Plot

“…And Counting!” (Letter Three) is a postmortem of Two Letters, and a journey into the present state of theatre, culture (and funding). Forced to fund his Two Letters theatre project, using his entire RRSP account, having hit a wall in the Italian-Canadian community in Toronto (community leaders and media) and in the mainstream (arts councils and media), and playing to small audiences all over the city of Toronto, while the theatre community and colleagues ran for cover or were missing in action, the actor/writer recounts his journey in hell and his encounters with those who create that hell, realizing, in the end, that it may be better to work for an arts council in Canada than to be an artist, and that as an artist he may be worth more dead than alive.

Trama

“…And Counting!” (Letter Three) rappresenta un’analisi retrospettiva delle opere Two Letters,… Continue reading →

Plot

Background
The evolution of video languages and the increasingly sophisticated techniques for video manipulation now impose a systematic rethinking about the ways in which this complex group of factors influences the expressive forms of contemporary art experimentation. In order to understand this phenomenon, since 2006 a group of Italian researchers from the universities of Bologna, Padua and Venice began to collect the most recent national video art production.

The proposed project
The project is called ARType. It results from the desire of exploring some archetypes of contemporary imaginary as primary elements of human culture seen through the eye of art. Indeed, the neologism the project’s title is inspired to is the combination of art and archetypes, in the belief that the experimental language of video art provides a privileged access to the complexity of anthropological structures in today’s world.

Rationale
The idea of archetype, that transversally embraces the entire history of human knowledge, from the Classical tradition through the nineteenth-century humanities, has acquired an even larger symbolic value in the world of art and a social relevance revealed by the artist’s intervention. Indeed, the archetypal forms of human existence… Continue reading →

Plot

Three stories of courage and compassion in three documentaries that commemorate the Canadian contribution in the liberation of Italy: the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers during World War II in Ortona 1943: A Bloody Christmas, the bravery of those who took part in the invasion of Sicily in Operation Husky and the touching testimony of Gino Farnetti-Bragaglia, found and adopted by three Canadian soldiers in Torrice, near Frosinone, after a deadly battle between Canadian and German Armoured units.

Q&A after the screening.

Special guests: Gino Farnetti-Bragaglia (World War II survivor); Steve Gregory (founder of Operation Husky 2013); Vincenzo Nisco (moderator)

Plot

The shorts in this wonderful selection shift between comedy, drama and real-life stories, capturing the inflections of love and suspense, while also showcasing the creative power of art and imagination. Powerful portraits of Italian lives, represented in their most varied, lively shapes.

Co-presented by:

Plot

The film is set in today’s Italy, overloaded with public debt and struggling to emerge from recession with a jobless rate of more than 40 percent among non-studying 15-24-year-olds. The story focuses on 36-year-old Luca Medici from Bari, in the southeastern region of Puglia, a husband and father who, like many Italians, has lived for years beyond his means. After years of unexpected success as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman and lavish spending on high-tech gadgets, he suddenly loses his job and is haunted by motley creditors. Medici’s family life is strained, with a wife who is also about to lose her job and a nine-year-old son with whom he has difficulty relating. So he decides to gamble everything with a dream holiday aimed at patching up family differences.

Plot

Paolo is a 45-year-old Italian who has lived in Germany for twenty years. One day his brother calls him to give him the news of his mother’s death. Paolo and his wife immediately travel to Italy, only to realize that it was nothing but a hoax: the mother is quite well and Paolo is needed merely to resolve some serious budgetary shortfalls. The stay turns out to have powerful dramatic consequences, as Paolo is forced to confront his past. His family ties slowly unravel, bringing shock and revelations to everyone involved.

Olaf Kreinsen

Olaf Kreinsen

Olaf Kreinsen was born in 1960 in West Germany. He studied linguistics as well… Continue reading →

Plot

Verdone plays a very rich broker, who in just two days loses his wife and job and has to live with two children and a granddaughter. Over the years, he has only had sporadic and superficial relationships with them.

Carlo Verdone

Carlo Verdone

Son of critic and film history professor Mario Verdone, Carlo Verdone obtained a diploma in film directing from the Experimental Film Centre. After making his bones in the cabaret, he notched up considerable success in the TV programme “Non Stop“ (1979). The following year, he made his directorial debut with “Fun is Beautiful”. In “Bianco, rosso e Verdone” (1981) he proved his mastery, meticulously developing his… Continue reading →

Plot

Biagio, a businessman with an inferiority complex, decides to end his life after the latest provocation from Ottone, his sworn enemy. Yet, up there, someone grants him a second opportunity, which Biagio takes in order to seek revenge. However, upset by a shocking revelation, Biagio decides to take the high road and help improve his sworn enemy.

Sergio Rubini

Sergio Rubini
Rubini has worked for many years as a successful actor and director on stage and on the radio. Alongside his sterling career as a director, he continued to work as an actor in countless productions. In 2003, among other films, he played Disma, the good… Continue reading →

Plot

Irene lives alone a pretty isolated life. Her clandestine job is to help terminally-ill people to die with dignity by giving them a drug. One day she supplies a new “client” with a fatal dose, only to find out he’s perfectly healthy. Irene is determined not to be responsible for his suicide. From this moment, Irene and Grimaldi are locked unwillingly in a tense and unusual relationship which will change Irene’s life forever.

Plot

Naples, 1973. Peppino Sansone, a sensitive but clumsy nine-year-old boy, lives in a dysfunctional and bizarre family. His mother Rosaria has fallen prey to depression and isolates herself in anguished silence, after finding out that her husband cheats on her using his blue FIAT 850 as an alcove for his trysts.

Peppino’s father tries to distract him from the family troubles by giving him three chicks to raise as pets. The chicks, however, eventually die.

Peppino’s aunt and uncle, Titina and Salvatore, provide a respite of sorts by taking him to nightclub parties and feminist rallies. However, Peppino’s greatest friend is his cousin Gennaro, an odd character who thinks he is Superman.

When Gennaro suddenly dies after being run over by a bus, Peppino uses his imagination to bring Gennaro back to live as a superhero and life coach. Thanks to Gennaro’s ‘advice,’ Peppino is able to face his daily troubles and confront the complicated world… Continue reading →

Plot

A television studio is used by day to film a TV series, but in the evenings, the premises are the domain of the employees of a cleaning company, most of them immigrants. One evening, the  the camera storage door is left open, and Dilip gets a sudden urge to try one out. Gradually, an idea develops: why not use the studio at night to film video messages that other immigrants can send to their families?

Co-presented by   

Plot

Paolo, 40 years old, lives in a small Friulian town close to the north-eastern border. Unreliable and with a passion for good wine, he spends his days at the local tavern and stubbornly stalks his ex-wife. One day, unexpectedly, he meets his nephew Zoran, an awkward 16-year-old boy grown up in the Slovenian mountains. Reluctantly, Paolo has to take care of him, but he soon discovers Zoran’s bizarre gift: he is phenomenal master of darts. Paolo thinks this is the right chance to take revenge on the world. But will everything be so easy?

Plot

The year is 2047. Our planet is ruled by the repressive and cruel Confederate Central Government (CCG). Countries that have not joined are considered scorched earth. Ryan is a rebel agent from the group Green War. He is sent on a mission by Sponge, leader of the Green War Organization to collect evidence to nail the military wing of the CCG for its heinous crimes. On his way there, Ryan faces the formidable Colonel Asimov, Major Anderson and a group of unscrupulous mercenaries led by Lobo. His mission quickly turns into a chaotic showdown. Ryan he meets Tuage, a survivor of the CCG and quite possibly a mutant, who is on his side. Together, they fight to save what is left of the world.

Plot

Mamma Stella is on edge. As if she hadn’t been through enough trouble with her daughter Rosa Maria, who left her husband! Now Costantino, her son, has left the priesthood. Afraid to be the talk of the village, she relegates him to a distant lighthouse belonging to the family. Costantino does not remain far from the maddening town inhabitants for long. It does not take long indeed before all the local (or even distant) outcasts flock together there: Magnolia, a retired escort; Arturo, Rosa Maria’s estranged husband; Valbona, a lesbian; Rosa Maria herself; and, to crown it all, two eccentric workers accompanied by a little girl… After a period of chaos, this small world gradually discovers that unity makes strength.

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Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) is a world-renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire (Sylvia Hoeks) to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.

Plot

This is the story of Andrea, a captivating young woman who has been deluded by love, Luca, a single physiotherapist who pretends to be a psychologist in order to seduce her, and Carlotta and Andrea, a couple that gets distressed the night before their wedding. As a result of two accidental identity mix-ups, the lives of four characters end up intertwining and being overwhelmed by the enduring quest for the perfect love romance.

Gabriele Pignotta

Gabriele Pignotta

Gabriele Pignotta won at the Festival of Castrocaro as a new contender. He started writing TV programs for RAI and Mediaset with the staff of Japino-Carrà and then wrote and hosted two programs on Sky. Gabriele was also an actor… Continue reading →

Plot

A narcissistic artist, Guido, who rambles around his studio in the company of a bevy of attractive young women, arouses the jealousy and anger of his devoted wife, Serena, who is rapidly tiring of her husband’s peccadillos. Thanks to the help of a gallery owner, an attractive middle-aged woman, Guido gets an important commission for an art show in Milan, which somehow goes disastrously wrong. When his wife reveals that she is taking the kids off to a feminist retreat in France, Guido’s life turns upside down and forces him to confront all those things that have limited his art. Our self-engaged artist finds out that life can indeed provide just retributions of a surprising kind.

Co-presented by

Plot

What’s a girl to do? If you’re married on a small island in southern Italy, your husband is going to call the shots. If you are an unmarried woman living at home with your parents, your mother will be doing that. If you are the town prostitute, living with the town’s disdain puts a damper on your freedom to do as you please. It couldn’t hurt to have a couple of friends to die for…The friendship between Gilda, Olivia and Crocetta is a product of pragmatism and a big secret. They’ve agreed to keep this secret among them, although it is not always easy for a prostitute, an old maid and a naïve housewife to see eye to eye on everything!

Plot

This is the story of Arturo. As child, Arturo is particularly attentive and sensitive to the “criminal oddities” he is used to witnessing every day in his city. In his humorous tone, he tells us how he found himself caught in a double endeavor: he juggles hilariously between his love for beautiful and unattainable Flora, with whom he is madly in love, and a series of Mafia incidents that have struck his life and exploded into the bloody mass murderer season of the ’80s and the ’90s. Over the years, all the characters lead somewhat of a double life consisting of birthday parties, love affairs and career choices on one hand, and of bombing attacks, threats, murder victims and silence on the other. Both as a child and as an adult, Arturo’s challenge is dealing with Palermo’s split reality: finding the right answers to fulfill his heart’s desires as well as his sense of civic responsibility.