FILMS DIRECT FROM THE WORLD’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS FILM FESTIVALS
The 2022 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival presented by Palace Cinemas in association with Luna Palace Cinemas returns this Spring. Australia’s pre-eminent event celebrating the culture and cinema of Italy, the Festival promises to transport viewers on a favoloso escape to Italy. It is with much delight that we reveal the full festival line-up which will screen in Perth at Palace Cinemas Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Windsor Cinema and Luna on SX from September 22 – October 16.
The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival will open with the Australian premiere of Italian Box Office hit BELLI CIAO from popular comedy duo Pio and Amedeo. It follows two formerly inseparable friends who reunite in their hometown in Puglia after years apart, resulting in an entertaining north vs south culture clash.
Closing the festival this year will be the Oscar-winning trilogy of romantic comedies YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW (Ieri, oggi, domani) starring the inimitable Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. From acclaimed director Vittorio De Sica, this classic will be a fitting way to bid arrivederci to the festival. It also forms part of the Spotlight on Naples, the heartbeat of Italian Cinema, the festival sidebar presented by the Italian Cultural Institute Melbourne. Many films from this year’s selection were either filmed in Naples and/or from or featuring Neapolitan stars or directors, including this classic from 1963 which opens in bella Napoli.
From Official Competition in Cannes comes this year’s Festival Centrepiece: Mario Martone’s new drama NOSTALGIA, featuring a superb performance from Pierfranceso Favino, about a man who returns to his hometown of Naples after forty years and rediscovers the city’s codes and rules, facing a past that haunts him.
Two exciting announcements are the Special Presentation films coming direct from their world premieres at major international film festivals: LORD OF THE ANTS (Il signore delle formiche) starring Luigi Lo Cascio direct from its In Competition screenings at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival, is a powerful new drama based on the 1968 trial of Aldo Braibanti, a Roman intellectual whose relationship with a younger student caused a nationwide scandal; and THE HUMMINGBIRD (Il colibri), Francesca Archibugi’s star-studded ensemble drama led by Pierfrancesco Favino which follows its main character from childhood to adulthood exploring the relationships that have criss-crossed his life over the years, direct from its Gala screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and screening in the festival from October.
Three excellent documentaries will be screening this year, including the not to be missed ENNIO – THE MAESTRO (Ennio). From Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malena) it celebrates the life and legacy of the legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone and features interviews with Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino,Bernardo Bertolucci and Hans Zimmer, plus the man himself prior to his death aged 91. There will be two special musical tribute events in Melbourne and Sydney at The Astor Theatre and Chauvel Cinema which will pay homage to Morricone’s amazing body of work.
SALVATORE: SHOEMAKER OF DREAMS directed by acclaimed filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) charts the rise of Italian shoemaker to the stars, Salvatore Ferragamo, in this love letter to the fashion icon. Tracing the birth of the Roman Empire, POWER OF ROME charts the marvels of the city and its history led by Roman native Edoardo Leo.
Festival favourite Toni Servillo features in three films – he is the lead in THE KING OF LAUGHTER (Qui rido io), and has major roles in THE INNER CAGE (Ariaferma) and CASANOVA’S RETURN (Il ritorno di Casanova). Winner of Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2022 Nastri d’Argento Awards, THE KING OF LAUGHTER is a dazzling biography of Neapolitan comic theatre legend Eduardo Scarpetta, played by Servillo. A suspenseful drama about a group of prisoners and their guards in a remote prison, THE INNER CAGE won Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Silvio Orlando, who plays opposite Servillo, at the 2022 David di Donatello Awards. CASANOVA’S RETURN tells the story of a film director and a Venetian libertine who both grapple with the fact that they’re over 60.
For the full program click here