The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Istituto Luce Cinecittà have announced the complete lineup for “Open Roads: New Italian Cinema,” which takes place June 2-8.
For 16 years, Open Roads has proudly offered New York audiences the most diverse and extensive lineup of contemporary Italian film available. As always, the series includes both commercial and independent fare, ranging from a vérité documentary to a superhero movie, outrageous comedies to gripping dramas, with nine North American Premieres and in-person appearances by many of the filmmakers.
The 2016 edition strikes a satisfying balance between emerging talents and esteemed veterans, including two feature debuts—the lyrical coming-of-age tale “Arianna” by Carlo Lavagna and Adriano Valerio’s poetic “Banat,” starring “I Am Love”’s Edoardo Gabbriellini—plus the latest from Gianni Zanasi (“The Complexity of Happiness”) and Vincenzo Marra (“First Light”), and the final work from late cult director Claudio Caligari, “Don’t Be Bad,” Italy’s submission for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Oscar.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Ettore Scola’s brilliant satirical tragedy “Ugly, Dirty and Bad.” A master of the commedia all’italiana, Ettore Scola won Best Director 40 years ago at the Cannes Film Festival for this outrageous “satirical tragedy” about a sub-proletariat household in Rome. The sprawling extended Mazzatella family lives shoulder to shoulder in a shack that overlooks a busy highway. In an extraordinary comic performance, the great Nino Manfredi stars as Giacinto, the grizzled old patriarch who has received a one-million-lire insurance payout for the loss of his left eye—money he refuses to share with any of the two-dozen children, grandchildren, and assorted other relatives who share his cramped abode. Soon enough, the family members are plotting their revenge, only to discover that Giacinto has no plans of going gently into that good night. Returning to the screen in a beautiful new digital restoration, Scola’s film contains a pitch-perfect blend of hilarity and brutality, which amounts to a brilliant portrait of squalor and cynicism unlike any other.
Other notable North American premieres include Gabriele Mainetti’s gritty superhero anti-blockbuster “They Call Me Jeeg,” winner of seven David Di Donatello awards (Italy’s top film honors); the witty relationship comedy “Solo” by writer-director-star Laura Morante; Claudio Cupellini’s torrid love saga “The Beginners”; the Dardenne Brothers–produced “Long Live the Bride” by Ascanio Celestini; Maria Sole Tognazzi’s lesbian romantic comedy “Me, Myself and Her”; Gianluca De Serio & Massimiliano De Serio’s “River Memories,” a vérité portrait of a Turin shantytown; and revered documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Pannone’s “The World’s Smallest Army,” paired with the premiere of the short documentary “Viva Ingrid!”, about Ingrid Bergman’s years in Italy, directed by Alessandro (grandson of Roberto) Rossellini.
Tickets are on sale now; you can see more and save with a $99 All-Access Pass or the 3+ film discount package. Visit the Lincoln Center website for more information.
“Open Roads: New Italian Cinema” is co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Istituto Luce Cinecittà. The festival is organized by Dennis Lim and Dan Sullivan. Organizers give special thanks to Italian Trade Commission; Italian Cultural Institute New York; Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò—NYU; Antonio Monda.