Italy at the major film festivals in 2011:
At Cannes, Paolo Sorrentino got two nominations and a win for his This Must Be The Place, competing for the Palme d’or and losing out to The Tree of Life, but winning the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. This Must Be The Place is an English language film and stars Sean Penn as an aging rock star that travels to the US to do a little Nazi hunting on his father’s behalf. It’s doing very well so far in Italy, and it will open in the US in December.
Also at Cannes, Nanni Moretti brought his Habemus Papam, We Have a Pope, the story of a Pope’s meltdown and the therapist that tries to help him. It too was nominated for the Palme d’or.
At Sundance in the World Cinema Dramatic Competiton, 13 films were selected from 1,073 international narrative feature submissions and Lost Kisses , I Baci Mai Dati was one of them. Starring Donatella Finocchiaro, and directed by Roberta Torre, it’s the story of a 13-year-old girl who becomes a local celebrity when word spreads that she just might be able to perform miracles.
The Venice Film Festival gave Emanuele Crialese’s Terraferma the Special Jury Prize but the Toronto Film Festival liked it too. It was presented out of competition but it was received very well by the audiences and critics.
Also at Toronto, and also not in competition, Moretti’s Habemus Papam, We Have a Pope. Watch for this one – Sundance has acquired the US rights.
I Love Italian Everything 