Thursday, February 08, 2007

Italian Film Festival in Albuquerque ???

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Plans for the very successful Hollywood based Lionsgate Films to build Studios in Albuquerque and nearby Rio Rancho, prompted Ronaldo Patrizio-Steiner's decision to launch a Film Festival scheduled this week.

 

Patrizio-Steiner selection of  Italian Films as the spotlight of the First Festival was a combination of the large number of Italian Americans in the area, and his admiration for the power and longevity of Italian classic movies.

The dozen films he chose are:  La Strada, Moonstruck, Bread and Tulips, La Dole Vita, Cinema Paradisio, Big Night, The Godfather, Ciao Profesore, Il Postino, Life is Beautiful, Two Women, Nine Good Teeth

 

 

 

Notte di film a Rio Rancho: First film festival comes to city

 

Rio Rancho Observer - Rio Rancho,NM,USA
By  TomTreweek                                                                                                                       February 7, 2007

Cultures will collide in Rio Rancho for the next four days: that of the city's emerging film industry and that of its many Italian-Americans.

Beginning today, Rio Rancho will host its first film festival spotlighting a dozen Italian films spanning five decades, including one considered one of the best movies of all time.

 

 

There will be a dozen Italian films shown in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque, and the Performing Arts Center at Rio Rancho High School will show 10 of them through Sunday.

Festival founder Ronaldo Patrizio-Steiner said plans for Lionsgate Films in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque Studios helped fuel his decision.

"Since New Mexico is trying so hard to have a film industry here, it's just another reason we should have a first-rate film festival," he said.

Patrizio-Steiner described the first effort as "bare bones," but expected the project to grow in the future, eventually extending beyond Italian movies.

"There's another 12 well-known films, and then you get into more esoteric things," he said.

 

The future for the film festival will likely reflect Patrizio-Steiner's love of movies that fall outside the mainstream, as he often tries to find foreign movies that are not shown at major theaters, he said.

He chose Italian films for the first festival because of his own heritage and that of the many area residents who share his ancestry. He also felt these movies would have the most impact on viewers.

"They were films that I thought would resonate with people over a long period of time," he said.

Patrizio-Steiner also wanted to demonstrate the power and longevity of Italian classic movies.

His stance became much stronger with the inclusion of a movie the American Film Institute rated as the third-best film of all time - behind only "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca" - in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather."

But the film festival is not only to showcase the work of Italians, as there is also a charitable component. All revenue from the $7 ticket sales will go to the University of New Mexico Children's Hospital.

"I think Children's Hospital is universally embraced," Patrizio-Steiner said. "It's hard not to do things for kids."

Sponsorships, he said, have already paid the festival's other costs, including use of the theaters and rights fees to display the films.

For those who plan to attend many movies, there is a $50 movie pass that allows the holder to attend any film at any location. For more information, call 856-9501 or visit www.italianfilmfest.org.

http://www.observer-online.com/

articles/2007/02/08/news/story2.txt

 

 

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