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CANNES 2007 Italy

What disappointment…

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Not a single title in competition, something that has not occurred since 2000. The disappointment is palpable, and was even related by Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival, who at the end of today’s press conference presentation of the event’s 60th edition tried to the console his Italian cousins.

"Italy is not the only country to have been left out of official competition", said Fremaux, adding: "While it’s true that the Italian presence was stronger last year, Luchetti and Olmi will be included this year and their participation at the festival is absolutely important”.

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The farewell to feature fiction films by maestro Ermanno Olmi, One Hundred Nails [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, will screen out of competition (see article) whereas Daniele Luchetti’s Mio fratello è figlio unico [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniele Luchetti
interview: Riccardo Tozzi
film profile
]
(lit. “My Brother is an Only Child”, out in Italy tomorrow – see news) was selected to be in the Un Certain Regard, which will also feature Italy’s Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and her second feature film, Le Rêve de la nuit d'avant (Actrice) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Another master of Italian cinema, Marco Bellocchio, will decide upon the fate of the contenders as a member of the international jury, along with Michel Piccoli, who at the 1980 festival won the Best Actor award for his performance in Bellocchio’s A Leap in the Dark.

While young actor Riccardo Scamarcio will hold high his country’s name in Luchetti’s film, the internationally renowned and versatile Italian actress-director Asia Argento will appear in official competition in Une Vieille Maîtresse [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by French filmmaker Catherine Breillat, and in the latest film written and directed by Abel Ferrara, Go Go Tales, presented out of competition (Midnight section).

An Italian production, Go Go Tales was shot entirely in Rome in the Cinecittà Studios. The film by the Bronx native was produced by Massimo Gatti’s Bellatrix Media and De Nigris Productions, in co-production with US company Go Go Tales Inc. Wild Bunch will handle international sales of the title, whose cast features Scamarcio and Stefania Rocca.

And while there is still hope that the debut feature by Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Lascia perdere Johnny, may be chosen in one of the festival’s collateral sections, today’s announcement of the official selection quelled rumours about the competition inclusion of Riccardo Milani’s Il disco del mondo (Piano solo) [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, starring Kim Rossi Stuart. Producers RAI Cinema have stated that the film is not yet completed.

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(Translated from Italian)

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