03/03/2016 - Davide Mazzoli's On air: storia di un successo is one of the Italian premieres that will feature at the 14th edition of the Lombard event, which will be held from 12 to 19 March

“Italian film is slowly but surely changing”, said Steve Della Casa, who is directing the Busto Arsizio Film Festival for the third time, in its fourteenth edition (which will be held from 12 to 19 March). The Festival’s official selection proves it: “we have debut films by new writers and writers that are already famous outside the world of film, we have films that are being distributed on a small-scale but in key countries and others that are being supported by big groups, and we have both fictional and documentary films. So basically, a broad variety of films that respects what we could call the biodiversity of Italian film”.

Made in Italy, the heart of the Festival, will feature the premiere of On air: storia di un successo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Davide Mazzoli, which will be released in cinemas on 31 March by Medusa, a highly-anticipated film about “Lo zoo di 195”, the radio show that is as legendary as it is talked about. Another film that will have its premiere at the Festival is Madeleine by Mario Garofalo and Lorenzo Ceva Valla, produced by Hungarian actress Andrea Osvart; the film is the result of an encounter between the directors and the producer at the BAFF itself. Also making its premiere will be D.A.D. by director Marco Maccaferri, who attended the Festival last year with a preview of the film. Other films featured in the programme include La nostra quarantena [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Peter Marcias, Italian Gangsters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Renato De Maria, Teatro alla Scala - Il tempio delle meraviglie by Luca Lucini and Silvia Corbetta, and Era d’estate [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Fiorella Infascelli.

The Festival, which is organised by the organisation B.A. Film Factory and the Municipality of Busto Arsizio, with the cooperation of the Istituto Cinematografico Michelangelo Antonioni, will be attended on its opening evening by a special guest, actress and director Laura Morante (Assolo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who will be presented with the Platinum Dino Ceccuzzi Award. After the tribute to Mario Monicelli at last year’s edition, the BAFF continues its journey into the history of Italian-style comedy this year: one hundred years on from his birth, this year’s edition will pay tribute to Dino Risi, with the presence of Claudio Risi, one of the great director’s sons, and director Massimiliano Bruno.

During the presentation of the Festival to the press, critic and professor of film at the IULM University of Milan Gianni Canova announced project Mostri 2.0, inspired by the film of the same name by Dino Risi: a portrayal of the “monstrosity” of the average Italian in the age of social networks through small stories from all over Italy, in the wry style of the master of Italian-style comedy.

Finally, Made in Italy – Scuole, a very popular section of the Festival, will offer young people a collection of films of particular significance from the landscape of contemporary Italian film. The Festival will also be enhanced by a series of masterclasses, which will this year be held by Andrea Purgatori and Luca Lucini.

(Translated from Italian)