The Italian Cultural Institute of Montréal is pleased to present the Québéc 5th edition of theItalian Contemporary Film Festival – ICFF 2017 at the Cinéma Cartier Québec: a film event, collaboration between the Italian Cultural Institute of Montréal, the Italian Contemporany Film Festival in Toronto, the Cinémathèque Québécoise, the Casa d’Italia and the Cinéma Cartier in Québec.
The Festival, which will be held from June 09 until June 14th 2017, at Cinéma Cartier 1019 Avenue Cartier, Ville de Québec, (418) 522-1011 offers 10 recent films by well-known Italian directors rewarded in Italy and internationally. Six days of film of great Italian contemporary cinema, in which will be examined themes linked to a global public, exploring Italy of yesterday and today, offering a unique opportunity to celebrate the Italian reality in Canada.
The screenings will be presented in the original language, subtitled in French. For more information please see the program below or call (418) 522-1011.
Friday June 9 – 5pm
La Pazza Gioia / Like Crazy by Paolo Virzi
Cast: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Micaela Ramazzotti
[It., 2016, 118 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Beatrice is a blabbermouth and a so-called billionaire countess who likes to believe she’s in intimacy with world leaders. Donatella is a young quiet tattooed woman, locked in her own mystery. They are both patients of a mental institution and subject to custodial measures. Paolo Virzì’s new film tells the story of their unpredictable friendship and their escape from the treatment constraints that will become an hilarious and moving adventure of two technically insane creatures, looking for a bit of fun and love in this open-air nuthouse, the world of healthy people.
Paolo Virzi – Raised in Leghorn, Paolo Virzì made his debut in 1994, with La bella vita, awarded with a David for the “Best Debut Director”, where he displayed his exceptional skills in directing actors and dealing with dramatic themes with an ironic and light tone. During his successful career spanning over 25 years Virzì won numerous awards for his intense and entertaining films: in 2014 Il capitale umano, based on a novel by Stephen Amidon, obtained a record 19 David nominations. La pazza gioia was recently awarded Best Film and Best Director David Prizes. He has already started working on The Leisure Seekers, shot entirely in the USA, and starring Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren.
Friday June 9 – 7pm
Orecchie / Ears by Alessandro Aronadio
Cast: Daniele Parisi, Francesca Antonelli
[It., 2016, 90 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – A man wakes up one morning with an annoying ringing sound in his ears. A note on the fridge says: “your friend Luigi has died. P.S. I took the car”. The problem is that he does not even remember who this guy Luigi is. This is just the beginning of a tragicomic day during which he will be plunged into the folly of the world, one of those days that changes your life forever. Ears is a comedy about the overwhelming feeling of loss, of disconnection from reality that sometimes surrounds us.
Alessandro Aronadio – Aronadio is the only winner of the “Sergio Corbucci” Fullbright scholarship, for a Master’s degree in the USA. He graduates in film direction at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. He works both as a TV and cinema screenwriter, he has recently written Che vuoi che sia, new movie by Edoardo Leo and Classe Z by Guido Chiesa. In 2016 he presents his movie Orecchie at the Mostra del Cinema in Venice.
Saturday June 10 – 5pm
L’Ora Legale / It’s the law by Salvatore Ficarra, Valentino Picone
Cast: Salvatore Ficarra, Valentino Picone
[It., 2017, 92 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – In the small Sicilian village of Pietrammare, the moment has arrived to elect a new mayor. For years, the town has been under the tainted leadership of Gaetano Patanè, who’s ready to use every trick in the book to keep his position and power. His opposition comes in the form of 50 year old Professor Pierpaolo Natoli, with no former political experience, an honest man just wanting to give his 18 year old daughter, Betti, an alternative for her first time voting. Against all odds, and with the help of Salvo and Valentino championing his causes, Pierpaolo wins, and immediately gives start to a new age of legality and respect for the rules in town. Would the citizens of Pietrammare be ready for that?
Salvatore Ficarra, Valentino Picone – They started in 1993 as comedy trio with Salvatore Borrello performing together on stage as Chiamata Urbana Urgente. Remained in two, they kept that name until 1998, when they began to use their surnames: Ficarra & Picone. In 2000 they made their film debut with Chiedimi se sono felice and two years later they made the first film as main actors, Nati stanchi.
Saturday June 10 – 7pm
Wednesday June 14 – 4pm
Le Confessioni / The Confessions by Roberto Andò
Cast: Toni Servillo, Connie Nielsen
[It.Fra., 2016, 100 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Finance ministers from the richest countries in the world have gathered together in a secluded luxury hotel in Germany for a meeting that may decide the future of the world. Bizarrely, three outside observers have also been invited to attend: a rock star, the famous children’s novelist Claire Seth and the Italian monk and author Roberto Salus. Following a tragic event, the meeting is suspended, and a battle between the Ministers and the monk ensues, as they believe Salus was revealed a top-secret information during a confession. While Salus remains the stubborn defender of the secrecy of confessions, the authorities are overwhelmed by doubts and uncertainties.
Roberto Andò – Born in Palermo, January 11, 1959 – is an Italian director, screenwriter, playwright and author. Andò debuted as assistant director, working with Francis Ford Coppola, Federico Fellini, Michael Cimino and Francesco Rosi. In 1986 he debuted on stage directing La foresta-radice-labirinto. After several documentary films, Andò made his feature debut film – in 2000 – with Il manoscritto del Principe, produced by Giuseppe Tornatore. His debut novel, Il trono vuoto, won the Campiello prize for best first work. From the novel he derived the film Viva la libertà, with whom he won the David di Donatello for Best Script and the Nastro d’Argento for Best Screenplay.
Sunday June 11 – 5pm
Indivisibili / Indivisible by Edoardo De Angelis
Cast: Angela Fontana, Marianna Fontana
[It., 2016, 104 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Daisy and Viola are siamese twin sisters on the verge of turning 18, and they live in the suburbs of Naples. The twins have been blessed with beautiful voices, allowing them to perform at weddings, communions and baptisms while make enough money to support both themselves and their entire family. Daisy and Viola are kept isolated from the rest of the world by their own father who just wants to exploits them for income. Their life turns upside-down when one of the twins falls in love for the first time, and they discover that they can be separated. A pronounced English doctor sees them at a first communion in Casertavecchia, and he enables them hope for a possibility to a normal life when he states, “I can separate you.”
Edoardo De Angelis – He grows up in Portici and then moves to Caserta with his family. He discovers his passion for cinema at 19 years old and graduates at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. His first feature film is Mozzarella Stories. In 2016 he makes Indivisibili which is awarded at the Mostra del Cinema di Venezia with the Pasinetti prize as best movie.
Sunday June 11 – 7pm
Wednesday June 14 – 7pm
Veloce come il vento / Italian Race by Matteo Rovere
Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Matilda De Angelis
[It., 2016, 110 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – The De Martino family have always had motor oil and gasoline flowing in their veins: they have been putting together and racing cars for generations. Mario, the head of the family, is forced to give way to his very young and exceptionally talented daughter Giulia. She is joined by her 40 year old brother Loris, a former driver, totally unreliable, but with an extraordinary sense of trajectories and highly knowledgeable about engines. Together, they will have to return to the track and win, while escaping their demons and learning what it means – and hard it is – to be a family.
Matteo Rovere was born in 1982 and directed his first movie when he was very young, after directing several shorts, among which the multi-award winning Homo Homini Lupus with Filippo Timi. He is also a producer: he produced Smetto quando voglio for Ascent Film, The Pills – Sempre meglio che lavorare, La foresta di ghiaccio, other than several shorts and documentaries like Ritratto di mio padre by Maria Sole Tognazzi.
Monday June 12 – 5pm
Piuma / Feather by Roan Johnson
Cast: Luigi Fedele, Blu Yoshimi
[It., 2016, 98 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Piuma is the story of Ferro and Cate, two teenagers faced with an unexpected pregnancy that turns their world upside down. Hesitant and tentative, the two main characters must navigate through the most complicated 9 months of their lives. They still have to study for their final exam, plan their summer trip to Spain and Morocco and focus on the longest summer of their lives which requires thinking of where they will live together, their dreams at 18. They are not the only two people whose lives will be completely changed by this pregnancy, as their parents will have a grandson and responsibilities 15 years ahead of what they anticipated.
Roan Johnson grew up in Tuscany. He graduated in screenwriting at Centro Sperimentale. He wrote Il Commissario De Luca, based on a romance by Lucarelli, and the two TV-series Raccontami. His first movie is I Primi della Lista, he also wrote Ora o Mai Più for the production Company Fandango, he wrote and directed Il Terzo Portiere, produced by Virzì. He won 5 awards at the Festival Internazionale del Cinema in Rome with the movie Fino A Qui Tutto Bene, including the audience award ‘Marc’Aurelio’ for best Italian movie.
Monday June 12 – 7pm
Tuesday June 13 – 5pm
Fräulein – Una fiaba d’inverno / Fräulein – A Winter Tale by Caterina Carone
Cast: Lucia Mascino, Christian De Sica
[It., 2016, 90 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – The most potent solar storm recorded hits Earth,causing power surges and blackouts. A deeper storm rages in the soul of Regina, a lonely spinster called ‘Fräulein’, after a mysterious tourist passes through the gates of her hotel, which has been closed for years. The story takes place at the border between Italy and Austria. What was supposed to be a fleeting one night meeting, will soon turn into a unexpected coexistence full of surprises. While the two main characters get to know one another and unveil their past, they’ll also help each other in overcoming their fears.
Caterina Carone (Ascoli Piceno, June 20th 1982) is an Italian director, screenwriter and documentary film maker. She started her careerworking ondocumentaries, she won the Solinas Prize, the best documentary prize at the Torino Film Festival and a David di Donatello nomination. She wrote and directed the comedy Fräulein – Una fiaba d’inverno with Christian De Sicaand Lucia Mascino.
Tuesday June 13 – 7pm
Fiore / Flower by Claudio Giovannesi
Cast: Daphne Scoccia, Josciua Algeri
[It., 2016, 105 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Youth detention centre. Daphne, arrested for theft, falls in love with Josh, who is also a young robber. Men and women cannot meet in jail and love is forbidden. Daphne and Josh’s relationship is only based on glances from one cell to the other, short conversations through the bars and secret letters. The prison is not only a deprivation of freedom but it also becomes deprivation of love. Fiore is the story of a teenager’s desire for love and the power of an emotion that breaks every law.
Claudio Giovannesi (Rome, Italy, 1978) is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and musician. After getting a Bachelor of Arts, he received a diploma from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. In 2014, Giovannesi participated in the collaborative film 9 x 10 Novanta, selected at Venice IFF that same year. His latest work, Fiore, was selected at the Directors’ Fortnight (the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) in 2016.
Wednesday June 14 – 5pm
7 Giorni / 7 Days by Rolando Colla
Cast: Bruno Todeschini, Alessia Barela
[It., 2017, 96 min, OVSTF]
Trailer
Plot – Ivan, a botanic, is waiting for Chiara, a costum designer on a small island near Sicily. His brother Richard and her best friend Francesca are going to get married and they want to help them. The broom and the bride are both former drug addicts. There are several problems to be fixed, since the hotel and the lighthouse – where the broom wants to spend their first wedding night – are both in bad shape. But Ivan and Chiara are resolute to make it happens, despite all difficulties.
Rolando Colla – born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, on 1957 – by Italian immigrants, became a Swiss citizen in 1977. He began to work as an actor and a screenwriter. In 1984 he founded Peacock Film AG. In 1998 he directed his first feature, Una vita alla rovescia and by the following year the series of shorts entitled Einspruch. He has written and directed films as Oltre il confine, L’altra metà, Giochi d’estate and Sette Giorni.
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