25/10/2017 - The 40th edition of the Italian Film Festival in the town of Lorena opens on Friday 27 October, with 19 films in competition and tributes to Luigi Comencini and Marco Tullio Giordana

"Italy wins" is the optimistic slogan chosen for this year’s 40^th edition of the Villerupt Italian Film Festival. The festival is set to open on Friday 27 October with Roan Johnson's Piuma [+see also:
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film profile] and will close on 12 November with the new film by the Taviani brothers, Rainbow - A Private Affair [+see also:
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interview: Paolo Taviani
film profile].

The directors Antoine Compagnone and Oreste Sarchelli announced that the great films that have marked the festival's path since its beginning will be re-screened in order celebrate the festival's 40 year anniversary, kicking off with films such as Father and Master by the Taviani Brothers, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1977, and ending with Fire at Sea [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile] which won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2016. A further 11 films are also due to be screened as part of the celebration, including: The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Bye Bye Monkey, Cinema Paradiso, Mediterraneo, The Stolen Children, Il Postino, Life is Beautiful, The Son's Room [+see also:
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interview: Matteo Garrone
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interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile] and The Wonders [+see also:
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interview: Alice Rohrwacher
interview: Tiziana Soudani
film profile]. "It seemed to be the best way to celebrate the quality of the cinema that we are defending."

There are a total of 60 films on the program at Villerupt, 19 of which are in competition, 20 in the Panorama section (including the Italian Oscar candidate, A Ciambra [+see also:
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interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile] by Jonas Carpignano), six documentaries, an homage to Marco Tullio Giordana (including his most recent film, Due soldati [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which is yet to be released) and eight masterpieces from Luigi Comencini.

Along with the directors and screenwriters François Cailla and Antoine Lassaigne and the poet Jean Portante, the jury president, Cristina Comencini, will be deciding which film is worthy of the Amilcar Grand Prix sculpture. They will also be joined by a young jury, a critics jury and an exhibitors jury who will be deliberating on a selection of unpublished titles in France. In competition are 7 Minutes [+see also:
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interview: Michele Placido
film profile] by Michele Placido, Pure Hearts [+see also:
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interview: Roberto De Paolis
film profile] by Roberto De Paolis, Easy [+see also:
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interview: Andrea Magnani
film profile] by Andrea Magnani, Fortunata [+see also:
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interview: Sergio Castellitto
film profile] by Sergio Castellitto, Hannah [+see also:
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film profile] by Andrea Pallaoro, Children of the Night [+see also:
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interview: Andrea De Sica
film profile] by Andrea De Sica, Tainted Souls [+see also:
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interview: Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Co…
film profile] by Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, There is a Light [+see also:
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interview: Fabio Mollo
film profile] by Fabio Mollo, The Furlough [+see also:
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film profile] by Claudio Amendola, The Order of Things [+see also:
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interview: Andrea Segre
film profile] by Andrea Segre, The Stuff of Dreams [+see also:
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film profile] by Gianfranco Cabiddu, The Ark of Disperata [+see also:
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film profile] by Edoardo Winspeare, Let Yourself Go! [+see also:
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film profile] by Francesco Amato, Last Christmas [+see also:
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film profile] by Christiano Pahler, Manuel [+see also:
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film profile] by Dario Albertini, Sicilian Ghost Story [+see also:
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making of
film profile] by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, Tutto quello che vuoi [+see also:
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film profile] by Francesco Bruni, Poison - The Land of Fires [+see also:
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film profile] by Diego Olivares and Xolo [+see also:
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film profile] by Giuseppe Valentino.

(Translated from Italian)