26th STARZ DENVER
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES
A SALUTE TO ITALIAN CINEMA
WITH RENOWN GUEST DIRECTOR AND STUDIO HEAD
PUPI AVATI
AND HIS FILM "A HEART ELSEWHERE"
Also: “Origins of Italian Cinema” Exhibit to Make First-Ever U.S. Visit
with Sidebar Fellini Celebration: Four Films to Screen Chronologically
for Dedicated Fans
DENVER, COLORADO - In a glorious bout of cultural contrasts, the canals
of Venice will meet the South Platte River and the statue of David will
meet one of Buffalo Bill Cody when the 26th Starz Denver International
Film Festival, presents a fantastico salute to Italian Cinema.
The Denver Film Society is pleased to announce that Pupi Avati, Italian
director and president of the Cincetta Holding film studio, will visit
Denver to screen and answer questions about his latest film, A HEART
ELSEWHERE (Il Cuore Altrove), which debuted at Cannes.
A dozen other Italian selections will also screen as part of the salute.
Separately, audiences can also rave over four Fellini films: LA DOLCE
VITA, LA STRADA, 8 1/2, and AMARACORD.
“This year we are focusing on new films from Italy that represent a
renaissance in Italian cinema,” said Ron Henderson, Film Festival
Director.
“Of course, Italy has made incredible contributions to the style,
content, form and function of cinema throughout the ages. It is
impossible to imagine filmmaking today without the contribution of
Italian artistry.”
Giuseppe (“Pupi”) Avati brings a varied background to his role in the
film industry. He gave up veterinary studies to be a clarinet player in
a jazzband. Later, he left a job in the frozen food industry to become
a filmmaker. His early films focused on genres such as horror,
sports and comedy. He was first recognized in the U.S. when he
filmed a semi-biographical chronicle of his parents’ courtship, THE
STORY OF BOYS AND GIRLS. His recent works include THE BEST MAN, A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DANCE and THE KNIGHTS OF THE QUEST, which he adapted
from one of his novels A HEART ELSEWHERE, a romantic comedy with an
edge, debuted to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival in May
2003. The Pope’s tailor sends his shy, academically oriented son,
Nello, to the free-minded city of Bologna to teach high school and to
find a wife with whom he can create a family heir. While Nello
discovers a love for teaching, he discovers little about the mysteries
of lovely women. Finally, during a tea dance held at a home for the
blind, Nello meets the free-spirited Angela, who turns his life upside
down.
U.S. Debut of Origins of Italian Cinema Exhibit
Also during the festival, an exhibit of historic Italian film
artifacts, Origins of Italian Cinema, will make its U.S. debut in
Denver. The exhibit of film artifacts, posters, lanterns, cameras,
optical viewers and prints and posters trace the history and origins of
cinema. The exhibit is permanently housed in the Museo e
Pinacoteca in Potenza, Italy.
Denver Sister Cities International will host an exclusive Emmanuel
Gallery opening on Friday, October 10th from 6pm to 7:30pm, prior to
the screening of the film A HEART ELSEWHERE. They will serve wine
and antipasti to accompany an informative presentation from the owner
and curator of this rare exhibit. Tickets are $30 for the
reception and a ticket to the kick-off Italian film, A HEART ELSEWHERE.
Please contact the DSCI office at 303.832.1336. The exhibit will run
from October 11 to October 30 for the public. Admission is free.
Included among the many films for the tribute to Italian Cinema, are:
8 1/2
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Italy (1963)
Roger Ebert calls 8 1/2, Federico Fellini¹s most personal work,
"the best film ever made about filmmaking." Marcello Mastroianni plays
Guido Anselmi, who might as well have been called Fellini, struggling
to find the inspiration for his new film. Using brilliant, evocative
images, Fellini takes us back and forth between the "real" world and
Guido¹s fantasies. 8 1/2 won the Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film. Newly restored 35mm print.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Introduced by: Vincent Piturro, film studies professor, CU Denver
Wednesday, October 15, 4 p.m. - $5
Thursday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.
Angela
Directed by: Roberta Torre
Italy (2002)
Italian stage actress Donatella Finocchiaro makes a stunning film debut
in this gritty Mafia drama shot on the streets of Palermo. The film is
told from the point-of-view of Angela, the wife of a drug-dealing,
older don, who is frustrated by her limited role as a woman in the
male-dominated mob. When a handsome young newcomer enters her husband¹s
business, her life changes dramatically but not for the better.
Focus on Italian Cinema
Tuesday, October 14, 9 p.m.
Thursday, October 16, 6:45 p.m.
Amarcord
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Italy (1973)
A loving blend of memory and imagination, Amarcord looks at
life in 1930s Italy under Fascist rule. In often-hilarious vignettes,
Fellini introduces us to the eccentric characters that make up the
village, which is not unlike director Federico Fellini's home town. Amarcord
won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Newly
restored 35mm print.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Introduced by: Vicent Piturro, film studies professor, CU Denver
Wednesday, October 15, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 16, 4 p.m. - $5
A Heart Elsewhere
Directed by: Pupi Avati
Italy (2003)
Reluctant Nello, a clumsy teacher of Greek and Latin, is sent from Rome
to Bologna to find love. Sending him on this mission is his pragmatic,
successful and womanizing father, who would like an heir from his timid
35-year-old virgin son. When Nello falls for the most beautiful woman
in Bologna, who happens to be blind, he stirs up a wild hornet¹s nest
of reactions.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
In Person: Pupi Avati
Friday, October 10, 8 p.m. - King Center
At the First Breath of Wind
Director: Franco Piavoli
Italy (2002)
The latest work from Italy¹s premier experimental filmmaker, Franco
Piavoli (Voices in Time) is a stunningly photographed cinematic
portrait of one summer¹s afternoon on a magnificent estate in Lombardy.
Piavoli brilliantly weaves together images and sound to create an
exquisitely rich film experience.
Focus on Italian Cinema
Saturday, October 11, 3:45 p.m.
Sunday, October 12, 4 p.m.
Sunday, October 17, 9:30 p.m. - Boulder
The Best of Youth
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Italy (2003)
Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year¹s Cannes Film
Festival, Giordana¹s epic, six-hour feature matches The Godfather
as one of the best Italian-based family chronicles for storytelling and
passion. The Best of Youth shadows the Caratis family,
especially brothers Nicola and Matteo (who ultimately become the
antithesis of each other), from the 1960s to the present. One of the
hottest films on the fall festival circuit, The Best of Youth enthralled
audiences at Cannes, Venice, Telluride, Montreal and New York. The
six-hour epic will screen in two three-hour programs.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Part I - Saturday, October 18, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Part II - Sunday, October 19, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Burning in the Wind
Directed by Silvio Soldini
Silvio Soldini follows the critical and box office success of his
comedy Bread and Tulips with an impassioned, Oedipal love
story. Factory worker by day and writer by night, Tobias fled his
native Eastern European town for this small, very Swiss one to brood
over a fantasy woman named Line and over his father, whom he killed and
left for dead. When the fantasy woman Tobias¹ stepsister, it turns
out arrives in the factory town, love turns downright frightening.
Tuesday, October 14, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, October 15, 9:15 p.m.
The Chameleon
Directed by: Luca Barbareschi
Italy (2002)
An idealistic small-business owner in northern Italy takes a public
stand against pollution and suddenly finds himself swept into public
office. Can he maintain his integrity once he learns how things really
work in politics? Director/co-writer Barbareschi stars as this "Mr.
Smith," who goes to Rome in an entertaining look at Italian political
life.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Saturday, October 11, 1:45 p.m.
Sunday, October 12, 6:30 p.m.
I¹m Not Scared
Directed by: Gabriele Salvatores
Italy/Spain/Great Britain (2002)
In a poor Sicilian village, 9-year-old Michele makes a frightening
discovery: another boy chained to a hole in the ground. Afraid to tell
anyone, Michele brings the boy food and water while trying to puzzle
out what his presence means. Eventually, he begins to understand that
the boy is the victim of a terrible crime that may involve Michele's
own parents. This new film by the Academy Award-winning director of Mediterraneo
is at once a brilliant thriller and a morally complex drama about a
child¹s loss of innocence
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Krzysztof Kieslowski Award Finalist
Saturday, October 11, 9:15 p.m.
Sunday, October 12, 9:30 p.m.
La Dolce Vita
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Italy (1960)
A worldwide sensation on its release, Federico Fellini¹s masterpiece La
Dolce Vita is widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever
made. Marcello Mastroianni, in the first of several roles as Fellini¹s
on-screen alter ego, plays a journalist caught up in the decadence of
1960s Rome. Fellini won the Palme d¹Or at Cannes for this beautifully
photographed classic. Newly restored 35mm print.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Introduced by: Vincent Piturro, film studies professor, CU Denver
Monday, October 13, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 14, 4 p.m. - $5
La Strada
Directed by: Federico Fellini
Italy (1954)
Federico Fellini¹s first film as sole director won the first-ever
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Starring Fellini¹s wife,
Giulietta Masina, in a brilliant performance and Anthony Quinn, the
film depicts the poignant relationship between a circus strongman and
the slow-witted young woman he literally buys to be his assistant. La
Strada is one of the great classics of Italian and world cinema.
Newly restored 35mm print.
A Salute to Italian Cinema
Introduced by: Vincent Piturro, film studies professor, CU Denver
Monday, October 13, 4 p.m. - $5
Tuesday, October 14, 7:45 p.m.
Open My Heart
Directed by: Gilada Colagrande
Italy (2002)
Italian director Gilada Colagrande makes an impressive feature debut
with this daring film in which she also stars. Without being
exploitative, Colagrande uses explicit nudity and sexuality to explore
the obsessive, incestuous relationship between two sisters. When
the younger one, who has been sheltered from the world by her older
sibling, begins a relationship with a man, things get very
complicated.
Salute to Italian Cinema
In Person: Gilada Colagrande
Saturday, October 11, 6:45 p.m.
Sunday, October 12, 1:30 p.m.
The Power of the Past
Directed by: Piergiorgio Gay
Italy (2002)
Following his father¹s funeral, successful children¹s book author
Gianni is approached by a mysterious stranger (Bruno Ganz). The man
claims to be a friend of Gianni¹s father and to know a secret about the
father¹s past a secret so startling that Gianni¹s entire life is
turned upside down, and he must question that life and all of his
relationships.
A Salute to Italian Cinema Program
Saturday, October 11, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, October 15, 9 p.m.
With the exception of THE HEART IS ELSEWHERE, all of the Italian cinema
tribute screenings will take place at the Denver Film Society’s
permanent
home, the Starz Film Center at the Tivoli on the Auraria campus.
The full film schedule can be found online at www.denverfilm.org.
Tickets are available for sale at the box offices of the Starz Film
Center and Denver
Center Ticketing at the Performing Arts Complex, at all King Soopers
stores, and online.
Unless otherwise noted, all tickets are $9.00 general admission, $8.00
for groups of 10 or more or for students or seniors, and $7.00 for
Denver Film Society members.
Tickets are available for sale at the Denver Center for the Performing
Arts box office, at all King Soopers stores and online.
The Salute to Italian Cinema is sponsored by the Anna and John Sie
Foundation and Metropolitan Homes, with support from Blockbuster, Anna
Sie, Ciruli Associates, and Rosemary and Mick Laurita, in cooperation
with Bambino’s Ristorante and the University of Colorado at Denver’s
College of Arts & Media.
About the Denver Film Society/Starz Denver International Film Festival:
The Starz Denver International Film Festival is the award-winning
flagship program of the Denver Film Society (DFS), showcasing the best
of world cinema since 1977.
DFS is the premier cultural institution in Colorado dedicated to the
celebration and cultivation of film as an art form.
DFS also presents an array of year-round cinematic programming and
special events at its permanent home at the Starz Film Center in the
Tivoli on the Auraria campus.
# # #
Starz Encore Group serves as the title sponsor for the
26th Starz Denver International Film Festival
with New Deal Pictures as the presenting sponsor.
Other major sponsors include the Independent Film Channel available on
Comcast, Coors Brewing Company, the Scientific and Cultural Facilities
District, the National Endowment for the Arts, Tribe, CEAVCO Audio
Visual, 23airmail, the City and County of Denver, KCNC-TV News4, KBCO
97.3 FM and The Denver Post
Robin Rothman
Public Relations
26th Starz Denver International Film Festival
October 9 - 19, 2003
See Some Movies. Meet the Players.
Denver Film Society
1725 Blake Street
Denver, CO 80202
ph: 303.595.3456, x17
fax: 303.595.0956
e: pr@denverfilm.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupi Avati
Italian filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Pupi Avati dropped out of
veterinary school to become a jazz clarinetist during the mid-'50s.
A decade later, after spending time working in the frozen food industry
he, his brother Antonio and Gianni Minervini founded the A.M.A.
production company.
From there Avati directed a number of distinguished films. In 1975, he
helped write the screenplay of Pasolini's final film Salo, or
the 120 Days of Sodom. After producing the horror movie Macabro
(1980), he and his brother founded Duea Films where they produced many
popular comedies such as Festa
di Laurea (1985).
In 1991 Avati made a splash in the U.S. with Storia di
Ragazzi di Ragazze/The
Story of Boys and Girls. That same year he also released his first
English language film Bix. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupi Avati
Filmography
2003 Il
Cuore Altrove - Director, Screenwriter
2001 I
cavalieri che fecero l'impresa - Director, Screenwriter
1999 La
Via Degli Angeli - Director, Screenwriter
1997 Il
Testimone dello Sposo - Director, Screenwriter
1996 Festival
- Director, Screenwriter
1996 L'Arcano
Incantatore - Director, Screenwriter
1994 Dichiarazioni
d'amore - Director, Screenwriter
1994 L'Amico
d'Infanzia - Director, Screenwriter
1993 Magnificat
- Director
1991 Fratelli
E Sorelle - Director, Screenwriter
1991 Where
The Night Begins - Screenwriter
1990 Bix:
An Interpretation of a Legend - Director
1989 The
Story of Boys and Girls - Director, Producer, Screenwriter
1987 Ultimo
Momento - Director, Screenwriter
1986 Regalo
Di Natale - Director, Screenwriter
1985 Festa
Di Laurea - Director, Screenwriter
1985 Impiegati
- Director, Screenwriter
1984 Noi
Tre - Director, Screenwriter
1983 Zeder
- Director
1983 Una
Gita Scolastica - Director, Screenwriter
1981 Help
Me Dream - Director, Screenwriter
1981 Aiutami
a Sognare - Director, Screenwriter
1980 Macabro
- Screenwriter
1976 La
Casa Dalle Finestre Che Ridono - Director
1976 La
Padrona è Servita - Screenwriter
1970 Thomas
E . . . Gli Indemonati - Director, Screenwriter
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupi Avati
Montreal World Film Festival - 2000
Best Screenplay: La Via
Degli Angeli, Won
Cannes Film Festival - 1993
In Competition: Magnificat,
Nominated
Venice Film Festival - 1992
In Competition: Nominated
Cannes Film Festival - 1991
In Competition: Bix: An
Interpretation of a Legend, Nominated
Venice Film Festival - 1984
Competing Film: Noi Tre,
Nominated
Special Award for Technical Merit: Noi Tre,
Won
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robin Rothman
Public Relations
26th Starz Denver International Film Festival
October 9 - 19, 2003
See Some Movies. Meet the Players.
Denver Film Society
1725 Blake Street
Denver, CO 80202
ph: 303.595.3456, x17
fax: 303.595.0956
e: pr@denverfilm.org
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
10/3/03
Contact:
Britta Erickson
303-499-1227
Robin Rothman
303-434-4609