Italian Cinema Today

Production has begun on the  follow up to  Emma Dante's debut feature   Via Castellana Bandiera (A Street in Palermo).  Le  sorelle  Macaluso ( The Macaluso Sisters) is the story of a matriarchal family of five siblings from childhood through old age. Set in Palermo, the film will follow each of the sisters through the choices that set the course of their lives. Le sorelle Macaluso stars Alissa Maria Orlando, Susanna Piraino, Anita Pomario, Eleonora De Luca, Viola Pusatieri, Donatella Finocchiaro, Serena Barone, Simona Malato, Laura Giordani, Maria Rosaria Alati, Rosalba Bologna and Ileana Rigano. T he film will be released in Italian theatres in 2020.

Italian director, Emma Dante recently won the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the 37th Göteborg Festival for her film, "Via Castellana Bandiera" (A Street in Palermo). Dante costars in the film alongside Alba Rohrwacher and Elena Cotta.  The story follows two women who are shut inside their cars in a silent duel on Via Castellana Bandiera, a narrow side street in Palermo. The two women who were each driving in opposite directions meet accidentally on this one-lane street. One of them must back out of the street to let the other through, but the stubborn women refuse to give way to each other. Regardless of the hot Palermo sun or the short-tempered men surrounding the cars, neither of these women will budge, even resisting food, water and sleep.   The unique plot and top notch performances have made this film a festival hit all over the world, earning its share of awards along the way. Watch a clip..