Gianfranco Rosi premiered his much-anticipated documentary at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September. “Sotto le nuvole” (“Below the Clouds”) takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. The film focuses on the inhabitants of the region over the millennia and their coexistence with the land and the volcano. The synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, …
Read More »Venice Film Festival offers runs the cinematic gamut
The 82nd Venice International Film Festival is upon us and as usual, offers a diverse lineup, embracing many genres of film with dozens of Italian works spanning across the festival’s programs and five in the main competition. Paolo Sorrentino’s “La grazia” starring Toni Servillo and Anna Ferzetti opens the festival on August 27. “I am very happy that the 82nd Venice International Film Festival will open with the new and highly anticipated film by Paolo Sorrentino,” stated the festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, on the festival’s website. Sorrentino has a long history with the festival having made his debut there …
Read More »Contemporary Italian cinema goes virtual
A number of contemporary Italian films will be available to stream in the coming months. Gianfranco Rosi’s new documentary “Notturno” will be available via the New York Film Festival’s Virtual Cinema on October 6. Having just premiered at the Venice Film Festival, the documentary film was shot over a three-year period along the borders between Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan and Lebanon. Rosi gives voice to a human drama that transcends geographical divisions and time, with encounters and images of the life that is impacted by the continuous tragedy of civil wars, brutal dictatorships, foreign invasions and interference and living in the …
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