Raindance Film Festival announces the return of its dedicated Italian film strand

Raindance Film Festival’s Italian film strand is set to return after a hugely successful inaugural year, with a collection of five thought provoking films, produced by groundbreaking talent from the Italian film industry.

The festival, which takes place in London at Vue Piccadilly from 24th September – 5th October, is Europe’s largest independent film festival. Now in its 22nd year, Raindance has a strong legacy of showing alternative films and uncovering the hottest new filmmakers from the UK and around the world and this year’s programme is no exception.

Highlights of the strand include screenings of the award winning Misunderstood (Incompresa), starring Charlotte Gainsbourgh, Paolo Virzi’s adaption of Stephen Amidon’s Human Capital (Il Capitale Umano) and South is Nothing (Il Sud e’ Niente) which received a coveted ‘Official Selection’ at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year. There will also be a series of directorial Q&As; following the screenings.

Raffaella Pontarelli, director of Raindance’s Italian Strand comments: “We had an overwhelming response to our first ever Italian strand last year so we’re delighted to return once again, bringing the exciting filmmaking talent of Italy to Raindance audiences in London. Our programme this year features a range of films that have been recognised and selected for their outstanding vision and creativity, and we’re extremely proud to be able to host their UK premieres at the festival.”

Raindance Festival Passes* (starting from £100) and tickets the Opening and Closing Gala screenings (£25) are also available now and can be purchased via www.raindancefestival.org All other tickets for the festival including the Italian Strand screenings go on general release at 12pm on Tuesday 2nd September 2014 at www.myvue.com/raindance.

For more information, images or talent enquiries please contact
Ellie Tuck / Siobhan Cooley/ Hollie Young
[email protected]
0203 077 2000

About Raindance Film Festival
Raindance Film Festival, which takes place in London at Vue Piccadilly from 24th September – 5th October, is Europe’s largest independent film festival.

Now in its 22nd year, the festival has a strong legacy of showing alternative films and uncovering the hottest new filmmakers to hit the cinematic scene. Raindance-premiered hits include Memento, Old Boy, the Blair Witch Project, Pusher, Ghost World and Love Exposure. Listed by Variety as one of the world’s top 50 ‘unmissable film festivals’, Raindance aims to nurture, support and promote independent films and filmmakers from the UK and around the world.

In 2013 Raindance launched its VOD platform, Raindance Releasing, which provides online distribution for the independent and alternative films that Raindance screens. Providing great content at a fair price for filmmakers and audiences, Raindance Releasing is a place to experience the Raindance Film Festival year round.

A dedicated web series festival, Web Fest, will also return to Raindance for its second year. It takes place on 27th and 28th September 2014, during Raindance Film Festival, and will feature a packed schedule of screenings and panel discussions with industry experts, covering topics from digital storytelling, to creating the social TV experience.

Based in the heart of London, Raindance combines Raindance Film Festival, Training Courses, the prestigious British Independent Film Awards, the Raindance Web Fest, the British Independent Series Awards and Raindance Releasing.

Raindance Film Festival Italian Strand 2014 programme:
Human Capital (Il Capitale Umano)
by Paolo Virzí based on a novel by Stephen Amidon
Starring: Valeria Golino (she acted in various film in USA), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Fabrizio Gifuni
Accolades: Best Actress Tribeca Film Festival to Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Thursday 25th September 6:30

Misunderstood (Incompresa)
By Asia Argento
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gabriel Garko, Giulia Salerno
Accolades: Cannes 2014 in the Un Certain Regard section.
Monday 29th September 3:30; Saturday 4th October 4:00

Quiet Bliss (In grazia di Dio)
By Edoardo Winspeare
Starring: Celeste Casciaro, Laura Licchetta, Barbara De Matteis, Anna Boccadamo, Gustavo Caputo
Accolades: Berlin Film Festival, in Panorama section.
Saturday 27th September 5:50

South Is Nothing (Il Sud e’ Niente)
By Fabio Mollo
Starring: L Vinicio Marchioni, Miriam Karlkvist, Valentina Lodovini
Accolades: Shooting Star 2014 EFP (Miriam Karlkvist), Official Selection Toronto international Film Festival
Thursday 25th September 1:10; Saturday 4th October 1:20

Like The Wind (Come il vento)
By Marco Simon Puccioni
Starring: Valeria Golino, Filippo Timi
Accolades: Roma Film Festival
Friday 26th September 6:40

The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art proudly presents:

Gerardo Dottori (1884-1977) was one of the pivotal figures of Italian Futurism during the inter-war years. His expansive and intensely lyrical visions of the Umbrian landscape, viewed from above, were among the earliest and most striking examples of ‘aeropainting’, distinguished by their meditative character and concentration on rural imagery.

This major exhibition provides an overview of the work of this fascinating artist, encompassing not only the renowned flight-related paintings, but also his initial Divisionist works and later experimentation with abstract imagery.

Web: www.estorickcollection.com

Liolà By Luigi Pirandello in a new version by Tanya Ronder

Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent, Sunday Express, Sunday Times


‘A burst of Sicilian sunshine’ Daily Telegraph


‘Touching and entertaining. Glows with the warmth of summer’ Daily Telegraph


‘Joyous’ Sunday Express

Sicily, summer 1916. Gossiping and singing, the women gather to harvest old Simone’s almond crop. He’s the richest landowner in the district but he has no heir. Local lad Liolà, untroubled by convention, has fathered three little boys, each with a different mother, and that only intensifies Simone’s anguish. When another of the girls falls pregnant, Simone is persuaded he might recognize the baby as his own. But he’s forgotten the charms of his slighted young wife Mita, who is not so easily crushed.

All I should say, girls, is don’t be too sweet, lest you be eaten!

This high-spirited drama by Pirandello takes us to the heart of a rural community where property and family provoke fierce passions. Richard Eyre directs Tanya Ronder’s new version, performed by an Irish cast and gypsy musicians. It’s unexpected, funny and touching.

Tickets £12 – £34

Find out more and book tickets: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

57th BFI London Film Festival | British Film Institute

Find out more and book tickets: www.bfi.org.uk/lff

BERTOLUCCI ON BERTOLUCCI

Dir Luca Guadagnino, Walter Fasano. Prod Sila Berruti, Simone Isola. Scr Walter Fasano. Italy 2013. 120min. Prod Co Frenesy Film Company

From the critically acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) comes this unique portrait of maestro filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. Sifting through hundreds of hours of archive material and drawing almost exclusively on filmed interviews with Bertolucci in Italy, France, the USA and the UK, we are given a fascinating, frank and revealing insight into the great man, from winning poetry awards in 1962 right up to the present day, discussing his most recent film (Me and You, released earlier this year). At film festivals and conferences, in TV studios and on various film sets, Bertolucci discusses his influences, his feelings about the state of Italian and world cinema, his likes and dislikes of great films and great filmmakers and talks about the philosophies and ideas that underpin his creative impulses as well as his life and the developing and enduring art of his extraordinary canon of movies. Adrian Wootton

10 October 2013 – 12:15 NFT1 (BFI Southbank) – BERTOLUCCI ON BERTOLUCCI
13 October 2013 – 15:15 Curzon Mayfair – BERTOLUCCI ON BERTOLUCCI

MY CLASS

Dir Daniele Gaglianone. Prod Gianluca Arcopinto. Scr Claudia Russo, Gino Clemente, Daniele Gaglianone. With Valerio Mastandrea. Italy 2013. 92min. Prod Co Kimera Film

The ostensibly simple story of a sympathetic veteran teacher giving Italian lessons to a weekly class of diverse immigrants is given infinitely more depth and complexity by the manner in which director Daniele Gaglianone renders his story. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, truth and artifice, and between documentary and drama, Gaglianone has created a film within a film. You see the apparent artifice of Gaglianone’s crew using professionals, including the noted film actor Valerio Mastandrea as the teacher, interlinked with ‘real’ immigrant protagonists, studying the language to improve their chances of employment and of gaining a permanent residence permit. Thus in the course of the lessons there is simultaneously the painful and upsetting relation of the students’ personal stories but also humour, as they interact and share their humanity, bridging cultural differences, united in their striving to make a better life for themselves. Adrian Wootton

11 October 2013 – 20:30 NFT2 (BFI Southbank) – MY CLASS
13 October 2013 – 12:30 RENOIR – MY CLASS

HONEY

Dir Valeria Golino. Prod Viola Prestieri, Riccardo Scamarcio. Scr Valeria Golino, Francesca Marciano, Valia Santella. With Jasmine Trinca, Carlo Cecchi, Libero de Rienzo, Vinicio Marchioni, Iaia Forte. Italy-France 2013. 100min. Sales Cité Films

Renowned Italian actress Valeria Golino makes her debut as a feature film director with this impressive topical drama. Irene, aka Honey, is an independent young woman with a seemingly uncomplicated life with a large social network. But, in fact, it’s all a sham: a front for a complex secret existence ‘helping’ terminally ill people of all ages and stratas of society to end their lives. When she is called to an assignment where all her convictions are challenged, everything changes. Thought provoking, emotionally arresting and cleverly told, Honey is a carefully balanced, distinctive movie that avoids being agitprop for either side of the euthanasia debate. Its nuance is embellished by the sensitivity with which it depicts the situations in which Honey finds herself in, and is anchored by strong performances from Jasmine Trinca as Honey and Carlo Cecchi as the challenging Grimaldi. Adrian Wootton

12 October 2013 – 18:30 RichMix – HONEY
13 October 2013 – 21:00 Cine Lumiere – HONEY

A STREET IN PALERMO

Dir Emma Dante. Prod Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Paonessa, Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Mieli, Elda Giudinetti, Andres Pfaeffli, Marianne Slot. Scr Emma Dante, Giorgio Vasta. With Emma Dante, Alba Rohrwacher, Elena Cotta, Renato Malfatti, Dario Casarolo. Italy-Switzerland-France 2013. 90min. Sales Films Distribution

Rosa and Clara are on their way by car to a wedding in Palermo but, following an argument, they take a side street and meet, head-on, another vehicle, bursting at the seams with a local family, which is being driven by an elderly lady, Samira. Each refuses to reverse and let the other car pass, tempers get heated and what starts as a trivial traffic incident develops into a monstrous Mexican stand-off. Like goats on a mountain pass, neither car’s occupants will budge and soon the entire working-class neighbourhood gets involved, with plots, counter-plots and even a betting ring. The noted Italian theatre director and actress, Emma Dante (who plays Rosa, one of the stubborn drivers of the cars) has developed a theatre piece into this inspired, absurdist black comedy. An assured, gritty, funny and sympathetic debut feature. Adrian Wootton

13 October 2013 – 18:30 RITZY – A STREET IN PALERMO
15 October 2013 – 15:45 NFT3 (BFI Southbank) – A STREET IN PALERMO

SALVO

Dir-Scr Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza. Prod Massimo Cristaldi. With Saleh Bakri, Sara Serraiocco, Luigi Lo Cascio, Mario Pupella. Italy 2013. 105min. UK Distribution Peccadillo Pictures

An intelligent, distinctive spin on the gangster thriller, Salvo is already an award-winning film, that received the Semaine de la Critique top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film begins, explosively, albeit traditionally, when a Mafia hitman (the eponymous ‘hero’ Salvo himself) is ambushed and decides to seek murderous revenge on the Sicilian boss who has ordered his assassination. In the process of executing his enemy, Salvo is confronted by Rita, a young, apparently blind, girl whom he cannot face killing so instead takes hostage. From then on, Salvo’s story becomes increasingly more complex and emotionally rich. Resonating with other cinematic influences (Hitchcock generally, Terence Young’s Wait until Dark and William Wyler’s The Collector particularly) but remaining contemporary and specifically Italian. It also has a freshness that perhaps emanates from the energy of its debut directing team. Salvo is also beautifully shot by accomplished cinematographer and director, Daniele Cipri. Adrian Wootton

18 October 2013 – 18:15 VUE7 – SALVO
20 October 2013 – 16:30 Cine Lumiere – SALVO

L’INTREPIDO- A LONELY HERO

Dir Gianni Amelio. Prod Carlo Degli Esposti. Scr Gianni Amelio, Davide Lantieri. With Antonio Albanese, Sandra Ceccarelli, Livia Rossi, Gabriele Rendina, Alfonso Santagata. Italy 2013. 104min. Sales Rai Trade

Set in modern day Milan, this is a Chaplinesque odyssey through the world of work – every type of work, but primarily unskilled manual labour, seen through the eyes of a kind, middle-aged man who takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to be useful and have self respect. Beautifully wrought by master Italian director Gianni Amelio (whose wonderful Keys to the House was shown in the LFF in 2004). This really is a portrait of the highs and lows of modern life. At its heart is a sympathetic man (superbly embodied by leading actor Antonio Albanese) who, despite loneliness and personal family problems, especially around his gifted but troubled musician son, remains defiantly optimistic even when terrible things happen to him and the people he meets. With echoes of films like Being There and even Zelig, L’Intrepido is gently satirical, acutely observed and, whilst still having the atmosphere of a fable, is replete with a wonderfully appropriate music score. Adrian Wootton

18 October 2013 – 20:45 RITZY – L’INTREPIDO
19 October 2013 – 20:45 NFT2 – L’INTREPIDO
20 October 2013 – 18:00 VUE5 – L’INTREPIDO

THOSE HAPPY YEARS

Dir Daniele Luchetti. Prod Giovanni Stabilini, Riccardo Tozzi, Marco Chimenz. Scr Sandro Petraglia, Daniele Luchetti, Stefano Rulli, Caterina Venturini. With Micaela Ramazzotti, Martina Gedeck, Kim Rossi Stuart. Italy 2013. 101min. Sales Celluloid Dreams

Daniele Luchetti’s glamorous, good-looking romantic melodrama is a partly autobiographical story about the ups and downs of an experimental artist and his relationship with his wife and two young children. Set in the early 1970s, as a more permissive Italy emerges and ideas about women’s liberation and sexual freedom begin to circulate, the film evokes the period with élan while affectionately satirising the era’s art scene. It’s also a hugely entertaining, wryly amusing and utterly believable tale of a couple’s emotional rollercoaster ride, played out before their bemused and occasionally horrified children. Kim Rossi Stuart is excellent as the pretentious, fickle, philandering artist, as is Micaela Ramazzotti as his initially adoring wife who bites back as she journeys towards a new personal freedom. Adrian Wootton

18 October 2013 – 21:15 Curzon Mayfair – THOSE HAPPY YEARS
19 October 2013 – 15:30 Screen On The Green – THOSE HAPPY YEARS

STOP THE POUNDING HEART

Dir-Scr Roberto Minervini. Prod Denise Lee, Luigina Smerilli, João Leite. With Sara Carlson, Colby Trichell. USA-Belgium-Italy 2013. 100min. Sales Doc & Film International

The third part of Italian-born but mainly US-based filmmaker Roberto Minervini’s loose Texan trilogy (after The Passage and Low Tide) is a powerful and very particular kind of drama documentary. Set firmly in a rural, ‘redneck’ community in southern Texas, the film focuses on two real families, the Carlsons and the Trichells, who all appear ‘playing’ versions of themselves. The Carlsons are goat farmers, with very strong religious beliefs and 12 children who have all been home schooled. The Trichells are a more laid back, less puritan family, whose passions are guns and rodeo riding, especially on the bulls. At the heart of the film’s drama is the slow burning, subtly depicted – and potentially very dangerous – burgeoning Romeo-and-Juliet romance between the mildly rebellious teenager Sara Carlson and her bull-riding neighbour, Colby Trichell. Compelling, offbeat and distinctive filmmaking that makes for a fascinating trip into the American heartland. Adrian Wootton

10 October 2013 – 16:00 NFT2 – STOP THE POUNDING HEART
13 October 2013 – 13:00 Cine Lumiere – STOP THE POUNDING HEART
17 October 2013 – 21:00 RENOIR – STOP THE POUNDING HEART

SANDRA

Dir Luchino Visconti. Prod Franco Cristaldi. Scr Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti. With Claudia Cardinale, Michael Craig, Jean Sorel, Marie Bell. Italy 1965. 105min. UK Distribution Park Circus

Luchino Visconti knew better than anyone else how to use the extravagant talents of the sumptuous, raucous-voiced Claudia Cardinale. She was perfectly cast in this ‘symbolic’ social drama – with its roots in Greek tragedy – as the woman returning to her native Tuscany with her American husband (Michael Craig) to attend a memorial for her Jewish father, who died in a concentration camp. She is re-united with her brother, with whom she had been deeply involved in their adolescence, and it becomes clear that both believe their mother, now mentally unbalanced, denounced their father in order to marry her lover. Visconti’s stylish, claustrophobic, rococo vision of corruption and despair was condemned by some as lurid melodrama, but this timely revival, in a beautifully restored 4K version made from a master positive by Grover Crisp at Sony Columbia, reveals a film full of memorable images and ripe for reappraisal. Clyde Jeavons

10 October 2013 – 15:15 VUE7 – SANDRA
13 October 2013 – 15:00 NFT1 – SANDRA