Italian Cinema Today

He gained renown during the commedia all’italiana years but his captivating performances kept him working through five decades until his untimely death in 1990. Born in 1922 in Cremona, Ugo Tognazzi’s first acting experiences go back to his childhood when he participated in local theater productions. In 1945, he won a competition for amateurs and was then officially hired by a theater company which led to a nationwide tour.  A few years later, he landed his first film roles and in the next decade, made a whopping 28 films. However, for all the films he made in the ‘50s, it was the ‘60s and ‘70s when his films were hits also outside Italy, giving him much-deserved international recognition for his lead roles.    Tognazzi had a uniquely self-effacing and multidimensional style. There’s no such thing as a typical Tognazzi character because they were all so completely different. Losing himself in each role, he gifted them with their own identities. Perhaps there’s a cons...

Before #womeninfilm was a hashtag, I was talking with Italian actresses and women directors about their plight in the male dominated film industry. With all this week's news about Italian filmmakers like Asia Argento speaking at the Women in the World Summit in New York and the films of Valeria Gollino and Alice Rohrwacher making the official program of the Cannes Film Festival, I'd like to revisit a few of my past conversations with women filmmakers to look at how the conditions and opportunities have improved and what still needs to be done for women in Italy's film industry. T here's no better way than hearing directly from the women in the trenches, so  I've extracted these quotes from my interviews. Notice how grave the outlook was in 2005 and how it improved through the years with 2017 being the most positive. Actress Valentina Cervi New York City, 2005 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema “I think that cinema in general is going through a hard time b...

"I have an innate passion for human relationships, and how people manifest emotions, reactions and feelings."  Those words come from Italian filmmaker, Maria Sole Tognazzi. Born in 1971, she grew up surrounded by cinema.  She is the daughter of legendary comedy actor, Ugo Tognazzi, one of the most prominent characters of the "Commedia all'Italiana".  Maria Sole is the youngest of four children and took a different path than her siblings. Unlike her brothers, Gianmarco, Ricky and Thomas, all successful actors, Maria prefers to stay behind the camera.  She started her career by working as an assistant director and made a series of video clips and a short film, Non finisce qui . Her follow up to that film, C'ero anch'io,  set the foundation for her first feature-length film, the ensemble comedy, Passato prossimo . The all-star cast includes her brother, Gianmarco along with Paola Cortellesi, Valentina Cervi, Pierfrancesco Fav...

Update May 23, 2016 Io e lei is headed to two North American film festivals and will be shown on the following dates: Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Lincoln Center Thursday, June 2 at 6:00 followed by Q&A with director Maria Sole Tognazzi Tuesday, June 7 at 1:30 Buy Tickets Canada's Italian Contemporary Film Festival June 10 @ 9:30pm TIFF - Toronto June 14 @ 7:00pm Cinematheque Quebecois - Montreal June 14 @ 5:00pm Cinema Cartier - Quebec City Buy Tickets With three high-profile Italian releases, Maria Sole Tognazzi's latest film, Io e lei took top spot at Italy's box office over the weekend, grossing a whopping 700,000 euros. Io e lei is the story of two women in a relationship together, a relationship that is tumultuous at times and carefree at others. Margherita Buy and Sabrina Ferilli portray lovers, Federica and Marina in a way that puts love first and the fact that it's a same-sex relationship second. The two actresses have made ...

On Day 2 of our week-long series, 7 Days - 7 Women, in which we are profiling seven strong, talented women working as filmmakers, writers or visual artists, we take a look at the career of film director, Maria Sole Tognazzi. Born in 1971, Tognazzi is no stranger to the entertainment industry. Her father is the legendary comedy actor, Ugo Tognazzi, who was one of the most prominent players in the Commedia all'Italiana genre of Italian cinema. Maria Sole Tognazzi is the youngest of four children and took a slightly different path than her siblings. Unlike her brothers, Gianmarco and Ricky, who are both successful actors in Italy, Maria prefers to stay behind the camera.   She started her career by working as an assistant director, and made a series of video clips that poised her for the debut of her first short film in the late 90's, Non finisce qui .  Her follow up to that film, C'ero anch'io set the foundation for her first feature-length film, the e...