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 political and social forces that led to Italian independence. As a complement, we are also featuring Alessandro Blasetti’s 1860, another look at the Risorgimento made at a very different moment of history. Faithful followers of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema will find a number of favorite directors from the past—among them, Sergio Castellitto, Roberta Torre, Gabriele Salvatores and Andrea Molaioli—as well as a new film, The Salt of Life, by Gianni Di Gregorio, whose Mid-August Lunch is surely one of the best-loved Italian films in recent years. Finally, we’re delighted to feature the U.S. premiere of Giulio Manfredonia’s Whatsoeverly, a delicious political satire that has become one of the most popular Italian films ever made. This new generation of Italian filmmakers continues to open up and explore new areas of Italian life and culture, telling new stories in surprisingly new ways.

 

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema has been organized by The Film Society of Lincoln Center together with Cinecittà Luce- Filmitalia. With the support of Ministero per i Beni e le Attivitá Culturali (Direzione Generale per il Cinema), Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the Italian Trade Commission, 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.