Oct 8, 2014
SFFILM
The San Francisco Film Society and New Italian Cinema Events of Florence, Italy present New Italian Cinema, November 19-23 at the Vogue Theatre (3290 Sacramento Street). The five-day festival is dedicated to bringing Italy’s newest directors and films to Bay Area audiences and celebrating the country’s rich cinematic tradition. Celebrating its 18th glorious year in San Francisco, NIC 2014 opens with a very special evening with Edoardo Ponti alongside Asia Argento’s welcome return to the director’s chair, and the festivities finish up with another of Paolo Virzì’s expert delineations of class inequity.
For complete program information, visit sffs.org/Exhibition/Fall-Season.
Seven terrific features by up-and-coming directors-a number of whom will be in attendance at their screenings-are featured in the City of Florence Award competition. New Italian Cinema offers several distinct elements in its competition section, including the first-ever animated feature shown by the festival, an Italian production entirely in Arabic and a suspense-oriented film in the giallo tradition, among other extremely impressive first or second features. The City of Florence Award will be decided by audience ballot and announced at a Closing Night presentation following the 6:00 pm screening of Human Capital on Sunday, November 23.
“From the globe-trotting of two siblings trying to better understand one another to powerful indictments of Big Pharma, the seven competition films in this year’s New Italian Cinema program offer a fascinating range,” said SFFS Programmer Rod Armstrong. “The out-of-competition titles present equally excellent viewing opportunities with Toni Servillo’s must-see dual role in Long Live Freedom! to the crowd-pleasing antics of a therapist and his daughters in Blame Freud.”
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19 OPENING NIGHT
6:30 pm An Evening with Edoardo Ponti
(TRT 75 min) Director Expected
This special evening with Edoardo Ponti will feature two of his short films: The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, set in the Dolemite mountains and starring Julian Sands, Nastassja Kinski and Enrico Lo Verso; and Human Voice featuring the director’s iconic mother Sophia Loren in a tour-de-force performance. Ponti, who has also directed two feature films in English, will be on hand to discuss these shorts and his overall career.
8:30 pm Misunderstood
Asia Argento (Incompresa, Italy/France 2014, 110 min)
Asia Argento returns to the director’s chair for this personal look at a young girl who suffers at the hands of her self-centered and neglectful parents. Aria is a sensitive 9-year old, whose constantly warring parents (Charlotte Gainsbourg and Gabriel Garko) eventually separate, leaving the youngster to fend for herself with only her school friend Angelica and a neighborhood stray cat she names Dac to help assuage the deprivations of her home life. With a style and sensibility all its own, Misunderstood is a compelling and richly imagined portrait of familial dysfunction. Written by Barbara Alberti, Asia Argento. Cinematography by Nicola Pecorini. With Giulia Salerno, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gabriel Garko. (Other Angle Pictures)
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20
6:30 pm Long Live Freedom!
Roberto Andò (Viva la libertà, Italy 2013, 92 min)
In this bold political satire, Enrico Olivera (Toni Servillo) is a politician who disappears after being heckled before a panel session. His long-suffering assistant Andrea finds out from Enrico’s wife that there is a twin brother, Giovanni, who has been in an institution for some time. Andrea’s brainstorm to have Giovanni pose as Enrico takes a shocking turn when the “crazy” stand-in turns out to have some very sane ideas. Written by Roberto Andò, Angelo Pasquini. Cinematography by Maurizio Calvesi. With Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. (Distrib Films)
8:45 pm Controra – House of Shadows – North American Premiere – In Competition
Rossella De Venuto (Italy/Ireland 2013, 85 min) Director Expected
Megan is a slightly uptight Irish painter who travels to Italy with her husband Leo to settle the will of his uncle Domenico, a priest who is being recommended for canonization. Settling in Domenico’s grand palazzo, Megan starts having frightening mid-day dreams and seeing mysterious apparitions. Relying on more classical methods of instilling fear rather than gouts of gore, Rossella de Venuto has crafted a shadowy and startling supernatural thriller. Written by Rossella De Venuto. Cinematography by Ciarán Tanham. With Fiona Glascott, Federico Castelluccio, Pietro Ragusa. In English and Italian with subtitles. (Interlinea Films)
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21
4:30 pm Per Ulisse – International Premiere
Giovanni Cioni (Italy/France/Belgium 2013, 90 min)
In a working class suburb of Florence, several marginalized members of Italian society gather at a drop-in center called Project Ponterosso. Besides poverty, these struggling people have experienced addiction, prison and homelessness. With a moving frankness, they sing, play guitar, speak about their lives and troubles and, above all, evince a profound humanity. Director Giovanni Cioni has crafted a poetic and moving documentary in the neorealist tradition of his forbears. Cinematography by Giovanni Cioni. (Zeugma Films)
6:30 pm Up to the World – In Competition
Alessandro Lunardelli (Il mondo fino in fondo, Italy 2013, 95 min)
This wide-ranging film focuses on two brothers whose large age difference has kept them from knowing one another better. A road trip to Barcelona for a soccer match begins the bonding process, though a chance meeting in a bar sends the younger sibling off to Chilean Patagonia with his more responsible older sibling angrily chasing after him. Debuting director Alessandro Lunardelli tackles several interesting topics throughout the film within a constantly shifting and visually stunning international landscape. Written by Alessandro Lunardelli, Vanessa Picciarelli. Cinematography by Maura Morales Bergmann. With Luca Marinelli, Filippo Scicchitano, Barbora Bobulova. (Interlinea Films)
9:00 pm Blame Freud – U.S. Premiere
Paolo Genovese (Tutta colpa di Freud, Italy 2014, 120 min) Director Expected
Bright and inviting, Paolo Genovese’s romantic comedy concerns a middle-aged therapist who is concerned about the romantic welfare of his three adult daughters. While his relationship with each is admiring and loving, as a parent and especially as an analyst he cannot resist meddling in their affairs. With a passel of winning performances, Blame Freud offers a delightfully seriocomic examination of romantic foibles and the perils of parental counsel. Written by Paolo Genovese. Cinematography by Fabrizio Lucci. With Marco Giallini, Vittoria Puccini, Anna Foglietta, Claudia Gerini. (Medusa Distribuzione)
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22
1:30 pm The Art of Happiness – North American Premiere – In Competition
Alessandro Rak (L’arte della felicità, Italy 2013, 84 min)
A beautifully realized film focusing on the personal history of a melancholic Naples cab driver, this is the first animated feature to be shown in NIC’s history. The form is perfect for the story as 43-year-old Sergio drives through pounding rain while listening to a philosophical DJ whose broadcasts prompt memories and reminiscences from Sergio’s own life, evoking both dark matters of grief and environmental degradation and issues of creative renewal and romantic possibility. Written by Alessandro Rak, Luciano Stella. (Elle Driver)
4:00 pm Remember Me – International Premiere – In Competition
Rolando Ravello (Ti ricordi di me?, Italy 2014, 88 min)
In this charming romantic comedy, Roberto is a kleptomaniac while Beatrice is prone to amnesiac fugues-a match made in heaven. Though Beatrice rejects him at first, she warms to Roberto when he makes a chivalric leap to help her with her OCD-type behavior. This film has all of the elements that make for a good rom-com-chemistry between the leads, a smart assemblage of supporting characters and a novel manner in which to tell the archetypal boy-meets-girl scenario. Written by Paolo Genovese, Edoardo Falcone, Edoardo Leo. Cinematography by Vittorio Omodei Zorini. With Ambra Angiolini, Edoardo Leo. (01 Distribution)
6:30 pm The Medicine Seller – International Premiere – In Competition
Antonio Morabito (Il venditore di medicine, Italy/Switzerland 2013, 105 min) Director Expected
A scathing indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, Morabito’s powerful drama depicts a stressed-out salesman using increasingly scurrilous means to sell his company’s product. Bruno is the Zafer corporation’s golden boy, wheedling doctors and administrators to select his firm’s treatments through his own charms. When he’s told to push a controversial new medicine, he is given an ultimatum-get a notoriously difficult hospital administrator to prescribe the drug or lose his job. Written by Antonio Morabito, Michele Pellegrini, Amedeo Pagani. Cinematography by Duccio Cimatti. With Claudio Santamaria, Isabella Ferrari. (Cinecittà Luce)
9:15 pm I Can Quit Whenever I Want – In Competition
Sydney Sibilia (Smetto quando voglio, Italy 2014, 100 min)
Pietro is a brilliant chemistry professor hoping for a tenure contract. Increasingly desperate for money, he rounds up several friends in similar circumstances and they concoct a plan to manufacture a smart drug that will make them millions. Sibilia’s raucously entertaining film offers a comedic version of Breaking Bad, with a hapless band of chemistry geeks discovering that their new endeavor leads to some unsavory business relationships and puts their own moral behavior into question. Written by Valerio Attanasio, Andrea Garello, Sydney Sibilia. Cinematography by Vladan Radovic. With Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino. (01 Distribution)
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 CLOSING NIGHT
1:00 pm In the Snow – International Premiere
Stefano Incerti (Neve, Italy 2013, 90 min)
Donato is a prison nurse on a driving holiday; stopping off for a roadside snooze, he gives a ride to a provocatively dressed woman named Norah. She’s on the run from a man sending threatening text messages while Donato has secrets of his own involving a decades-old robbery. Set within a wintry landscape that implies a quiet menace of its own, In the Snow offers a consistently intriguing study of lives at a crossroads. Written by Patrick Fogli, Stefano Incerti. Cinematography by Pasquale Mari. With Roberto De Francesco, Esther Elisha. (Studio Morabito)
3:00 pm Border – In Competition
Alessio Cremonini (Italy 2013, 95 min) Director Expected
Topical and suspenseful, this debut feature details the plight of two sisters attempting to escape Syria by car. For Fatima and Aya, religious beliefs necessitate the wearing of a face-covering niqab which their driver insists will attract unwanted attention. When the car has to be abandoned in a wooded area populated by Syrian soldiers and rebel fighters, the siblings are forced into a fraught environment where no one can be trusted. Lifting the story from true events, Alessio Cremonini has crafted a compelling story about lives utterly upended by civil war. In Arabic with English subtitles. Written by Alessio Cremonini, Susan Dabbous. Cinematography by Stefano Di Leo. With Wasim Abo Azan, Sara El Debuch, Dana Keilani. (Rai Trade)
6:00 pm Human Capital – Followed by City of Florence Award Ceremony
Paolo Virzì (Il capitale umano, Italy/France 2013, 110 min)
Structured into three parts, Paolo Virzì’s latest chronicle of familial and social dynamics involves the wealthy Bernaschi family whose son Massimiliano is suspected of forcing a bicyclist off the road. With the mystery of this accident at its center and filled with memorable supporting performances, including Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Luigi Lo Cascio, Valeria Golino and Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Human Capital chillingly shows how the quest for financial status and social standing can lead people to a very low valuation of human life. Written by Francesco Bruni, Francesco Piccolo, Paolo Virzì. Cinematography by Jérôme Alméras. With Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Golino, Luigi Lo Cascio. (Film Movement)
9:00 pm Closing Night Reception Join us in celebration of the City of Florence Award with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres at 1300 on Fillmore (1300 Fillmore Street).
9:00 pm Human Capital
Film tickets $12 for SFFS members, $14 general, $13 seniors, students and persons with disabilities, $10 children (12 and under); Closing Night film and party tickets $20 for SFFS members, $25 general; Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $110 for SFFS members, $130 general. Box office opens October 8 for members and October 10 for the general public online at sffs.org.
To request screeners and interviews contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
New Italian Cinema is presented in collaboration with New Italian Cinema Events (nicefestival.org) and the Italian Cultural Institute, San Francisco; the Consulate General of Italy; and Italy in U.S. Additional sponsorship is provided by Comune di Firenze; Fondazione Sistema Toscana; Ministero dei Beni Culturali; and Regiona Toscana; special support provided by John and Karen Diefenbach; and media sponsors SF Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian and San Francisco Examiner. The Closing Night Party is supported by 1300 on Fillmore.