Divertissement, red carpet, stars of the big screen in the mood for confidences, coup de théâtre… the ingredients for the perfect success of an event have come together at the Citrigno cinema in Cosenza. The occasion was the final evening of the Spring of Italian Cinema Film Fest – Federico II Award.
Now in its eleventh edition, the event conceived by the president of Anec Calabria, Giuseppe Citrigno, and supported by the Calabria Film Commission Foundation, was a great success this year too. Ten days dedicated to cinemato its protagonists, to the public. Maestro Gianni Amelio acted as a prologue and spoke with the audience in the room at the special presentation of «Campo di Battaglia», his latest “creature”, acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival. Then, the feature films alternated with previews and meetings with actors and directors: 18 screenings, 13 films, of which five in competition, and seven shorts. Just to name a few, the screening of «Un mondo a parte» and the subsequent meeting between the Calabrian anthropologist Vito Teti and the director of the film Riccardo Milani who for the subject was inspired by the concept of «Restanza», a theoretical construct developed precisely from Thetis.
The shorts had a lot of space, first a whole day created in collaboration with the Fice (Italian Federation of Arthouse Cinema), and then the «Muina Fest – Vortices of identity and culture», a review of short films curated by the city’s Consulta Intercultura of Cosenza. For the «Cinema supported by the Calabria Film Commission» section, the 2024 Production Notice was illustrated at the Confindustria Cosenza headquarters, a measure to support audiovisual productions that «will apply for cinematographic works intending to choose landscape beauties, natural places for their works and the contemporary contexts that Calabria offers as open-air sets and narrative settings.”
The special “Cinema Ritrovato” is exciting, with the patronage of the Cineteca di Bologna, the University of Calabria and with the collaboration of the film promotion association “Cineforum Falso Movimento”. On the screen, «The Trilogy of Life», by Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, The Flower of the Arabian Nights). And here we are at the final evening, an overflowing and enthusiastic Citrigno cinema gave a warm welcome to the stars of our local cinema. And given the excessive heat, Giove Pluvio probably thought of cooling things off by sending down a few buckets of rain which the roof of the cinema – open to create a “starry” atmosphere – let fall on the heads of the audience. Fun interlude, with a small escape and attached return, which livened up the event. And a real show started. A very nice Giampaolo “Inspector Coliandro” Morelli told some cinematographic anecdotes, the same did Vinicio Marchioni, of Calabrian origins, Isabella Ragonese revealed that she was captured by the beauty of the Rendano theater where she would like to act, an irrepressible Laura Morante then spoke bluntly about fellow actors and directors, drawing up a sort of list of good and bad…
And then, here is the international star: actor, director, screenwriter, son of art and so on and so forth. The Frenchman Louis Garrel, the disheveled protagonist, friendly and very at ease with the Cosenza audience who literally enchanted with his stories full of verve and curiosity. And who we met backstage…
Actor and director: you are trying your hand at both, but which one fascinates you more?
«Everything fascinates me and amuses me. The difference between an actor and a director is in the preparation: as a director you stop having a private life. They are different jobs, I don’t have a preference. And then, the truth is that when I make a film I always think of Italy. I like your country, your culture and your way of life. The Italian language is much more beautiful than French. Jean Cocteau said that Italians are French in good spirits. And that’s exactly how it is. When I’m in France I’m pessimistic, in Italy I’m optimistic.”
You have a special bond with Italy and with cinema because Bernardo Bertolucci gave you great success with «The dreamers»…
«It is one of my best professional memories. Bertolucci came to Paris to shoot the film and I didn’t know him at all, nor had I seen his films, except “Last Tango in Paris”, which I watched, like everyone else, only in my room. They told me to be careful with him. I, on the other hand, found him sweet, naughty, very intelligent and above all brilliant. After “The dreamers” I made a film that went to the Cannes Film Festival. The day after the screening he called me and said, “Well, I know it was a failure.” I felt a little bad about it. But that’s how he was. It was sweetly wicked. I liked it and I miss it. I loved it.”
You have acted in films of different genres. “The Innocent” is a fun film. Why did you also focus on comedy in your writing?
«I didn’t want it to be a comedy. Then, the first spectators laughed heartily. They decided the genre. It’s the performance that makes it a comedy. Staged and acted differently, it could become tragic. It is the true story of my mother Brigitte Sy, who ran theater workshops in prison. It’s a world I know well. I wanted to create a story that revolved around him, not a report on life in prison. I mixed the genres of popular cinema, primarily comic noir and non-sappy romantic comedy.”
Living in a family of artists… how much has it influenced you?
«I had great admiration for my grandfather, who was an actor, especially in the theatre. And already at the age of eleven I watched him act. Then I admired my father, with his autobiographical, intimate cinema. And my mother, an extraordinary woman who worked in prison for 15 years making theater for prisoners. However, growing up in a family where everyone does the same job is a bit boring. And entering the same profession created many problems for me. But I think I’ve come out of it…”.