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Los Angeles Italia
Film, Fashion & Art Festival
THE 4TH LOS ANGELES ITALIA – FILM, FASHION AND ART FEST COMES TO HOLLYWOOD & HIGHLAND FEBRUARY 15 - 21
WEEK LONG PRE-OSCAR CELEBRATION SHOWCASES THE BEST OF CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN CULTURE
U.S. Premieres of Five Italian Films Include ‘Giovanna’s Father’ from Italian Master Pupi Avati and ‘Franco Cristaldi: An Italian Legend,’ a docu-film dedicated to the Oscar winning Producer of Cinema Paradiso
Festival Highlights Include Tributes to Oscars Winning Director Anthony Mingella
Los Angeles, February 4, 2009 – The world premier of Giovanna's Father from the prolific, award winning director/producer/screenwriter Pupi Avati, will officially open The 4th Annual Los Angeles Italia – Film, Fashion and Art Festival, Feb. 15, at the Mann Chinese 6 Hollywood, it was announced today by Festival Director Pascal Vicedomini. This year, the Festival is honored to present the U.S. premier of several films from directors considered the finest visionaries of today’s Italian cinema. They are,: Franco Cristaldi: An Italian Legend, a docu-film dedicated to the Oscar winning producer of Cinema Paradiso, The Last Pulcinella, starring Italian superstar Massimo Ranieri, Christian de Sica: Talk About Me, featuring the son of actor Vittorio De Sica, and La Rabbia from director Pierpaolo Pasolini.
Chaired by Italian-American screenwriter and Oscar winning director Bobby Moresco (Crash), and co-chaired by Marina Cicogna, Tony Renis, Mark Canton, Paul Haggis and Steven Zaillian who will be joined by prominent members of the International film community and celebrity friends, the Festival is (more) a week long pre-Oscar celebration showcasing Italy’s contribution to the arts in a way that is typically Italian; relaxed, stylish and, entertaining and exciting.
"Most people know Anthony Minghella from his big studio movies like The English Patient and Cold Mountain,” said Moresco. “But there will always be a place in my heart for a little movie called Truly, Madly, Deeply. The only actor of any note was Juliet Stevenson and a young Alan Rickman. But it was a movie of such immense emotional power about loss and longing and the essence of life itself and what it means to the spirit that, in watching it, I knew that it could only have been made by an artist of the first rate like Minghella. Years later, we are all the worse for having lost him at such a young age. But then again, truly, madly, deeply, we can never again be without Anthony Minghella, none of us."
Attendance at this year’s Los Angeles Italia is expected to exceed last year’s 25,000 film lovers who enjoyed the many screenings and programs that will again be offered at no charge to the public (admission to screenings and events is on a first-come, first-served basis).
“This year’s edition of LA Italia will be the best ever,” said Festival Director Pascal Vicedomini. “We will be presenting a series of motion pictures that represent the best of Italian cinema, that were produced and directed by some of Italy’s finest filmmakers and that feature many of my country’s outstanding performing artists. It is an honor to bring these films to Hollywood at a time when the eyes of the world are focused on both the Oscars and the community that is synonymous with entertainment.
In recognition of the recent passing of Oscar winning director Anthony Minghella, a special tribute to the late Maestro will include a retrospective of his best known films including The English Patient which garnered 9 Oscars, The Talented Mr.Ripley and Breaking and Entering. Highlights of this year’s Festival also include a tribute to writer/director/producer Vittoria De Sica with the screening of his Oscar winning masterpiece Bicycle Thieves. Additionally, Massimo Ranieri will present the American première of his latest film The Last Pulcinella and will perform live with a special band made up of musicians from all over the world and directed by the master Mauro Pagani. In addition to (more) Ranieri, festival attendees include Pupi Avati, Italian stars Christian De Sica, Paolo Conticini, Maria Grazia Cucinotta (Il Postino), Claudio Giovannesi and Italian directors Brando De Sica (Parlami di Me), Marco Pontecorvo, Maria Sole Tognazzi (L’uomo che ama), Pappi Corsicato, Marco De Luca, Giulio Base and Carlo Carlei.
Pupi Avati will also be honored with the IIC (Italian Institute of Culture in Los Angeles) Lifetime Achievement Award (previously bestowed to Bernardo Bertolucci, Carlo Lizzani, Citto Maselli, Mario Monicelli and Lina Wertmuller) along with a film retrospective of six of his films at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Programs also include a special tribute to acclaimed La Dolce Vita director Federico Fellini whose eponymous charitable foundation is chaired by Avati.
The 4th Los Angeles Italia Fest will also present special screenings, meetings and discussions throughout the day with noted directors, writers, actors and producers of International cinema and TV gathering in Los Angeles for Oscar Night. Included are ‘Made in Italy’ photo and costume exhibits, conferences with the students from the AFI School of Cinema and Television, food and wine tasting, and workshops at the Italian Cinema Lounge of the Hollywood & Highland Center. Programs also include award ceremonies with the friends from global arts and showbiz (the “Friends of Italy” awards).
The 4th Los Angeles Italia – Film, Fashion and Art Festival is produced by The Capri in the World Institute in association with the Institute of Italian Culture of Los Angeles under the direction of Pascal Vicedomini. It is sponsored and organized in collaboration with ENI, the Italian multinational oil and gas company, the Los Angeles-based CIM Group, one of the principal real estate investors in the city, owner of Mann’s Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre, and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Fine Arts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Department of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Campania region, the Presidency of the Lazio region. For more information, please visit www.LosAngelesItalia.com.
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