Film

Lanzi Candy documentary to premiere at Siskel Center

The Gene Siskel Film Center will screen the world premier of “Shelf Life: The Story of Lanzi Candy,” a documentary by Michael Lahey on July 12, 13 and 17. For decades, Chicago was renowned as “Candy Capital of the World,” home to the giants Brach, Mars, Ferrara, and Wrigley, and scores of mid-sized and small family-owned companies. Those glory days are largely gone, but, against that background, filmmaker Lahey explores his grandfather Elmo Lanzi’s sweet spot in Chicago’s history. An Italian immigrant in search of the American dream, Lanzi began making candy and selling it from his storefront in 1920. …

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Mirko Frezza reflects on acting and life

Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman” opened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival where the lead actor, Marcello Fonte took home the top acting prize. Since then, it’s won numerous awards including the Italian Oscar Best Supporting Actor. The film follows Marcello (Marcello Fonte), an animal lover who runs a neighborhood dog grooming business. He adores his pre-teen daughter and takes her on scuba diving expeditions. The two dream of going to exotic places like the Red Sea, Hawaii and the Maldives. Marcello also has a frailty about him and sometimes seems to feel inferior. He doesn’t speak up on his own behalf and …

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Director Michela Occhipinti talks about her Tribeca Film “Flesh Out”

Michela Occhipinti’s “Flesh Out,” which is in the International Narrative Competition of the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, will take you into a world filled with emotion. Watching this film, you will feel disbelief, anger and sadness but if you look deeply, you’ll realize how similar the characters’ struggles are to your own. Gavage is a centuries old tradition practiced in the West African country of Mauritania in which a young woman prepares for marriage by gaining a considerable amount of weight. The weight gain is symbolic of good health and prosperity. However, in 2019, many young people are not embracing …

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“Christ Stopped at Eboli” director’s cut now playing in New York

The story and landscape of Lucania are in the spotlight during the month of April. A rare, uncut version of Francesco Rosi’s 1979 film “Christ Stopped at Eboli” is being shown at the Film Forum in New York City’s West Village. The screenplay was adapted from the book by Carlo Levi, a doctor, writer and painter from Torino who was exiled to the southern region of Lucania (today, Basilicata) because of his political beliefs. The year was 1935 and Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party was in power. Levi was forced into exile due to the silencing of those who spoke out against fascism. …

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Dustin Hoffman and Toni Servillo team up at Cinecittà

Dustin Hoffman and Toni Servillo in Two acting legends are teaming up for an upcoming Italian film. Dustin Hoffman and Toni Servillo are currently in Rome shooting Donato Carrisi’s “L’uomo del labirinto” (Into the Labyrinth), the follow up to his successful 2017 feature debut, “La ragazza nella nebbia” (The Girl in the Fog). Shooting began on March 18 and is expected to last for seven weeks. The firm centers on a young woman, played by Valentina Bellè, who wakes up in a hospital bed with a broken leg. Disoriented and unable to remember anything, she finds herself in a room …

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N.Y. journalist Tommaso Cartia tracks changes in Italian cinema

Today’s social media platforms bring us into contact with so many interesting people. Some compel you to want to know more about them beyond the photos and interesting content they post. One of those people is Tommaso Cartia. What sets him apart from others, beyond his interesting posts, is his support for his fellow journalists. Although he is always working and posting his own intriguing projects, he always takes the time to acknowledge others and their projects, showing a genuine interest in their work. In this day and age of self-promotion and selfies, this is a unique and endearing quality. Cartia’s family is from Scoglitti, a …

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Filmmaker Giulio Base interprets Fernando Pessoa

  Among the diverse selections of the 75th Venice Film Festival is an adaptation of a short fiction by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Il Banchiere Anarchico (The Anarchist Banker) is the story of a banker who engages in a revealing conversation about why he considers himself an anarchist even though he doesn’t possess the obvious traits. Published in 1922 and set in a Lisbon café, the conversation takes place between a wealthy banker and his friend as the two have a friendly but passionate exchange about the qualities of a true anarchist. The wealthy banker stands by his claim that …

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A conversation with actress Lucia Mascino

  Actress Lucia Mascino presented Francesca Comencini’s “Stories of Love that Cannot Belong to This World” at the 18th edition of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Open Roads: New Italian Cinema. Adapted from Comencini’s book, the film offers an intimate look at how one woman deals with the end of a relationship. Although many would not have the same seemingly desperate reaction, it’s the delusional or even hopeful motivation for which she stayed that we can all understand on some level. The film follows Claudia (Lucia Mascino) and Flavio (Thomas Trabacchi), two very different people but deeply in love nonetheless. Their …

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Tribeca Festival shines spotlight on three Italian filmmakers

Three contemporary Italian filmmakers will present their films at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, which is underway, including Laura Bispuri, Susanna Nicchiarelli and Marco Proserpio.     “Daughter of Mine” Laura Bispuri’s “Daughter of Mine” (Figlia mia) delves into the complex world of adoption as a mother develops a curiosity and affection for the child she gave up a decade ago. Angelica (Alba Rorhwacher) was young and poor when she gave birth to Vittoria. Tina (Valeria Golino), married and financially secure, was willing and able to take the burden off Angelica’s hands. Ten years later, Vittoria emerges sheltered and protected …

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“I Siciliani” to make its North American premiere

On April 9, 2018, the American premiere of Francesco Lama’s documentary film “I Siciliani” will take place in New York at the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò of New York University. Additionally, Lama will present his book “The Sicilians,” which includes the DVD, the screenplay of the movie and photos. The next day, Lama will hold a masterclass at Montclair University in New Jersey and on April 11th, there will be a meeting with the Federation of Sicilians in New Jersey. “I Siciliani” is one man’s story about exploring the people, stories and traditions of Sicily. He talks with people of …

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