Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2020

Federico Fellini's Niece to Present Short Film at the Rome Film Fest

Francesca Fabbri Fellini with Giulietta Masina and Federico Fellini Photo from "Omaggio a Fellini con I Bislacchi di Artemis/Casadei "La Fellinette,"  a debut by Francesca Fabbri Fellini, the maestro's niece, will be shown at the upcoming Rome Film Festival in commemoration of the centenary of  Federico Fellini . Born in 1965, Fabbri Fellini is a journalist and writer. Her mother was Federico Fellini's sister. Her 12-minute film has been described as "a fairy tale suspended between dream and reality made in mixed media, partly in cartoon and partly in live action." Fabbri Fellini says the film's inspiration came from a drawing that Fellini made for her when she was a child after a walk on the beach. We'll keep you posted on when the film will be available internationally. In the meantime,  click here  to follow Fabbri Fellini on Facebook where she communicates the latest on her adventures with the film. The Rome Film Festival will ru

Actress Paola Lavini on her Role in Giorgio Diritti's 'Volevo nascondermi'

Italians made their way back to the cinemas over the weekend and one of the most popular films to see was Giorgio Diritti's "Volevo nascondermi" (Hidden Away) , the story of tortured artist Antonio Ligabue. The son of an emigrant Italian mother, Ligabue was deported to Italy from Switzerland where he spent his childhood. He lived a life of solitude in a shack by the river for years. Meeting the sculptor Renato Marino Mazzacurati provided an opportunity to express himself through painting, the beginning of a redemption story in which he feels art is the only way to form his identity. “El Tudesc,” as people called him, was a lonely, introverted and often mocked and humiliated man. He became an imaginative artist who painted a fantasy world of tigers, gorillas and jaguars on the banks of the Po River. Ligabue’s art is a “fairy tale” from which a wealth of diversity emerges and his work over time has proved to be a gift to collective humanity. "Volevo nascondermi

A Solemn Day in Italian-American History

August 23 marks the anniversary of two tragic events in Italian-American history... the untimely death of silent film star Rudolph Valentino in 1926 and one year later in 1927, the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. On August 23, 1926, Valentino passed away in New York City at the age of 31. He had been admitted to the hospital on August 15 after collapsing at Manhattan’s Hotel Ambassador. He was diagnosed with appendicitis and gastric ulcers. Three days later, after having surgery, he was on the mend but then developed peritonitis and in the days following, suffered inflammation in his lungs, causing his condition to take a turn for the worse. It is reported that he was conscious in the early hours of August 23 and even talked with his doctors before falling into a coma and then succumbing to his illness. Tens of thousands of hysterical fans took to the streets of New York upon hearing the news of his death. Sacco and Vanzetti came to America for the same reason

Celebrate Ferragosto with 70 Years of Italian Cinema

"Under the Riccione Sun" Many of us are missing our annual trips to Italy this year. During this time of COVID and quarantine, I’ve explored decades of Italian cinema that I had never delved into before. When I started writing for  Fra Noi Magazine  many moons ago and then starting this blog, my mission was to focus on contemporary Italian cinema, hence the name Italian Cinema Today. With a few exceptions, one glance at the sidebar of interviews and profiles, you’ll see that I’ve been pretty true to that original vision. This year, however, has been different. With a lot more time on my hands and the centennial years of three greats— Federico Fellini ,  Alberto Sordi  and Franca Valeri —I’ve been watching the cinema of their generation, which has brought me back to the 1950s and ‘60s. It’s been a unique experience that has made me nostalgic and sad at times, knowing that so many of those larger-than-life filmmakers are no longer with us. Above all, though, I am grateful

A New Documentary-Drama on the Making of 'La Dolce Vita'

One hundred years after his birth,  Federico Fellini  is more relevant than ever with new facts about his life and filmmaking still being uncovered. Towards the end of 1958,  Fellini went through a complicated professional period and found himself in a deep depression. Despite having already won two Oscars for "La Strada" and "Le Notti di Cabiria," which starred his wife and muse Giulietta Masina , he could not find a producer interested in his new project: a story he wrote along with colleagues Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli. The project was titled, "La Dolce Vita."  One producer, Giuseppe Amato, believed in the script and that's all it took to create the immortal masterpiece. Now, a new  documentary-drama sheds light on the iconic film that was almost never made.  Through  re-enactment, clips from the film, and archival images,  "The truth about La Dolce Vita" by Giuseppe Pedersoli  reveals the correspondence between Fellini and

Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti" Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in en

Antonio Cifariello and Angie Dickinson Cruise Roma

During a press event for the 1962 film, “Jessica,” Neapolitan-born actor Antonio Cifariello invites Angie Dickinson to get onto a Vespa. She accepts his invitation and holds onto him for dear life. (Who can blame her?) The two swerve in and out of Rome traffic as two paparazzi follow. They switch and Dickinson gets onto the driver’s seat as the two speed by the arch of Constantine where a police officer writes them a ticket. “Jessica” was directed by Jean Negulesco and Oreste Palella. It stars Dickinson along with Cifariello and Maurice Chevalier. Set in a Sicilian village, the film follows a beautiful widow as the envious locals plot her ruin. Click on the image to stream it on Amazon..   Antonio Cifariello was a prolific actor in the 1950s and ‘60s. Among his early roles is Federico Fellini's  "Agenzia Matrimoniale," a vignette in Cesare Zavattini's 1953  “L’amore in città” (Love in the City).  He tragically died in a plane crash in 1968 at the

Locarno's Journey Through Festivals Past

A retrospective program featuring classic films from festivals past will feature two Italian films: Roberto Rossellini's  neorealist masterpiece "Germania anno zero" (Germany, Year Zero), which was in the 1948 edition of the festival and Pier Paolo Pasolini's  documentary "Comizi d’amore" (Love Meetings), which was in the 1964 edition. The films will be available online free of charge throughout Switzerland on the Festival's website and in various international territories thanks to the online streaming platform MUBI . Click here for the complete lineup. Click here for a direct link to stream to the online films. If you miss the MUBI streams, don't worry. Both films are readily available on streaming platforms in America.  Click here to watch Rossellini's "Germany, Year Zero" on the Criterion Channel along with five videos that offer commentary on the making of the film. Click on the link below to watch Pasolini's "

Celebrate Ferragosto with Luciano Emmer’s 1950 'A Sunday in August'

Luciano Emmer’s 1950 “La domenica d'agosto” (A Sunday in August) has become one of my favorite Marcello Mastroianni works. The film follows four different stories, all tied to an Ostia beach on a sweltering Sunday in August. The nostalgic opening shots of kids sitting outside a row of cafes takes place near the corner of Via Cola di Rienzo and Via Ottaviano by the Vatican, bringing back memories of how many times I’ve found myself exactly in that nook on my way to get a coffee at Castroni or Roman artichokes at Franchi. After having spent hours upon hours over the years in that neighborhood, seeing it in its heyday during these tough times brings some hope and happiness to so much uncertainty.  Mastroianni enters the story around 30 minutes in. He plays the role of a young lover whose fiancé has become pregnant and is fired from her job as a maid. She is beside herself but he calms her and stays right by her side. One quote that stood out and speaks to the timeles