26/12/2011

From Monday, December 26 Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi's new film, Italy: Love It or Leave It, will be available on iTunes, both to buy and in video-on-demand, distributed by Under the Milky Way. The film is already a winner at the Milan Film Festival (Best Feature Film and Audience Award), screened - and awarded - at various Italian and international film festivals, from Rio de Janeiro to Helsinki, Cape Town, Annecy, Zurigo, Tolosa.

The authors of Suddenly last Winter (Special mention at the 58th. Berlinale, Nastro d'Argento 2009) return with a "docu-trip" which "confirms the existence of a hidden Italy, one which is not portrayed on TV or in the news, but that is actually a better Italy, to which we wanted to give justice, giving her the possibility, for once, of expressing herself with her own voice".

Many are the Italians - especially young ones - that every day choose to leave their country; and many are those who, on the contrary, decide to stay in Italy. Gustav and Luca have witnessed the exodus of many friends, their contemporaries. Before taking a decision, the two give themselves six months to try to understand whether it is still possible to fall back in love with Italy. Italy: Love It or Leave It is the diary of these six months of travelling through the 'Belpaese' (the Beautiful Country as described by Dante, or what is left of it) and all its inhabitants: all, each in their own way, "heroes of our time". Faces familiar to the general public, such as the author Andrea Camilleri, but also many Italians who - moreover, away from the spotlight - prove their own civil engagement through daily action. Many are Gustav and Luca's encounters - including those missed, such as that with George Clooney - in the course of their journey in a red Fiat 500 (not always), often finding themselves at a crossroads: Italy, love it or leave it?

Along its distribution on iTunes, meanwhile, Italy: Love It or Leave It is successfully pursuing its "tour" of cinemas all over Italy (distributed by ZaLab) and at Italian and international film festivals.

(Translated from Italian)