Lovers of Arthouse movies can see a small selection of European and international films scattered through the year at the Edinburgh Filmhouse, Cameo and GFT. But it's only during a specially curated Film Festival where you can relish and indulge in some hidden gems, new releases, shorts, documentaries and vintage classics which will rarely, if ever, be screened under general cinema release in the UK.
Compiled by artistic directors Richard Mowe and Allan Hunter with great passion and enthusiasm, the Italian Film Festival 2009 comes to Scotland - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness, and St. Andrews - this Springtime, as part of a major UK and Ireland tour.
Running from 17th April to 27th May, this year's programme is an appetising feast of tasty Italian treats. It showcases "Nuovo Cinema", a selection of fine films by first and second time directors such as the debut movie by Andrea Molaioli, La Ragazza del Lago, The Girl by the Lake), a murder mystery set in the Italian Dolomites. Described as "an engrossing thriller" by Variety magazine, the central performance by Toni Servillo won two Best Actor awards at the Venice Film Festival. Actor /director Gianni dei Gregorio stars in his own gentle comedy, Pranzo di Ferragosto (Mid-August Lunch), about Gianni (Gregorio), a middle aged man, his elderly mother and three elderly women set around midsummer in Rome.
Under the Panorama section, there are feature films by some of the most respected names in Italian cinema. Highlights include Marco Tullio Giordana's wartime melodrama Sanguepazzo (Wild Blood), based on a true life story of the Fascist era, between 1936 and 1945, and Bianco e Nero, (Black and White), a romance involving race relations and prejudice by director/screenplay writer Christina Comencini and described as an Italian -style "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
The 2009 retrospective is devoted to the beautiful movie star, "Italy's Sweetheart" Alida Valli (1921-2006) regarded as the Greta Garbo of the Italian screen. Her glamorous sixty year career includes memorable roles in such classics as The Third Man, Luchino Visconti's Senso, and Bernardo Bertolucci's La Strategia del Ragno (The Spider's Stratagem). Valli's nephew, Pierpaolo De Mejo will be present at the IFF for the screening of Senso and his own documentary on her life, childhood dreams and film career, "All About Alida Valli".
The festival was founded and supported by The Italian Institute in Edinburgh, in partnership with The Italian Cultural Institutes in London and Dublin, Scottish Screen as well as many sponsors.
The Festival brochure is now available and the full programme is online at the Festival's website - www.italianfilmfestival.org.uk.
Dates: Friday, April 17, 2009 - 27 May, 2009
Venues: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, St Andrews and Inverness
Box Office contact numbers: Edinburgh Filmhouse: 0131 228 2688. GFT : 0141 332 8128. DCA: 01382 909 90. New Picture House, St. Andrews: 01334 474902. Eden Court, Inverness: 01443 234234.