life events. Matteo (Scamarcio) is a young successful entrepreneur who is open-minded, charming and dynamic. His brother Ettore (Mastandrea) still lives in the small provincial town where they were born, teaching at the local middle school. He is a fairly cautious and honest man, who has always stayed out of the spotlight out of fear of making mistakes. They are two apparently very distant people. However, a difficult situation results in the two brothers being given the opportunity to get to know each other, and they soon discover that they have a surprisingly close bond in a vortex of fragility and tenderness, fear and euphoria

LAZZARO FELICE (MY BITTER LAND) by Alice Rohrwacher: En Competition

The adventures of a man living on the margins of his society who can seemingly travel through time.

PAPA FRANCESCO – UN UOMO LA SUA PAROLA (POPE FRANCIS - A MAN OF HIS WORD) by Wim Wenders: Séances Spéciales

The film is only the second co-production that the Vatican has made with outside filmmakers and the first in which a Pope addresses the audience directly, discussing topics such as ecology, immigration, consumerism, and social justice.

Pope Francis – A MAN OF HIS WORD is a significant nonfiction film, as it is not a biography about the Pope, rather a film with him.

On March 13th, 2013, the Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. As Pope Francis, he has made communication a vital element of the Church and a key component of his remarkable work of reform.

In Pope Francis – A MAN OF HIS WORD, he responds to questions submitted from around the globe. Exclusive footage from the Vatican’s archive shows the Pope on journeys, sharing his ideas and ideals in different parts of the world.

TROPPA GRAZIA (LUCIA'S GRACE) by Gianni Zanasi: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - Film de clôture

Single working mother Lucia (Alba Rohrwacher) is trying to find the right balance between life with her teenage daughter, a complicated romance and her career as a land surveyor. Lucia’s future is jeapordized when she realizes that an ambitious new building is environmentally dangerous due to the city council’s inaccurate maps. Lucia is torn by her decision to keep her mouth shut for fear of losing her job. A mysterious foreign woman tries to convince Lucia to stand up to her superiors and recommend a church as the only solution for the troubled building site. Lucia’s belief in miracles will soon be put to the test.

SAMOUNI ROAD by Stefano Savona: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs

In the rural outskirts of Gaza City, the Samouni extended family, a small community of farmers, is about to celebrate a wedding. It’s going to be the first celebration since the last war. Amal, Fuad, their brothers and their cousins have lost their parents, their houses and their olive trees. The neighborhood where they live is being rebuilt. As they replant trees and plow fields, they face their most difficult task: piecing together their own memory. Through these young survivors’ recollections, Samouni Road conveys a deep, multifaceted portrait of a family before, during and after the tragic event that changed its life forever.

Newly announced films include...
THE FIGHT by Marco Bellocchio: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - Courts métrages
EVERYBODY KNOWS by Asghar Farhadi: En Competition, Film d'overture
IN MY ROOM by Ulrich Köhler: Un Certain Regard
THE BICYCLE THIEF by Vittorio De Sica: Cannes Classics

Movie descriptions were provided by Filmitalia. The 2018 Cannes Film Festival will be held May 8 - 19. Click here for more information.