ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2010 (4 - 11 JUNE)
TICKETING INFORMATION
Ticketing opens Friday 21 May. Tickets at $10 each ($9 for SFS members)
FILM INFORMATION
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD
Screening Details:
Friday 4 June - 7.30pm & Friday 11 June - 9.30pm
synopsis
Accio is his parents’ desperation, irritable and a trouble-maker, impulsive and explosive fighting every battle like a war. His brother Manrico is handsome, charismatic, loved by all, but just as dangerous… In the Italian small town life of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, the two brothers have opposite political beliefs, are in love with the same woman and through an endless confrontation, they live a period of their lives made of escaping, retuning, fighting and great passions. It is a story about growing up where fifteen years of Italian history pass by across the adventures of Accio and Manrico, two brothers, very different, yet alike...
Baaria
Screening Details:
Saturday 5 June - 6pm & Sunday 6 June - 6pm
synopsis
Giuseppe Tornatore directed this grand-scale portrait of life and love over several decades in a small town in Sicily. The Torrenuovas are a family of peasant shepherds who have lived and worked in Bagheria through many generations. In the years before the rise of Mussolini, the family often worked for Don Giacinto, a local tycoon who often used his power and position to take advantage of others. Young Peppino Torrenuova senses a profound injustice in the way Don Giacinto treats his elders, and as the years go by, the young man becomes a passionate advocate for social change. Once a grown man, Peppino falls in love with the beautiful Mannina and they get married, starting a family of their own over the objections of her parents, who believe she can do better.
As Peppino throws in his lot with the local Communist party and works to make life better for his fellow peasants, we see a number of important historical events through his eyes and watch the fortunes of his town and his family rise and fall.
IL DIVO
Screening Details:
Saturday 5 June - 9pm & Thursday 10 June - 7.15pm
synopsis
Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Family Friend) writes and directs this cinematic portrait of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, whose controversial legacy peaked when he was tried for Mafia ties and subsequently acquitted. A leader with close ties to the Vatican, Andreotti was also tried and acquitted for the murder of an Italian journalist and remains a senator for life.
THE FEAST
Screening Details:
Sunday 6 June - 9pm & Tuesday 8 June - 9.30pm
synopsis
Gabriele, Marco and Nicola are three youngsters, living in Diamante, a small town in southern Italy, who would like to shoot a film. They interview an old lady who recalls the love of her life, a distant cousin of hers who has moved to America and whose return she is still waiting for. They think this a good plot for a film. Neri is a former film director who has shot one successful film and then has retired to Diamante. They ask in vain for his help and then decide to travel to Rome. There, Francesco, a friend of Neri's, unwillingly accommodates them and they end up getting involved in television show business rather than cinema. However, they meet Amelie, a French girl, who seems to be interested in their film idea and tells them she will mention it to Gerard, her fiancé, who actually turns out to be Gerard Depardieu.
GOOD MORNING, AMAN
Screening Details:
Monday 7 June - 7.15pm & Wednesday 9 June - 9.30pm
synopsis
Aman, a 20 year-old Somali boy who grew up in Rome, works in a second-hand car store. Since he suffers from insomnia, during the night he wanders the streets alone, trying to pick up girls and dreaming about making it big in the world. One of those nights, he secretly goes up to the balcony of an apartment building, and there he meets Terry, a 40 years old ex boxer with an obscure past. The two become friends and little by little this friendship turns into a strongly ambiguous relation. Terry uses the boy for his own purpose, but Aman, in turn, foresees in this relation a chance of social redemption.
PUCCINI AND THE GIRL
Screening Details:
Monday 7 June - 9.30pm & Friday 11 June - 7.15pm
synopsis
In 1908 Puccini is composing “La fanciulla del West”. In front of his villa in Torre del Lago, the "Chalet da Emilio" looms above the water - it is a refuge built on piles used by fishermen and poachers. Behind the counter the beautiful Giulia is serving wine and smiles. The Maestro has become a frequent visitor to these premises - he drinks a glass of wine, plays a game of cards, smokes a cigarette and then goes back to his music. Giulia is Doria Manfredi's cousin, a young maid in Puccini's home. One day Doria surprises Fosca, the musician's step-daughter, in bed with her lover. Worried that she will give away her secret, Fosca won't stop controlling Doria and, sensing there is an understanding between the maid and her stepfather, forces her mother Elvira to spy on Giacomo. One night she sees him with a young girl and although she couldn't see her face, she is sure it is Doria. While Puccini is totally engrossed with the composition of his opera and uses every possible excuse he can to pursue his relationship with Giulia, Elvira takes every occasion she can to ruin the reputation of poor Doria, her only crime having been a messenger of love between the Maestro and her cousin.
GIULIA DOESN'T DATE AT NIGHT
Screening Details:
Tuesday 8 June - 7.15pm & Thursday 10 June - 9.30pm
synopsis
Guido is a successful writer and finalist of a prestigious literary award. While grappling with all that the nomination of his novel brings, he decides to fulfil a long-time desire to learn to swim and signs up for swimming lessons at a pool. There he meets Giulia, a charming woman who is all the more fascinating when in her element, the water. A relationship blossoms between them but it quickly becomes obvious that Giulia is harbouring a secret and a mysterious past.
Vincere
Screening Details:
Wednesday 9 June - 7pm
synopsis
The powerful new film from acclaimed auteur Marco Bellocchio (My Mothers Smile, Good Morning, Night, The Wedding Director), VINCERE is a compelling drama based on the little known story of Benito Mussolini’s first wife. Ida Dalsar (Giovanno Mezzogiorno) and Mussolini (Filippo Timi) begin their liaison in 1914; she is a well-to-do beauty salon owner and he is an impoverished young Socialist and union activist. When Ida sells all her possessions to fund her lover's new newspaper, the rise of Fascism is set into play. An official selection of the Cannes, Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals, VINCERE is a gripping film that combines drama, archive footage, and music creating a highly cinematic oratorio of enormous emotional force.
SCREENING SCHEDULE
| Screening Date | Time Show | Film Title | Rating |
| Friday 4 June (Opening Night / Closed Door / Invite Only) |
7.30pm | My Brother is an Only Child | M18 (Some Sexual Scenes) |
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| Saturday 5 June | 6pm | Baaria | M18 (Scenes of intimacy and some nudity) |
| 9pm | Il Divo | TBA | |
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| Sunday 6 June | 6.00pm | Baaria | M18 (Scenes of intimacy and some nudity) |
| 9.00pm | The Feast | PG | |
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| Monday 7 June | 7.15pm | Good Morning, Aman | NC16 (Some Drug Use and Coarse Language) |
| 9.30pm | Puccini and the Girl | NC16 (Nudity) | |
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| Saturday 8 June | 7.15pm | Giulia Doesn't Date at Night | M18 (Scene Of Intimacy And Some Nudity) |
| 9.30pm | The Feast | PG | |
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| Wednesday 9 June | 7.00pm | Vincere | TBA |
| 9.30pm | Good Morning, Aman | NC16 (Some Drug Use and Coarse Language) | |
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| Thursday 10 June | 7.15pm | Il Divo | TBA |
| 9.30pm | Giulia Doesn't Date at Night | M18 (Scene Of Intimacy And Some Nudity) | |
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| Friday 11 June | 7.15pm | Puccini and the Girl | NC16 (Nudity) |
| 9.30pm | My Brother is an Only Child | M18 (Some Sexual Scenes) | |
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- Information provided is correct at time of printing and subject to changes due to circumstances beyond the festival organisers’ control.
- All films come with English subtitles.
