10/04/2007

Spring has an Italian feel in cinemas in Paris and Toulouse this week, with two festivals on Italian cinema taking place.

On Thursday, Paris will welcome the first edition of the Nouvel Air North Italian Film Festival at the Espace Cardin on the Champs-Élysées. Running until April 17, the festival includes a New Masters section that features premieres of films attended by their directors: Roberto Andò’s Secret Journey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article), Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Unknown [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news), Paolo Sorrentino’s The Family Friend (a Cannes 2006 competition entry released May 2 in France by Pyramide, see article and interview), Davide Ferrario’s Primo Levi’s Journey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article) and Francesca Comencini’s A casa nostra [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news), which opens in France through MK2 on April 18.

A competition called Cinéastes d'aujourd'hui (et de demain) – Filmmakers of Today (and Tomorrow) – invites French film lovers to discover features by first and second-time directors, such as Alessandro Angelini’s Salty Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Angelini
film profile] (Best Actor at the RomeFilmFest), Fausto Brizzi’s box office hit Night Before Exams [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Marina Spada’s multi award-winning As the Shadow, Laura Muscardin’s Billo Il Grande Dakhaar, Francesco Amato’s Ma Che Ci Faccio Qui ! (lit. “What Am I Doing Here”) and Cristiano Bortone’s Red Like the Sky [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. There will be a tribute to the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, which will attended by special guests Jeanne Moreau and Alain Delon.

On Friday the third edition of the Rencontres du cinéma italien begins in Toulouse, which runs until April 22 at the ABC cinema and is also being held in five other towns in the Midi-Pyrénées region (Blagnac, Grenade, L'Isle Jourdain, Lectoure and Decazeville).

The event, which this year will pay tribute to Giuseppe Tornatore, also includes a competition of 10 features. Aside from the aforementioned films by Sorrentino and Andò, other titles include Enrico Pau’s Jimmy della collina, Eugenio Cappuccio’s Uno su due [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (lit. “One in Two”), Giorgio Diritti’s The Wind Blows Round, Antonio and Marco Manetti’s Piano 17, Cristian Bisceglia’s Agente matrimoniale [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Giacomo Campiotti’s Mai più come prima and Angelo Orlando’s Grazing.

There will be a panorama of 15 titles, including Vincenzo Marra’s documentary The Session is Open, Comencini’s A casa nostra, Roberto Faenza’s I giorni dell'abbandono, Amato’s Mai che ci faccio qui and, last but not least, the most recent films by Emanuele Crialese and Gianni Amelio.

(Translated from French)