Well that was the easiest $250 I ever spent.
New York’s Lincoln Center just announced the lineup for this year’s Open Roads, New Italian Cinema, running June 8 – 14 and I’ve just bought my tickets. Celebrating what I celebrate every day in this blog – modern Italian films and filmmakers, Open Roads, since 2001, has brought the best of Italy to America and the opportunity to see the directors and actors in person. This year I’ll be at screenings of Diaz: Don’t Clean Up This Blood (Non Pulire Questo Sangue) with director Daniele Vicari, I’ll see Magnificent Presence (Magnifica Presenza), with Ferzan Ozpetek and Elio Germano, and…are you sitting down? I’ll see Raoul Bova at the screening of Escort in Love (Nessuno Mi Può Giudicare). There’s more, but I’ll stop bragging (for now).
Member priority ticketing period begins today. Tickets go on sale to the general public on May 17. Anybody else going? We should meet for a cocktail.
Check out the website for more info, but here’s the series in its entirety:
Annalisa
Pippo Mezzapesa, 2011
Wed Jun 13: 8:15 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Pippo Mezzapesa in person!
The languid summer days of three directionless teenagers in the Apulia region of Italy are brilliantly rendered on Pippa Mezzapesa’s powerful feature debut.
Dante Ferretti: Italian Production Designer
Gianfranco Giagni, 2010
Sat Jun 9: 5:30 pm Buy Tickets |
Dante Ferretti in person!
Recent winner of a third Oscar for his extraordinary work on Hugo, Fellini, Pasolini and Scorsese collaborator Dante Ferretti reveals his approach to creating a film’s look in this insightful tribute.
Diaz: Don’t Clean Up This Blood
Daniele Vicari, 2012
Fri Jun 8: 9:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Writer-director Daniele Vicari in person!
A searing re-creation of the controversial police raid at the Diaz School during the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa that offers a revealing look at a great modern tragedy.
Easy!
Francesco Bruni, 2011
Fri Jun 8: 1:45 pm Buy Tickets | Sat Jun 9: 7:30 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Francesco Bruni in person at June 9 screening!
The life of Bruno, a failed writer and giver of private lessons, turns upside down when he learns that one of his students is actually his son, in this delicious, award-winning comedy.
Escort in Love
Massimiliano Bruno, 2011
Sun Jun 10: 12:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Actor Raul Bove in person!
Strapped for cash, a formerly upper-class housewife discovers the wonderful world of escort services as well as an Italy she scarcely knew existed.
Horses
Michele Rho, 2011
Mon Jun 11: 8:30 pm Buy Tickets | Tue Jun 12: 1:30 pm Buy Tickets |
This deliciously old-fashioned epic follows two brothers, each left a magnificent horse by their deceased mother, as they struggle to create their own destinies.
Kryptonite!
Ivan Cotroneo, 2011
Mon Jun 11: 6:15 pm Buy Tickets | Thu Jun 14: 1:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Ivan Cotroneo in person on June 11!
With feuding parents and a cousin who thinks he’s Superman, Peppino tries to make sense of a rapidly changing ‘70s Italy in Ivan Cotroneo’s bittersweet Neapolitan comedy.
Là-bas: A Criminal Education
Guido Lombardi, 2011
Sun Jun 10: 10:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Guido Lombardi in person!
A remarkable guided tour into the world of clandestine African immigrants living in the shadow of Naples.
Magnificent Presence
Ferzan Ozpetek, 2012
Fri Jun 8: 6:15 pm Buy Tickets | Mon Jun 11: 4:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Ferzan Ozpetek and actor Elio Germano in person at June 8 screening!
An aspiring actor moves into a new apartment only to discover he’s sharing it with some spectral housemates. Director Ferzan Ozpetek’s wonderful update of Antonio Pietrangeli’s Ghosts of Rome.
My Tomorrow
Marina Spada, 2011
Sat Jun 9: 3:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Marina Spada in person!
A rich, highly-nuanced and, at times, contradictory portrait of a businesswoman whose success starts to feel increasingly hollow.
Seven Acts of Mercy
Gianluca and Massimliano De Serio, 2011
Sun Jun 10: 2:30 pm Buy Tickets | Tue Jun 12: 4:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Directors Gianluca and Massimliano De Serio in person at June 10 screening!
An intense and emotional cat-and-mouse game develops between an old, cancer-stricken man and the desperate young woman who comes to his aid.
Shun Li and the Poet
Andrea Segre, 2011
Sat Jun 9: 12:30 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Andrea Segre in person!
A Chinese immigrant and an older Slavic fisherman strike up a surprising, tender friendship in this lovely portrait of outsiders making their way in contemporary Italy.
Step Into Paradise
Carlo Verdone, 2012
Sun Jun 10: 5:00 pm Buy Tickets | Mon Jun 11: 1:30 pm Buy Tickets |
Actors Pierfrancesco Favino and Marco Giallini in person at June 10 screening!
Three divorced men decide to share a Roman apartment to help each other get over their past problems, with predictably disastrous results, in Carlo Verdone’s wonderful new comedy.
Terraferma
Emanuele Crialese, 2011
Wed Jun 13: 2:15 pm Buy Tickets | Wed Jun 13: 6:15 pm Buy Tickets |
A simple act of mercy makes outlaws of a fishing family from a small island off Sicily in director Emanuele Crialese’s lyrical, yet hard-hitting, modern fable.
The Arrival of Wang
Antonio and Marco Manetti, 2011
Sun Jun 10: 7:50 pm Buy Tickets | Wed Jun 13: 4:15 pm Buy Tickets |
Directors Antonio & Marco Manetti in person at June 10 screening!
A Chinese interpreter is asked to translate for a certain Mr. Wang, and nothing will ever be the same again, in the Manetti Brothers’ provocative sci-fi tale.
The Cardboard Village
Ermanno Olmi , 2011
Fri Jun 8: 4:00 pm Buy Tickets | Tue Jun 12: 8:50 pm Buy Tickets |
Master filmmaker Ermanno Olmi (The Tree of Wooden Clogs) returns with this powerful tale of the transformation of a church slated for demolition into a true haven for the poor and persecuted.
The Legend of Kaspar Hauser
Davide Manuli, 2012
Sat Jun 9: 10:00 pm Buy Tickets |
Director Davide Manulli and actor Claudia Gerini in person!
Western, surrealism and sci-fi collide in this extraordinary update of the tale of the mysterious “wild boy,” starring Vincent Gallo (in a duel role) and featuring a pulsing soundtrack by electronic composer Vitalic.
I Love Italian Everything 