FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES
OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA 2011
June 1– 8
Opening Night film The Salt of Life,and a special screening of Alessandro Blasetti’s 1860 set for the series’ 11th edition
New York, NY, April 29, 2011 – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the details today for the upcoming film series, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater June 1 – 8. This year, the 11th edition of this popular showcase will open with the US Premiere of The Salt of Life, director Gianni Di Gregorio’s warm and witty follow-up to his 2010 sleeper hit Mid-August Lunch. With Salt of Life, writer-director-actor Di Gregorio has created another sparkling comic ode to the ladies in his life.He will appear in person with the film on June 1.
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Risorgimento—the movement that created modern Italy from a group of disparate states—Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is proud to present the premiere of Mario Martone’s We Believed, an epic reconstruction and re-imagination of the social and political forces that led to Italian independence. Faithful followers of Open Roads will also find a number of favorite directors from the past—among them, Sergio Castellitto, Roberta Torre, Gabriele Salvatores and Andrea Molaioli. Also part of Open Roads this year is a rare screening of 1860, Alessandro Blasetti’s 1934 epic of the Risorgimento that follows a group of peasants on their road to joining Garibaldi.
Other highlights include the U.S. Premiere for Giulio Manfredonia’s Whatsoeverly; and conversations after the screenings with the directors: Gianni Di Gregorio (The Salt of Life), Alessandro D’Alatri (On the Sea), Mario Martone (We Believed), Lucio Pellegrini (Unlikely Revolutionaries), Giovanna Taviani (Return to the Aeolian Islands), Giorgia Cecere (The First Assignment), and the actor Antonio Albanese (Whatsoeverly).
According to the Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director Richard Peña, “With a strong presence at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, this will be another banner year for the new Italian cinema. Many artists we introduced through Open Roads are back with new works that show their growing breadth of style and artistic maturity. We feel a strong commitment to this new generation and are proud that Open Roads has become its most important showcase in America.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinemahas been organized by The Film Society of Lincoln Center together with Cinecittà Luce- Filmitalia and the support of Ministero per i Beni e le Attivitá Culturali (Direzione Generale per il Cinema) in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Special thanks to the Italian Trade Commission-ICE Los Angeles, the Alexander Bodini Foundation, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimó and Antonio Monda for their generous support.
Tickets are on sale both at the box office and on-line. Discounts are available for Film Society members. Read more about The Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, located at 165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway.
PRESS SCREENINGS (AT THE WALTER READE THEATRE)
THURSDAY, MAY 5
10am The Passion (106m)
12pm 1960 (80m)
FRIDAY, MAY 6
10am Whatsoeverly (96m)
MONDAY, MAY 9
10am 20 Cigarettes (94m)
TUESDAY, MAY 10
10am The Salt of Life (90m)
RSVP to [email protected] or [email protected]
FILM DESCRIPTIONS FOR OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA 2011
Opening Night Film
The Salt of Life
Gianni Di Gregorio, 2011, Italy; 90m<br />Distributed by Zeitgeist Films
In his warm and witty follow-up to his 2010 sleeper hit Mid-August Lunch, writer-director-actor Gianni Di Gregorio has created another sparkling comic ode to the ladies in his life—but this time he plays a middle-aged retiree who has become invisible to all distaff Romans, regardless of age or relation. In The Salt of Life (Gianni e le donne), he contends with an aristocratic, spendthrift mother (again played by Lunch’s great nonagenarian Valeria de Franciscis); a wife who is more patronizing friend than romantic partner; a daughter (played by Di Gregorio’s daughter Teresa) with a slacker boyfriend whom Gianni unwillingly befriends; and a wild young neighbor who sees him merely as a dog walker. Watching his “codger” friends snare beautiful younger women on the sun-kissed cobblestones of Trastevere, Gianni tries his polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life—with both hilarious and poignant results.
Screening on June 1, 4
1860 / I Figli Di Garibaldi
Alessandro Blasetti, 1934, Italy; 82m
Admired by the Neo-Realists, Blasetti’s rousing anthem to Italian unification chronicles the panoramic journey of a Sicilian peasant to Garibaldi’s headquarters. Followed by a panel discussion!
Screening on June 5
1960
Gabriele Salvatores, 2010, Italy; 75m
The director of Mediterraneo assembles from the RAI TV archives a fascinating portrait of Italy in boom times, chronicling a family’s search for a son.
Screening on June 7
20 Cigarettes / 20 Sigarette
Aureliano Amadei, 2010, Italy; 94m
A young antiwar activist heads to Iraq to work on a film and quickly finds himself a victim of sectarian violence and, soon, an unlikely hero.
Screening on June 1, 6
Love and Slaps / La bellezza del somaro
Sergio Castellitto, 2010, Italy; 96m
In a wry, perceptive update of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, a successful architect (Castellitto) and his wife (Laura Morante) meet their daughter’s new boyfriend.
Screening on June 2, 6
Unlikely Revolutionaries / Figli delle stelle
Lucio Pellegrini, 2010, Italy; 102m
After botching a high-profile kidnapping, a group of disillusioned northeasterners are forced to learn how to coexist under absurd and clandestine conditions.
Screening on June 1, 5
The First Assignment / Il primo incarico
Giorgia Cecere, 2010, Italy; 90m
A hit at the Venice Film Festival, Cecere’s stunning debut follows a young teacher (wonderful Isabelle Ragonese) whose first posting brings her to a hardscrabble village with wild children and parents to whom she can hardly speak.
Screening on June 6
Lost Kisses / Baci mai dati
Roberta Torre, 2010, Italy; 80m
In this playful satire, the theft of a Madonna statue’s head seems to trigger visions in 13-year-old Manuela, which are quickly exploited by her dysfunctional family.
Screening on June 2, 4
On the Sea / Sul mare
Alessandro D’Alatri, 2010; 100m
In a beautiful, stunningly immediate rendering of a love affair’s first flowering, a tour-guide and a student from Genoa strike up a bond.
Screening on June 3, 5
The Passion / La Passione
Carlo Mazzacurati, 2010, Italy; 106m
After a leak in his Tuscan apartment destroys a chapel’s fresco, a has-been director agrees to stage some Good Friday celebrations, which quickly turn challenging…
Screening on June 2, 5
Return to the Aeolian Islands / Fughe e approdi
Giovanna Taviani, 2011, Italy, 82m
Shining as personal memoir and journey through cinema, Taviani’s touching film takes a beautiful look at the islands that have inspired Rossellini (Stromboli), Antonioni (L’Avventura), the Taviani Brothers (Kaos), and more.
Screening on June 2, 6
Sorelle Mai
Marco Bellocchio, 2010, Italy, 105m
Marco Bellocchio returns to his hometown Bobbio, and to the house in which he shot “Fists in the Pocket”, to narrate the story of the hopes, disappointments and yearnings of his own family.
Screening on June 3, 7
The Solitude of Prime Numbers / La solitudine dei numeri primi
Saverio Costanzo, 2010, Italy/Germany/France; 118m
A film not easily forgotten, Costanzo’s richly told adaptation of the massive best-seller is set at four crucial moments in the lives of two perennial loners.
Screening on June 1, 3
U.S. Premiere!
We Believed / Noi Credevamo
Mario Martone, 2010, Italy/France; 205m
In this engrossing epic reconstruction of Italy’s 19th-century path to independence, three men find themselves plunged into the fearsome double binds of revolution and sacrifice.
Screening on June 4, 7, 8
U.S Premiere!
Whatsoeverly / Qualunquemente
Giulio Manfredonia, 2011, Italy; 96m
In this delicious and wildly popular political satire, an unscrupulous entrepreneur returns to his suddenly law-abiding hometown and resolves to enter politics.
Screening on June 3, 7
The Woman of My Life / La donna della mia vita
Luca Lucini, 2010, Italy/UK; 96m
Lucini’s sharply observed comedy with a dark underlining follows romantically wounded Leonardo back into the family fold and into new love. With a superb Stefania Sandrelli.
Screening on June 2, 4
PUBLIC SCREENING SCHEDULE FOR OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA 2011
Screening Venue:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center – Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65 Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam (upper level)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1
1:00pm Unlikely Revolutionaries/ Figli delle stelle(102 min.)
3:45pm 20 Cigarettes/ 20 Sigarette(94 min.)
6:30pm The Salt of Life (90m)
– followed by Q&A
8:50pm The Solitude of Prime Numbers/ La solitudine dei numeri primi(118 min.)
– followed by Q&A
THURSDAY, JUNE 2
1:00 pm Lost Kisses/ Baci mai dati(80 min.)
2:45pm Return to the Aeolian Islands/ Fughe e approdi(82 min.)
4:30pm The Woman of My Life/ La Donna Della Mia Vita (96 min.)
6:45pm Love and Slaps/ La Belleza Del Somaro (107 min.)
9:15pm The Passion/ La Passione(106 min.)
– followed by Q&A
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
2:00pm On the Sea/Sul Mare (100 min.)
4:15pm The Solitude of Prime Numbers/ La solitudine dei numeri primi(118 min.)
6:40pm Whatsoeverly/ Qualunquemente(96 min.)
– followed by Q&A
9:10pm Sorelle mai
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
12:15pm The Woman of My Life/ La Donna Della Mia Vita (96 min.)
– followed by Q&A
2:45pm We Believed/ Noi Credevamo(205 min.)
– followed by Q&A
6:45pm Lost Kisses/ Baci mai dati(80 min.)
– followed by Q&A
9:00pm The Salt of Life (90m)
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
1:00pm 1860/ I Figli Di Garibaldi (80 min.) – followed by a panel
4:00pm Unlikely Revolutionaries/ Figli delle stelle(102 min.)
6:15pm On the Sea/Sul Mare (100 min.)
– followed by Q&A
8:45pm The Passion/ La Passione(106 min.)
MONDAY, JUNE 6
2:00pm 20 Cigarettes/ 20 Sigarette(94 min.)
4:15pm The Beauty of the Donkey /La Belleza Del Somaro (107 min.)
6:30pm The First Assignment/ Il Primo Incarico (90 min.)
8:45pm Return to the Aeolian Islands/ Fughe e approdi(82 min.)
TUESDAY, JUNE 7
1:40pm Whatsoeverly/ Qualunquemente(96 min.)
3:45pm Sorelle Mai
6:10pm 1960 (75 min.)
8:00pm We Believed (205 min.)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8
1:00pm We Believed/ Noi Credevamo(205 min.)
About the Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals. The New York Film Festival annually premieres films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States. New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, focuses on emerging film talents. For over three decades the Film Society has given an annual award— “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. Additionally, the Film Society offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine, and presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, opening June 2011. The Film Center will offer the public a complete cultural experience, consisting of two theaters, an amphitheater and a café lounge.
The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42BELOW, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, WNET New York Public Media, Royal Bank of Canada and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit: www.FilmLinc.com
