Cinema Italian Style IV: A Recap of the Los Angeles Festival

With Davide Ferrario's "Levi's Journey" (La Strada di Levi), the fourth edition of Cinema Italian Style closed to rousing applause.  The annual festival, a showcase of the best Italian movies  made possible by Cinecitta' Holding, the American Cinematheque and the Italian Film Commission in Los Angeles,  proved a great success with critics and public alike. I took place from October 10th through 21st at the famed Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and at the Aero in Santa Monica. Cinema Italian Style IV  provided a brief yet wide ranging and powerful look at the best of this year's feature films and documentaries coming from Italy, including "My Brother Is An Only Child" (Mio Fratello e' Figlio Unico), "One Out Of Two" (Uno Su Due), "Flying Lessons (Lezioni di Volo), "Salty Air" (L'aria Salata), "N, Napoleon and Me" (Io e Napoleone)  and "L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio".


The screening of  "Levi's Journey" was greeted by a standing ovation in the sold out Aero Theater, followed by an animated discussion between Ferrario and American director Paul Mazursky, himself a huge admirer of Primo Levi, the abstract but ubiquitous protagonist of this documentary  shot as a "travelogue" retracing Levi's journey from Auschwitz back to his native Turin in 1945.

 "It is a phenomenal piece of work; I've already seen it twice and I'll see it again and again, as every time I watch it I discover something new," said Mazursky with sincere enthusiasm. Ferrario believes he hit a bull's eye with the American public. "I think you are able to understand better than Europeans my non judgemental narrative," Ferrario said to the audience at the theater. "The tendency to give greater meaning to the story can sometimes take you farther away from the truth. Rather than analyzing, I like to feel reality."

The festival, curated by Silvia Bizio under the auspicies of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, was once again, as in previous editions, able to count on the support of  California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and an honorary committee which includes  Bernardo Bertolucci, Jo Champa, Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas, Giancarlo Giannini, Jim Gianopulos, Anjelica Huston, Sherry Lansing, Sophia Loren, Dante Ferretti, Rick Nicita, Pietro Scalia and Harvey Weinstein. Sponsoring the festival were  Alberta Ferretti, Dainese, Energy Power S.A., Valextra, Compagnia di San Paolo, the Beverly Hilton Hotel and Valente Milano, who designed the  awards bestowed by Cinema Italian Style. The showcase  owes its growth to the originality of its format: each screening is introduced by the film's director or leading actors and is followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Riccardo Scamarcio presented his "Mio Fratello e' Figlio Unico"; Francesca Archibugi her "Lezioni di Volo"; Fabio Volo introduced "Uno su Due"; Giorgio Pasotti presented "L'aria Salata"; Vittorio Storaro offered "Caravaggio" (as he was responsible for the film's majestic cinematography); Valeria Golino introduced "A Casa Nostra"; Laura Mancuso presented the documentary "Nati per Volare", about famed naturalist and deltaplane pilot Angelo D'Arrigo, who died in a plane  crash almost two years ago. The ever demanding Los Angeles audience warmly received the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, who performed in concert at the Hollywood Egyptian Theatre on the occasion of the presentation of the eponymous documentary by Agostino Ferrente, sweeping the hall into a spontaneous explosion of music and dance.

The opening of the festival,  October 10th , shined as  a  glamorous  red carpet event: the screening  of "Mio Fratello e' Figlio Unico" was preceeded by a brief ceremony during which honorary awards were given to Dino De Laurentiis, symbolic and effective link between Cinecitta' and Hollywood -- his award handed by director of "Hannibal" and "X Men 2" Brett Ratner --  and to director Gabriele Muccino, selected by superstar Will Smith to helm  "The Pursuit of Happyness", after the American superstar  saw and admired Muccino's film "Ricordati di Me" in an earlier edition of Cinema Italia Style. Muccino, introduced by Jo Champa, Italian actress/producer  and Los Angeles resident for years, upon receiving the special Silver Ribbon from president of Italian Union of Film Journalists Laura delli Colli said, "This is an award that means a great deal to me and I'm very flattered, because it is being given here in Los Angeles, the capital of  international cinema, where I am about to begin shooting another film made in Hollywood, and once again with Will Smith."

Heartfelt applause also for the Godmother of CIS IV, Italian actress Ornella Muti, presented by American actor Vincent Spano, who played alongside her in "Oscar" by John Landis. Other awards  were given to famed cinematographer and Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro, introduced  by long time collaborator Warren Beatty, and to costume designer Milena Canonero, introduced with obvious affection by Andy Garcia who worked with her on "Godfather III" and "Ocean's 12". An elegant dinner-party   attended by  Italian and American VIPs followed at the historic  Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard.

Appreciation for the promotional rewards of Cinema Italian Style and for its success in taking Italian culture and film to Hollywood, came from  President of Cinecittà Holding in Rome, Alessandro Battisti: "Once again Cinema Italian Style has brought the best of the new Italian productions to the US," he said. "Our cinema is going through a magical moment, thanks to the work of young directors whose impact is felt beyond our national borders. Los Angeles audiences have always welcomed us enthusiastically, and we are once again thrilled that Cinema Italian Style has proven to be the ideal opportunity to savor the unique qualities our cinema can offer, even in Hollywood. It's also a wonderful opportunity to show our  films to American distributors, who otherwise would have few chances to get to know  our  best  works."