New Italian Cinema November 15, 2009

November 15–22, 2009
Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema
Copresented with New Italian Cinema Events and the Italian Cultural Institute, New Italian Cinema celebrates the rich cinematic tradition of Italy and brings the country's newest directors and films to audiences in San Francisco. A prestigious jury selects the best Italian entries from the year’s major European film festivals to compete for the City of Florence Award. Attendees enjoy not only a vibrant cinema showcase, but an immersion into Italy’s rich and storied culture with directors present to illuminate their work in lively question-and-answer sessions.

Sunday, November 15
Opening Night
One Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level
8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Commemorate the best in contemporary Italian cinema with acclaimed director Marco Risi and his latest film Fortapàsc, and join us for a fabulous reception either before or after your screening.

6:00 pm Fortapàsc
9:00 pm Fortapàsc
Marco Risi (2008)
A striking recreation of the last four months in the life of Giancarlo Siani, a young journalist killed by the Neapolitan mob in 1985 for digging too deeply into their affairs.

Monday, November 16
6:15 pm Three Wives
Marco Risi (Tre mogli, Italy 2001)
Marco Risi’s farcical romance centers on a trio of Italian wives of different ages and social backgrounds who set off to Argentina in search of their bank-robber husbands, discovering each other and themselves along the way.
9:00 pm Boys on the Outside
Marco Risi (Ragazzi fuori, 1990)
This hard-hitting portrait of a group of Palermo street kids following their release from reform school features stunning performances by young nonprofessional actors.

Tuesday, November 17
6:00 pm The Sicilian Girl
Marco Amenta (La siciliana ribelle, Italy 2008)
Based on a true story, a grief-stricken 17-year-old Sicilian girl testifies against a powerful Mafia family in order to avenge the deaths of her father and brother.
9:00 pm Ex
Fausto Brizzi (2009)
This multithreaded romantic comedy profiles six couples through break-ups and reconciliations from a cop obsessed with his ex to a divorce attorney undergoing a bitter separation from his wife.

Wednesday, November 18
6:30 pm PA-RA-DA
Marco Pontecorvo (2008)
In 1992, a French street clown goes to Bucharest to cheer up the numerous kids in orphanages. When he finds out about the thousands of homeless children living in the streets, he helps them find self-respect by teaching them to perform. Based on a true story.
9:15 pm The House in the Clouds
Claudio Giovannesi (La casa sulle nuvole, Italy 2009)
A young jazz musician and his older brother track down their irresponsible and self-absorbed father who is now living in Marrakesh, and attempt to reclaim the family home and come to terms with their absent parent.

Thursday, November 19
6:15 pm Ex
see 11/17
9:15 pm The Sicilian Girl
see 11/17

Friday, November 20
6:30 pm Lecture 21
Alessandro Baricco (Lezione 21, Italy 2008)
Alessandro Baricco’s impressionistic, visually adventurous dramatization of a lecture questioning Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony confidently joins other innovative films about music such as The Red Violin and 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.
9:15 pm Sea Purple
Donatella Maiorca (Viola di mare, 2009)
In 19th-century Sicily, a young woman who reveals her love for her female best friend is locked away in a cellar until her father determines a potential way for them both to get what they want.
1:00 pm Lecture 21
see 11/20
3:45 pm The House in the Clouds
see 11/18
6:30 pm Sea Purple
see 11/20
9:15 pm Different from Whom?
Umberto Carteni (Diverso da chi?, Italy 2009)
In a northern Italian city, a gay-rights campaigner vies to be mayor in a conservative town. Paired with a conservative female running mate, he surprisingly ends up in bed with her, complicating his political aspirations and romantic life.

Sunday, November 22
12:00 pm Different from Whom?
See 11/21
2:45 pm PA-RA-DA
see 11/18
5:45 pm Vincere
Marco Bellocchio (2009)
A powerful political dramatization conceived as a grand opera, Marco Bellocchio’s latest masterpiece details the ill-fated life of Benito Mussolini’s mistress and their son.
8:00 Closing Night Party
Celebrate Closing Night of New Italian Cinema between screenings of master filmmaker Marco Belloccio’s Vincere. Join us for a reception either before or after your screening.
9:00 pm Vincere
see 5:45 pm

Tickets $10-$20
for more information visit www.sffs.org

Official Website: http://www.sffs.org/screenings-and-events/fall-season/new-italian-cinema.aspx