Piazza delle cinque lune

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On the eve of his retirement, Judge Saracini is approached by an unknown man who claims to be one of the Red Brigade terrorists of the Via Fani massacre (the street in Rome where Christian Democrat statesman Aldo Moro was kidnapped in 1978). The stranger gives him a Super8 reel…

 

Director: Renzo Martinelli
Screenplay: Renzo Martinelli – Fabio Campus
Cinematography: Blasco Giurato
Music: Paolo Buonvino
Cast: D. Sutherland, G. Giannini, S.Rocca, A.Cerami, G. Wise
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 123’
Production: Martinelli Film Company Int.(I)
Distribution: Luce

BIOGRAPHY
Renzo Martinelli is a foreign language graduate who specialized in cinematography at the Scuola Superiore di Comunicazioni Sociali of Università Cattolica in Milan.

In the 70’s he set up a production company and began working as a film director for Italian State Television, covering current affairs. In the same period he was also shooting music videos for popular artists such as Alice, Battiato, Van Halen, Lucio Dalla, Umberto Tozzi, Pino Daniele, Alan Parson, Rockets. At the end of the 80’s he worked extensively in advertising, becoming one of the best-known directors in Italy. He created commercials for Carrera Jeans, Ballantine’s, Sony, Opel Vectra, Dreher beer, Montenegro liquor, Aspirina and ENI, and also for “Pubblicità Progresso” (Government body producing commercials on social and health issues).

Both as a director and producer, he has made more than 100 documentaries, many of them in an artistic style, such as Giulio Romano (on the construction of Palazzo Tè in Mantua), La Reggia dei Gonzaga, Il Duomo di Milano, to mention just a few.

His debut in cinema was in 1993 with Sarahsarà, the true story of a black girl who, despite being physically handicapped is an extraordinary swimmer. Her dream is to take part in the Capri-Napoli competition, the most exhausting long-distance swimming race in the world. In 1997 he shot Porzus, the story of the 1945 massacre among fellow-partisans in Italy. The film was hailed as one of the most interesting movies of the year at Venice Film Festival. In 2001 Martinelli directed and produced Vajont, recalling the tragic collapse of a dam that killed 2000 people on 9th October 1963.

Vajont was awarded the “Grolla d’Oro” by the audience at Saint Vincent. He has also been awarded the “David di Donatello” by Italian schools and the “Globo d’Oro” by the foreign press for best direction, as well as the Nastro d’Argento and the “Ciak d’Oro” went to Leo Gullotta as best supporting actor.

Vajont also grossed about 465 million euro, the third top box office hit in Italy for 2001.

SYNOPSIS
On the eve of his retirement, judge Saracini is approached by a stranger who tells him he was a member of the Red Brigade terrorists of via Fani massacre (the street in Rome where Christian Democrat statesman Aldo Moro was kidnapped in 1978). The stranger gives him a Super8 film that contains the images (partly already well-known) of Moro’s kidnapping and of the massacre of his escort, shot from above. That very night the stranger contacts the judge again. He knows where the original copy of Moro’s memoirs are kept and makes the judge a proposal: he will give him Moro’s memoirs in exchange for the judge’s full commitment to getting to the bottom of the case…

 

Il quaderno della spesa (fuori concorso)

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Lucca, Tuscany: at the beginning of the XX century, writer Augusto Pavinato, after the great success of his first novel is going through a phase of creative frustration. One day he is invited to a lunch that will change his life. He will meet Antonia, the well-read cook of Countess Celia Sanguineti.

 

Director: Tonino Cervi
Screenplay: Rodolfo Sonego
Cinematographer: Daniele Nannuzzi
Music: Vince Tempera
Cast: G. Lavia, E. Muni, C. Bigagli, D. Sebasti, D. Giordano
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 120’


BIOGRAPHY
Writer, producer and director, son of celebrated actor Gino Cervi and father of young actress Valentina, Tonino Cervi began his own career in cinema producing films such as Agguato a Tangeri (1957) by Riccardo Freda, La notte brava (1959) by Mauro Bolognini, La lunga notte del ’43 (1960) by Florestano Vancini and La commare secca (1962) by Bernardo Bertolucci. From the end of the 60s onwards he has written and directed westerns (Oggi a me…domani a te! 1968, with a young Bud Spencer), dramas such as Ritratto di borghesia in nero, 1978 and transpositions of theatre works by Molière: Il malato immaginario (1979) and L’avaro (1990). He has just finished shooting his last film: Il quaderno della spesa.

SYNOPSIS
Lucca, Tuscany: at the beginning of the XX century, writer Augusto Pavinato, after the great success of his first novel is going through a phase of creative frustration. One day he is invited to a lunch that will change his life. He will meet Antonia, the well-read cook of Countess Celia.

 

Emma sono io

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During her summer holidays, Emma accidentally interrupts the therapy that keeps under control her unstable temper. Without her medicines she becomes overtly euphoric and brutally honest, bringing a bout of energy to everyone around her but…

 

Regia: Francesco Falaschi
Sceneggiatura: Francesco Falaschi E Stefano Ruzzante
Fotografia: Patrizio Patrizi
Musica: Andrea Guerra
Cast: C. Dazzi, E. Alvigini, P. Favino, M. Giallini, N. Siri, L. Diberti, C. Coli
Formato: 35 Mm.
Durata: 90’
Produzione: Bernardette Carranza – Paolo Lucidano Per Film Trust Italia S.R.L.
Distribuzione: Istituto Luce

Francesco Falaschi was born in Grosseto in 1961. He graduated in History of Cinema. He has collaborated with the magazine Segnocinema and is co-director of the festival Storie di Cinema in Grosseto. In 1997 he has written for publishers Il Castoro an essay on Jonathan Demme, and edited for publishers Giunti the book Scrittori e cinema tra gli anni ‘50 e ‘60. He has written several short essays on Altman (Filmcritica), Lizzani (Editori Riuniti publishers), Wenders (Loggia dei Lanzi publishers). In 1998 he created and realized for 21 students the video-lab Catchers in the Rye, (for Mediateca Toscana, Province of Grosseto). As a director, screenplayer and/or executive producer he has made, since 1990, many videos, documentaries, commercials, docu-fiction, short fiction films. In 1999 he won the “David di Donatello” for best short film (Quasi fratelli).

During her summer holidays, Emma accidentally interrupts the therapy that keeps under control her unstable temper. Without her medicines she becomes overtly euphoric and brutally honest, bringing a bout of energy to everyone around her but also causing lot of confusion in their lives, especially in Marta’s, who has asked Emma to help her organize her wedding.

 

Il posto dell’anima

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A branch of a US multinational tyre manufacturer is shutting down and announces officially that all employees will be made redundant. Most of them come from the same small mountain village…

 

Director: Riccardo Milani
Screenplay: Domenico Starnone, Riccardo Milani
Cinematographer: Arnaldo Catinari
Music: Leandro Piccioni
Cast: S. Orlando, M. Placido, P. Cortellesi, C. Santamaria, I. Piro, F. Pistilli
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 106’
Producer: Albachiara E Raicinema
Distribution: 01 Distribution

 

BIOGRAPHY
Riccardo Milani entered the world of cinema as an assistant to Mario Monicelli in 1985, also working with F. Vancini, A. Monda, D. Luchetti, and N. Moretti up until 1994. He made his directing debut with Auguri professore, the sequel to La scuola, a bittersweet critique of Italian schooling at the turn of the century, directed by D. Luchetti in 1994. In 1999 he directed his second film, La guerra degli Anto’, then in 2001 he made his TV debut with the movie Il sequestro Soffiantini. He has also directed several commercials and short films. 

SYPNOSIS
A branch of a US multinational tyre manufacturer is shutting down and announces officially that all employees will be made redundant. Most of them come from the same small mountain village. The refuse to back down and react with an internet site and by occupying the factory. The case passes from local TV to regional news and is eventually acknowledged nationwide. Tied up in the story are the personal lives of the workers and their families: Antonio dreams of returning to his homeland with his partner, who now works in Milan; Salvatore, a trade unionist, has a troubled relationship with his unemployed 18-year-old son; Mario seeks an alternative to a life of factory labour, joining some wives who make fresh pasta.

 

Ilaria Alpi – Il più crudele dei giorni

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On the 20th March 1994 Italian State TV journalist Ilaria Alpi and camera operator Miran Hrovatin were killed in an ambush in Mogadiscio. The film tells the dramatic story of the two journalists through a sequence of coups de theatre, revealing uncomfortable details of the event.
Director: Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani
Screenplay: Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani – Marcello Fois
Cinematographer: Giovanni Cavallini
Music: Paolo Fresu
Cast: G. Mezzogiorno, A. Infanti, R. Sherbedgia, E. Blanc, A. Renzi, G. Ferro, T. Lo Bianco, A. Plummer
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 110’
Production: Emme Produzioni, Gran Film, Lares Video, Rai Cinema
Distribution: LanciaBIOGRAPHY
Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani was born in 1963. After a brief period in the United States, where he studied classical guitar and composed the music for some short films, he returned to Italy and took courses including drama workshops led by Gigi Proietti and subsequently screen-play workshops with Ugo Pirro and others. He frequented the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Experimental Center of Cinematography), his thesis upon graduation being  Apocrifi sul caso Crowley, based on a text by Leonardo Sciascia. In 1999 he directed his first long film, Attesa sul Mare, inspired by the novel Attesa sul Mare by Biamon.SINOPSIS
On the 20th March 1994 Italian State TV journalist Ilaria Alpi and camera operator Miran Hrovatin were killed in an ambush in Mogadiscio. The film tells the dramatic story of the two journalists through a sequence of coups de theatre, revealing uncomfortable details of the event.

 

La felicità non costa niente

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Sergio (Mimmo Calopresti) is a successful architect, with a loving wife (Fabrizia Sacchi), a young lover (Valeria Solarino), good friends (Vincent Perez and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), a leading construction company …

 

Director : Mimmo Calopresti
Screenplay : Francesco Bruni – Mimmo Calopresti
Cinematographer: Arnaldo Catinari
Music : Franco Piersanti
Cast: M. Calopresti, V. Perez, F. Neri, F. Sacchi, V. Bruni Tedeschi, P. Servillo, L. Betti, L. De Santis, V. Solarino, E. Minciotti, F. Siciliano
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 93’
Producer: Donatella Botti
Distribution: Lucky Red

 

BIOGRAPHY 
Mimmo Calopresti was born in 1955. In 1985 he won the first prize at Festival Cinema Giovani in Turin with the video A proposito di sbavature. For Italian State TV he has made “Paolo ha un lavoro” (1991), “Paco e Francesca” (1992) and Remzjia (for television feature “Storie vere”). He created  for the audio-visual archives of the Workers’ Movement, the videos “1943 – La scelta” (1994) and “’43 – ’45 Pane e libertà.”. Many of his works have been shown at international film festivals.
In 1995 he wrote and directed the film La seconda volta (officially selected for Cannes Film Festival in 1995) which went on to win the Solinas Prize for best screenplay. In 1997 he wrote and directed La parola amore esiste (Cannes Film Festival, 1997 – “Quinzaine des Réalisateurs”). In 1998 he directed the documentary Tutto era Fiat. In 2001 he directed and co-wrote the film Preferisco il rumore del mare,  in which he also starred. In 2002 he directed, co-wrote and also acted in the film La felicità non costa niente. He has won several prizes at the Chicago International Film Festival, and the “Ciak d’oro” for best debut film.

SYPNOSIS
Sergio (Mimmo Calopresti) is a successful architect, with a loving wife (Fabrizia Sacchi), a young lover (Valeria Solarino), good friends (Vincent Perez and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) and a leading building firm. He’s a well-to-do man with an enviable life. However one day, a car accident forces him to re-evaluate his life. Sergio abandons everything and everyone around him and begins to lead a more reclusive existence. His search for meaning leaves him stranded on the periphery of an unreality, that is, stuck between his half-empty apartment and the streets of Rome by night. It’s during his wandering that he encounters Sara (Francesca Neri); in his mistaking infatuation for love, Sergio’s idealism only leaves him further isolated. His only companion on the road, and the only tangible link to his past, is Gianni (Peppe Servillo), one of his employees. It is he and his simple nature that can steer Sergio towards his true goal: happiness.

 

 

Passato prossimo

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Passato Prossimo is the story of five friends who gather together, in two different moments of their lives, in a villa in the countryside. Both a summer and winter weekend intertwine through a series of flashbacks, telling us their past (the summer weekend) and their present (in winter)…

 

Director: Maria Sole Tognazzi
Screenplay: Daniele Prato – Maria Sole Tognazzi
Cinematographer: Giulio Pietromarchi
Music: Andrea Guerra
Cast: P. Cortellesi, V. Cervi, C. Santamaria, I. Oliva, C. Gioe’
Format: 35 Mm.
Duration: 90′
Production: Medusa Film – Seal Production
Distribution: Medusa Film


BIOGRAPHY
Maria Sole Tognazzi began her work in cinema first working as an apprentice and later as assistant director. She’s simultaneously directed her first music videos and “backstage” videos such as the recent L’eccezione by Italian singer Carmen Consoli. She has been assistant and apprentice director for many films. With C’ero anch’io she won the “Globo d’oro “ for best short film. She wrote the script and later on the screenplay for Passato prossimo, directed in 2002 and released in March 2003.

SYNOPSIS
Passato Prossimo is the story of five friends who gather together, in two different moments of their lives, in a countryside villa. One summer and one winter weekend intertwine through a series of flashbacks, telling us the past (summer) and present (winter) of these five friends: Claudia, Andrea, Edoardo, Carola and Gianmaria. In the villa, living together in such a meaningful place, the five friends compare their lives and experiences. They begin to blur their dreams and expectations with memories made in this villa. A series of events will somehow change the life of each of these five friends, who have known each other for so many years. When Claudia summons them all urgently, the heavy moment arrives to face their everyday problems.

Passato Prossimo is a metaphor for the end of something, a transition. The five friends will have to come to terms with feelings that are inevitably connected to their friendship: jealousy, selfishness, past loves and unconfessed ones. Thanks to these crossings in time, we come to learn of what’s happened, what has changed and what will continue to change. Passato Prossimo is a reflection on the fear of change and abandonment and on the difficulty of letting go of our memories, which are life’s undisputable certainties.