Cleveland Ohio’s Italian Film Festival does, indeed, rock.
And we love you, King James, just the same.
Human Capital
“Il capitale umano”
Thursday, Sept. 17 – 7:30 pm
Cedar Lee Theatre
Pre-film Party – Joey’s Italian Bistro
5:30-7:00 pm
Human Capital, Il Capitale Umano
The acting is flawless, the writing top notch and the photography elegant in this drama set in Milan, Italy. This mystery thriller charts how a road accident links the destinies of two very different families: the privileged Bernaschi family of wealthy capitalists and the Ossola family, struggling to keep their comfortable middle class life together. Their paths would never cross if their teen children weren’t dating. Nearly every major character is harboring a devastating secret, if exposed, could ruin them or bring shame to their families. Based on the novel “Human Capital” by the American writer Stephen Amidon, famed Italian director Paolo Verzi brings forth superb performances.
42 Wins, 29 Nominations. Italy’s entry for Best foreign film US Oscars.Won Italy’s Oscar.: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing. Golden Globes Italy: Won Best Film Best Actor, Nominated Best Screenplay. Director Paolo Virzi. Starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio. Matilde Gioli, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Guglielmo Pinelli, Fabrizio Gifuni, Gigio Alberti, Valeria Golino.
Smetto Quando Voglio
I’ll Quit Whenever I Want!
“Smetto Quando Voglio!”
Thursday Sept. 24 – 7:30 pm
Cedar Lee Theatre
Pre-film party – Joey’s Italian Bistro
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Director Sydney Sibilia had one objective: “I just wanted to make people laugh.”
This lively comedy with great direction and talented cast features a band of brilliant, academics who can barely survive on their salaries. One of the group, a university chemist decides to create a “non illegal” drug with one molecule that isn’t illegal. He enlists he fellow academics and it becomes a great monetary success. But it also attracts the attention of someone who resents their good fortune. A biting parody of the plight of the Italian middle class in the aftermath of the economic crisis.
6 wins and 22 nominations. Golden Globes Italy, won Best Comedy. Italian Oscar nominations for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best New Director, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor, Directed by Sydney Sibillia. Starring Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino, Valerio Aprea, Paolo Calabresi.
Il Venditore di Medicine
The Medicine Seller
“Il Venditore di Medicine”
Thursday Oct. 1 – 7:30 pm
Atlas Cinema Eastgate
Pre-film party – Piccolo Italian Restaurant 5:00-7:30 pm
Film director Antonio Morabito directs stand out performances in a gripping drama of shady practices that permeate big pharmaceutical companies, from the callousness of a sales team literally playing with life and death, to the blitheness with which medical professionals can be coaxed into dropping their Hippocratic oaths. Giorgia heads a sales team at a big pharma company constantly goading her sales teams to bigger profits enforcing impossible goals to please the suits. “The Medicine Seller” damns not just the pharmaceutical industry, but also the corporate mentality that places profit above human decency.
3 Wins and 1 Nomination. Director, Antonio Morabito. Starring Claudio Santamaria, Isabella Ferrari, Evita Ciri, Marco Travaglio, Roberto De Francesco, ignazio Oliva, Giorgio Gobbi, vincenzo Tanassi, Leonardo Nigro.
Reality
“Reality”
Thursday, October 8 – 7:30 pm
Capitol Theatre
Two pre-film parties:
CHA Restaurant – 5;30-7:00 pm
Local West – 5:30 -7:00 pm
It’s hard to pinpoint when Luciano, a gregarious, fishmonger from Naples looking to supplement his meager earnings, decides he wants to be a star. Driven by family members, he auditions for “Grande Fratello” a reality television show. And why not? When everyone gathers to watch the show, they glow in its reflected light. From that moment on, Luciano’s perception of reality will never be the same.
Nominated Palmed’Or, Won Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival; Italy’s Oscar for Best Actor; Golden Globes Italy nomination for Best Cinematography. Directed by Matteo Garrone, Starring Aniello Arena, Nando Paone, Nunzia Schiano, Claudia Gerini
Cleveland Italian Film Festival & the Cleveland Jewish Film Fest
present
“My Italian Secret:
The Forgotten Heroes”
Limited tickets: 115 available
Thursday, October 15 – 7:30 pm
Atlas Cinemas Eastgate Theatre
A riveting true story of Italian citizens who risked their own lives to defy the Nazis, saving 80% of Italian Jews in Italy. Among those spotlighted is Tour de France champion cyclist Gino Bartali who smuggled fake identity documents in the frame of his bicycle and Dr. Giovanni Borromeo who invented a fictitious disease causing for the Jews he was hiding to keep Nazis from entering the hospital. A captivating film of forgotten heroes whose great courage overcame their fear of being caught. Narrated by Isabella Rossellini.
Directed by Oren Jacoby, Narrated by Isabella Rossellini and Robert Loggia
I Love Italian Everything 