Italiano
EXHIBITIONS, INSTALLATIONS, VISIONS
EXHIBIT CECCHI GORI. AN ITALIAN FAMILY
17 – 27 October, 9 am – 12 am | Auditorium Parco della Musica – Foyer Sala Sinopoli
The exhibition “CECCHI GORI. An Italian Family” is entirely based on never-seen-before materials discovered in the process of making the documentary of the same name, produced by Giuseppe Lepore and directed by Simone Isola and Marco Spagnoli. It aims to reconstruct the history of one of the most important production companies in the Italian film industry. The story began in an era that is long gone by now, a time when hundreds of millions of spectators thronged the movie theaters, with tickets being torn as automatically as the finishing line was crossed effortlessly by the Olympic athletes of the day, whose heroic feats enchanted the public. These were the golden years of Italian film, marvelous years, even “easy days”, as a certain film suggested at the time; above all, they were unforgettable and never to be seen again. Cinema in the 1950s was still a frontier to be won, a time when it was entirely possible for an ex-resistance fighter for the Party of Action, Mario Cecchi Gori, to become one of the most important producers in the Italian film business in just a few years, his first box office hit being The Easy Life. And from father to son, by way of the key figure represented by Mario’s wife and Vittorio’s father, Valeria Pestelli, the Cecchi Gori family left their mark on fifty years of Italian film history, entertainment and society as a whole. The exhibited photographs come from Vittorio Cecchi Gori’s personal archives and have never been seen before, except by family members and the producer’s entourage. They are an invaluable testament to the more mainstream films turned out by the industry, from the comedies of the 1960s, graced with Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi and Alberto Lattuada, to the new generation of comedians in the 80s and the international hits Vittorio Cecchi Gori scored in the 90s. The exhibition lingers over the lasting friendship, on and off set, between Mario Cecchi Gori and Vittorio Gassman. “CECCHI GORI. An Italian Family” is the story of how one Renaissance-style artists’ workshop morphed into an industry and ultimately the first real major in Europe. A place and space in time teeming with talent yet destined to undergo a sudden, swift decline, and a past buried under the weight of legal proceedings that have dimmed the brightness of the memory of such an impressive achievement – which has nonetheless left its mark on contemporary Italian cinema, inclined as it is to forget the debt it owes to its seminal figures and, as we all know, side with the winner. For years, time has stood still and memories no longer flickered across the screen; this exhibition aims to put a crucial era in film production back in the spotlight and rediscover one of the key chapters in the history of Italian cinema.
Curators and authors: Simone Isola – Marco Spagnoli |Artistic Director: Giuseppe Lepore| Organization, Coordination and Communication: Emilio Sturla |Research and digitization: Camilla Crisciotti, Matteo Vitelli | Project and implementation: Bielle Re Srl – Rome, Italy | Photos: Archivio Vittorio Cecchi Gori, © 2019, Bielle Re Srl. All rights reserved | Thanks to: Certi W ® – Certiluxe ® Interflora ® | Catalogue published by: LGE Edizioni – Rome, Italy
VALERIO BERRUTI. LA GIOSTRA DI NINA | NINA’S CAROUSEL
18-27 October | MAXXI (via Guido Reni 4a)
Valerio Berruti’s film project, called “Nina’s Carousel,” is composed of roughly 3,000 handmade drawings joined in a sequence, in the process turning into the frames of a video. On Friday, October 18 at 6 pm, this special animated short film – produced by Sky Arte, with a score composed exclusively for this work by Ludovico Einaudi – will have its world premiere at the MAXXI Museum during the Rome Film Fest, followed by a talk with the artist. On the same day, in the museum lobby, there will be the inauguration of the monumental installation of the same name, featuring a large carousel, one of the most evocative symbols of childhood: a sculpture 7m in diameter inspired by the classic merry-go-round, created by the artist himself. Children and adults will be invited on for a ride. The short film will be screened continuously in the MAXXI Videogallery, and the carousel will be on view until October 27, 2019. This exhibition has been promoted and mounted by the MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st century Arts, as part of the Rome Film Fest programme. Lavazza is the exclusive sponsor. The project is curated by Monia Trombetta.
EXHIBIT “RAGAZZE”
23 – 31 October | Palazzo Merulana (Via Merulana 121)
The thirty artworks by the Roman artist Lucianella Cafagna on show all share the theme of the ‘maiden’ or ‘nymph’, an archetypical figure in the history of art just as in film, literature and psychoanalysis. This exhibition, to be held at Palazzo Merulana October 23-31, is curated by Marco Di Capua will be presented by Concita De Gregorio. It pays homage to a new “girls’ army”, from Malala to Greta Thunberg. Guardian nymphs and warrior maidens, these girls oppose the myriad injustices of our time with the courage and determination of as many Antigones. The exhibition will also feature the presentation of the novel Più in alto del giorno, the story of one such maiden written by the journalist and author Valentina Orengo (October 28 at 18:30). And during the Rome Film Fest there will also be a reading by actor Fabrizio Gifuni from the novel That Awful Mess on Via Merulana, in honor of the museum’s location (October 26 at 19:00): On that occasion, Gifuni will also comment on a clip of Un maledetto imbroglio by Pietro Germi, a film based on the novel by Carlo Emilio Gadda.
EXHIBIT “ALTAN. PIMPA, CIPPUTI E ALTRI PENSATORI”
23 October 2019 – 12 January 2020 | Extra MAXXI Space (via Guido Reni 4a)
Altan is the protagonist of a major exhibition at MAXXI, produced in co-production with Fondazione Solares and Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, curated by Anne Palopoli and Luca Raffaelli. A complete examination to recount, in a structured journey, all of his work among original drawings, posters, illustrations, paintings, sketches, tables, books and videos. Altan’s world is a world where doubt turns out to be the only great certainty possible, in which the great myths of history are overturned and humanity tries to float in the messy sea of life. We are saved by a little dog who, strong in its desire for knowledge, smiles at the wonders of the universe. Altan’s characters are all free thinkers, so free to be able to confess to themselves and to the world their own desire for self-destruction. But their thinking is always a revelation, it’s what we were about to say, it’s what we had on the tip of the tongue. Altan reveals it to us with surprising clarity. As if he was always one step ahead of us. At last a complete exhibition of an author able to move easily between drawings dedicated and childhood and adventure comics, illustrated novels and animated films, cartoons and screenplays. A catalogue published by Franco Cosimo Panini accompanies the exhibition.
SCREENINGS
THE ROME FILM FEST AT THE TEATRO PALLADIUM
19 – 27 October, 8.30 pm | Teatro Palladium (Piazza Bartolomeo Romano, 8)
The Teatro Palladium, a historic movie theatre in Rome owned by the Università Roma Tre, will host several screenings from the Rome Film Fest lineup. This initiative was made possible by an agreement establishing a collaboration between Fondazione Roma Tre Teatro Palladium and Fondazione Cinema per Roma, with the purpose of promoting and enhancing the content produced by the Rome Film Fest about cinema, and extending the possibility of enjoying it to the audience of university students in particular. The mission of Fondazione Roma Tre Teatro Palladium, which is responsible for the management of the Palladium, is education and artistic production in the fields of theatre, cinema, music and dance, with special attention to the initiatives developed by our youngest talents.The screenings at the Palladium, between October 19th and 27th at 8.30 pm (except for Wednesday the 23rd), with tickets at 5 euro for films selected from the ‘Riflessi’, ‘Tributes’ and ‘Other Events’ sections of Rome Film Fest, will be accompanied at the theatre by filmmakers, film experts and critics.
The programme includes:
- Saturday 19 October That Click, directed by Luca Severi, 90’
- Sunday 20 October I Wish I Was, directed by Luca Onorati, Francesco Gargamelli, 47’
- Monday 21 October Turi Ferro. L’ultimo prospero, directed by Daniele Gonciaruk, 84’, presented by Mario Sesti
- Tuesday 22 October The Report, directed by Scott Z. Burns, 118’
- Thursday 24 October Ludwig, directed by Luchino Visconti, presented by Olivier Assayas
- Friday 25 October Nessun nome nei titoli di coda, directed by Simone Amendola, 84’
- Saturday 26 October Not Everything is Black, directed by Olmo Parenti, 61’
- Sunday 27 October Le ragazze di via dell’Archeologia, directed by Stefano Pistolini, 50’
Info: teatropalladium.uniroma3.it
CINEMADAMARE
17 – 27 October | Auditorium Parco della Musica – AuditoriumArte
A screen and an audience provided to young Italian filmmakers who are still trying to break into the film industry and audiovisual market while they cultivate their talent and really have something to show for it: it happens again this year during the Rome Film Fest, thanks to an agreement between Cinemadamare and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, with the venue provided by the Roma Lazio Film Commission. Several budding auteurs, in fact, will have the chance to have their short films screened in the space lent by the Roma Lazio Film Commission in AuditoriumArte. This is a wonderful opportunity for young would-be directors, who not only get to take part in one of the most important international film events, but can also connect directly with an audience made up of their colleagues, journalists, festival directors and event organizers – the whole range of professionals in the film business.
OLTRE LA SALA – LE PAROLE DEL CINEMA NELLA TELEVISIONE PUBBLICA | BEYOND THE MOVIE THEATER: THE LANGUAGE OF CINEMA ON PUBLIC TELEVISION
by Giovanna Ventura, Italy, 2019, 50’ | Doc |
Cinema and TV: a marriage of love or convenience? Here we are talking about the former, as we look at how television has covered cinema: courtesy of top-notch reporters, Lello Bersani and Carlo Mazzarella; and film critics Gian Luigi Rondi, and Claudio G. Fava, along with the legendary journalists Lietta Tornabuoni, Natalia Aspesi, Beniamino Placido, Sergio Zavoli and Enzo Biagi. Our guide on this tour is the great Vincenzo Mollica.
CINEMA AND SPIRITUALITY
The exhibition “Della materia spirituale dell’arte”, to be held at the MAXXI Museum from October 17, 2019 to March 8, 2020, examines spirituality from two viewpoints, that of contemporary art and that of the history of ancient Rome. On this occasion, the Rome Film Fest features the screenings of three films on the theme of spirituality. The MAXXI Auditorium will host the screenings of three films that exemplify the ways in which, at different times and with different sensibilities, cinema has handled the big questions about existence and human beings’ spiritual life. The programme includes: Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Dersu Uzala, an epic poem on man’s connection to nature, which won the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film in 1976; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel, which won the award for Best Director at Cannes in 2007, and was based on the remarkable story of a journalist who becomes paralyzed and can only move his left eyebrow, yet finds new meaning in his life; and Tree of Life by Terrence Malick, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2011, starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, about an American family that has experienced a tragedy and ponders the sense in living and the meaning of death, violence, and the beauty of nature.
CHURCHBOOK #QUANDO LA FEDE SI FA SOCIAL
by Alice Tomassini, Italy, Vatican City, 2019, 62’ | Doc |
The documentary directed by Alice Tomassini tells the story of the ‘social media revolution’ started by Pope Francis when he made his global debut on Twitter, on live television, in December 2012. How is faith conveyed on social media? What is the impact on millions of people around the world? And what are the challenges that a two-thousand-year-old institution like the Catholic Church faces? Unprecedented access to the editorial office that deals with the Pope’s social media communications allows us to answer these questions, in the company of the Pope’s remarkable collaborators who work closely with him, sharing daily specific content tailored for each social network, and filling the Web with the official presence of the Catholic Church.
L’ELEGANZA DEL CIBO | THE ELEGANCE OF FOOD
by Dario Carrarini, Italy, 2019, 80’ | Doc |
Five stories about the making of fine food products unfold in the stillness of the countryside around Rome and in the hushed fashion studios of the city itself. Sergio is a Sardinian shepherd who moved to Lake Bracciano in the 70s, where he has succeeded in recreating the same cheese eaten by the ancient Romans. In the lush Castelli Romani southeast of the city, Mauro produces wine for his family enterprise. Tiziano Guardini, a young Roman eco-designer who commutes back and forth to Milan, has made eco-sustainability the byword of her work in fashion. In the hills of the Sabina region, the Gobbi brothers produce extra-virgin olive oil. In the heart of Rome, in the timeless streets of Via Veneto, Tommaso, junior designer at Gattinoni fashion house, brings with him to work every day the same passion that distinguishes all those who devote their lives to making their careers count. The documentary L’eleganza del cibo by Dario Carrarini introduces audiences to the reality of artisanal food production today and its anthropological aspects, given that it is an example of a unique culture rooted in specific territories, yet with the universal value of a storehouse of knowledge.
LE RAGAZZE DI VIA DELL’ARCHEOLOGIA | THE GIRLS OF VIA DELL’ARCHEOLOGIA
by Stefano Pistolini, Daniele Autieri, Andrea Leonetti Di Vagno, Italy, 2019, 51’
Antonella, Carmen, Asia: three real girls, three toxic tales from Via dell’Archeologia, the street through Tor Bella Monaca neighborhood, on the outskirts of Rome, where the biggest 24/7 open-air heroin supermarket is found. When the drug doesn’t kill, it becomes a way of life, an exercise in desperation. What never dies is the power of emotions. The young women from Via dell’Archeologia are devastated by heroin, but they have lost none of the intensity all girls share everywhere in the world.
EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY
ACCADRÀ SUL RED CARPET | IT WILL HAPPEN ON THE RED CARPET
Red carpets galore in Rome’s most famous streets and squares. After the extraordinary success of the event last year, for the 14th Rome Film Fest, from October 17 to October 27, the program “It All Happens on the Red Carpet”, a showcase of music, dance, art and culture unfolds in downtown Rome, in a tribute to cinema and its ties to Italy’s capital. The settings for this initiative include some of the most evocative locations in the city, from Via dei Condotti, Via Veneto and Piazza di Pietra to Ponte Sant’Angelo and Via della Frezza. Exhibitions, concerts, performances and talks spill over from the Auditorium Parco della Musica to reach the center of the city. Among the events on the lineup: a flash mob in Via Veneto in theme with La Dolce Vita, with actors in costumes and antique cars; a dance performance in Via dei Condotti to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock; an exhibition by sculptor Dante Mortet in Via della Frezza, and a concert by the Police Force Band in Piazza di Pietra, featuring popular film scores. Under the aegis of Rome’s 1st Municipal District and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, the showcase is the brainchild of Hdrà, the all-Italian group headed by Mauro Luchetti and Marco Forlani specialized in ATL and BTL communications, media relations, public affairs, social network communications and event planning. Mad Entertainment and Skydancers, Hdrà Group companies, won the David di Donatello for Best documentary in 2017 for Crazy for Football. Their 2018 animated film Gatta Cenerentola won two David awards for Best producer and Best digital effects.
THE MAGIC CHORD: CINEMA AND JAZZ. SECOND EDITION
21 – 23 October, 9 pm | Casa del Jazz (viale di Porta Ardeatina 55) | Entrance: 8 euros
After it’s successful first edition during last year’s Rome Film Fest and throughout the year with the “Around Miles” program, the swing of the silver screen and the visionary pulse of jazz will come together again this year with three events featuring conversations on the stage, screenings of clips, and above all, live music, which will make the mix of all these ingredients sizzle. It all goes down at nine pm, for three nights in a row. On October 21, Jazz Italian style: Armando Trovajoli pays tribute to this virtuous jazz pianist and legendary composer of film scores, on the 70th anniversary of his participation in the Jazz Festival of Paris, the only Italian alongside Charlie Parker and Miles Davis himself. Guest artist Danilo Rea (piano) and guest speaker Luigi Onori, jazz historian. Next up, on October 22, a concert featuring guests Stefano Di Battista (alto sax) and Andrea Rea (piano), called A Ballad for Clint Eastwood (a jazz fan since he was a kid, the director of Bird has produced marvelous documentaries on Monk, Brubeck, and Piano Blues with Ray Charles, and his son Kyle is a fine double bass player). On October 23, a performance by guest artists Fabio Zeppetella (guitar) and Roberto Tarenzi (piano), which is titled La La Jazz: from Altman to Chazelle, the swing of contemporary cinema. What role does jazz play in modern and contemporary film? From Last Tango in Paris to Mo’ Better Blues, its blend of different influences and the modernity, avant-garde quality and sensuality that have always distinguished it have never ceased to be a source of attraction for auteur filmmakers.
Curated by Luciano Linzi and Mario Sesti. Info: www.casajazz.it
CONVERSATIONS AND PANELS
REGIONE LAZIO | ROMA LAZIO FILM COMMISSION
17 – 27 October | Auditorium Parco della Musica – AuditoriumArte
Regione Lazio | Roma Lazio Film Commission promotes cinema, audiovisual productions, and co-productions, offering itself as a meeting point between the major national and international production companies and the Lazio region, a territory with a great film tradition.
Regione Lazio | Roma Lazio Film Commission comes back to the Rome Film Fest with many new initiatives and activities, to be held in the AuditoriumArte space, inside the Auditorium Parco della Musica:
- Promotion of local resources
- Orientation in order to understand the financial tools offered by the Lazio Region for the audiovisual sector
- Space for an immersive 3D experience of film locations in the Lazio area using the Location360 app.
- Training sessions:
- CineCampus Masterclass – Lessons on Cinema – 12th edition
Educational opportunity for students and professionals in the film and audiovisual industries, with masterclasses devoted to production, acting and film directing taught by masters in their fields.
- CineCampus Atelier – Film technique – 4th edition
A course dedicated to the technical side of film, with specific instruction on techniques for shooting, viewing, sound, special effects, dubbing, and new methodologies for shooting with drones.
DIRECTIVE COPYRIGHT, OBJECTIVE 2020
NEW SCENARIOS IN THE AUDIO-VISUAL MARKET IN THE AGE OF INTERNET
23 October, 11.30 am| Auditorium Parco della Musica – Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna Sala SIAE
NUOVOIMAIE in collaboration with the LUISS Business School will address the theme of Italy’s implementation of the Directive seven months after it went into effect in Europe, which hopefully will occur within the year 2020. Leading figures from the political and institutional spheres, and the major representatives of the audio-visual industry chain will attend the event. NUOVOIMAIE will be at the Rome Film Fest with its own area “NUOVOIMAIE in-con-tra”, where every day it will host the artists and offer assistance to provide greater information on copyright protection; represented artists will have access to a space dedicated to concessions, services and new features reserved for actors.
COSTUME DESIGNERS PANEL
24 October, 11 am | MAXXI (via Guido Reni, 4a)
‘Costume Designers Panel’ is the name of the round table moderated by the prestigious costume designer, Deborah Nadoolman Landis who will be accompanied by Eva Coen, Daniela Ciancio and Stefano de Nardis. Dresses, costumes, ornaments and accessories are fundamental in the creation of the characters that live in cinema, they are intrinsically woven into the fabric that makes a film a work of art. Prof. Landis, PhD, is a director of David C. Copley Center for Costume Design, UCLA and a Member of the Academy’s Costume Designers Branch. She is a professional veteran who dressed Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark and made the red leather jacket that Michael Jackson wore in Thriller. She will analyze the secrets of this trade and discuss the role of the costume designer with colleagues Daniela Ciancio (The Great Beauty, Il Divo, Mission Impossible III) Stefano de Nardis (Coco Chanel, All the Money in the World, Catch-22) and Eva Coen (Adored, Let’s Mambo, Crimes). Together they will debate the importance of costumes in film and how this helps the public to identify with the characters. The event is presented by Swarovski. Their support for costume designers dates back to the Hollywood of over 85 years ago, with iconic moments like Marilyn Monroe’s in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. An endorsement that continues today in productions such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and, most recently the Elton John bio pic, Rocketman.
LUCIA BOSÈ. UNA BIOGRAFIA
23 October, 5.30 pm| Auditorium Parco della Musica – Teatro Studio Gianni Borgna Sala Siae
To mark the publication of the book ‘Lucia Bosè. Una biografia’ by Roberto Liberatori (Edizioni Sabinae, 2019), the actress will meet the audiences of the Rome Film Fest to talk about her fascinating professional career and her extraordinary life with Italian journalist Alberto Crespi. The novel reviews the life and career of the Italian actress, a story in the limelight, about renascence, great cinema, extraordinary loves and friendships, as well as shadows and betrayals. When in 1947 Lucia Bosè won the title of Miss Italia, she was just a 16-year old from Milan who had lost everything to the war, except for hope for a better fate than her humble origins seemed to have in store for her. With a healthy dose of patience and a frame of mind open to a permanent apprenticeship in life, Lucia remoulded herself into one of the most admired women of the twentieth century. Her impact on the audiences who crowded movie theatres in the 1950s was immediate, but she chose to dedicate herself to her preferred role as wife and mother in a marriage that would fill the pages of the gossip magazines, but with an unfortunate epilogue.
LA SCENEGGIATURA DELLE SERIE TV | SCRIPTWRITING FOR TV SERIES
24 October, 9.30 pm | MAXXI (via Guido Reni, 4a)
An event curated by Alberto Crespi and focusing on scriptwriting for tv series. The participants will include, among others, Giancarlo De Cataldo (who wrote the screenplays, among so many others, for the television series Romanzo Criminale, adapted from his own novel by the same name, and Suburra) and Ludovica Rampoldi (Gomorra, 1992, 1993).
THE ROME FILM FEST AT THE LIBRARY
The Rome Film Fest is scheduling four encounters at Biblioteca Flaminia. Some interesting Italian writers will be the protagonists of these events and will present their books about cinema and entertainment. The programme includes:
- “Lilla Brignone. Una vita a teatro” by Chiara Ricci (Edizioni Sabinae)
- “Fratelli d’arte. Storia familiare del cinema italiano” by Silvia Toso and Evelina Nazzari (Edizioni Sabinae)
- “Steven Spielberg” by Andrea Minuz (Marsilio)
“Una visita al Bates Motel” by Guido Vitiello (Adelphi)
