17,30 L’ARMATA BRANCALEONE
for love and gold
by Mario Monicelli
20,15 NOTTURNO BUS
by Davide Marengo
6 Oct.
by Moshen Melliti
20,15 LA DOLCE VITA
the sweet life
7 Oct.
by Mario Monicelli
17,30 IO, L’ALTRO
by Federico Fellini
17,30 LE ROSE DEL DESERTO
the roses of the desert
20,15 UNA GIORNATA PARTICOLARE
a special day
by Ettore Scola
8 Oct.
by Vittorio De Sica
20,15 IO, ALTRO
CAPE TOWN 12-14 October
Cinema Nouveau
12 Oct.
17,30
L’ARMATA BRANCALEONE
for love and gold
by Mario Monicelli
20,15 IERI, OGGI E DOMANI
yesterday, today, tomorrow
13 Oct.
by Mario Monicelli
20,15 UNA GIORNATA PARTICOLARE
a special day
by Vittorio De Sica
17,30 LE ROSE DEL DESERTO
the roses of the desert
by Ettore Scola
14 Oct.
17,30
IO, L’ALTRO
by Moshen Melliti
20,15 LA DOLCE VITA
the sweet life
by Federico Fellini
17,30 IERI, OGGI E DOMANI
yesterday, today, tomorrow
by Moshen Melliti
9 Oct.
by Vittorio De Sica
20,15 NOTTURNO BUS
DURBAN 19-21 October
Cinema Nouveau
19 Oct.
17,30 L’ARMATA BRANCALEONE
for love and gold
by Mario Monicelli
20,15 IERI, OGGI E DOMANI
yesterday, today, tomorrow
10 Oct.
20 Oct.
by Paolo e Vittorio Taviani
by Mario Monicelli
20,15 LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE
by Pupi Avati
20,15 UNA GIORNATA PARTICOLARE
a special day
11 Oct.
21 Oct.
by Pupi Avati
17,30 IO, ALTRO
by Moshen Melliti
MATRIMONIO ALL’ITALIANA
marriage italian-style
20,15
17,30 MATRIMONIO ALL’ITALIANA
marriage italian-style
by Davide Marengo
17,30 LA MASSERIA DELLE ALLODOLE
the lark farm
17.30 20,15 LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE
by Vittorio De Sica
by Vittorio De Sica
17,30 LE ROSE DEL DESERTO
the roses of the desert
by Ettore Scola
LA DOLCE VITA
the sweet life
by Federico Fellini
Great
Italian Cinema
italianfilmfestival
by De Sica, Fellini,
Monicelli, Scola
mainly starring
Marcello Mastroianni,
Sophia Loren
and the latest in
Italian
Contemporary
Cinema
05 - 11 October Johannesburg
admission free
JOHANNESBURG 5 -11 October
Cinema Nouveau
5 Oct.
Cinema Nouveau screened
by Jameson - Rosebank
12 - 14 October Cape Town
Cinema Nouveau screened
by Jameson - V& A - Waterfront
19 - 21October Durban
Cinema Nouveau screened by Jameson - Gateway
L’ARMATA BRANCALEONE
for love and gold
by Mario Monicelli
with Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak,
Gian Maria Volonté
A knight on his way to take over the Aurocastro fief, is robbed
by brigands and left in a ditch. One of the assailers talks his
friend Brancaleone into taking up the knight’s identity, after
recovering a parchment stating the ownership of the fief.
Brancaleone becomes the brigands’ commander but the
road to Aurocastro is full of perils and unexpected adventures: the encounter with Teofilatto and the Byzantines, the
occupation and flee from a plague ridden town, the rescue
of an extravagant bride-to-be. At last, after reaching the fief,
Brancaleone’s army are assailed by the Saracens but are
saved at the last minute by a group of warriors headed by
the knight they had robbed. Brancaleone and his men have
no choice but to leave for a crusade in Palestine.
NOTTURNO BUS
by Davide Marengo
with Giovanna Mezzogiorno,
Valerio Mastrandrea, Ennio Fantastichino
Franz is a bus driver waiting for his big break in life but he’s
unable to get rid of his addiction to poker that is costing him
a fortune. But then Leila, a beautiful and intriguing woman
but also a money forger, storms into his life… The mysterious
tricks of destiny plunge Leila and Franz into the middle of a
ruthless war for a microchip that could ruin the life of a very
powerful public person… Help arrives unexpectedly from
Matera, a man in the intelligence with a passion for jazz and
good readings.
IO, L’ALTRO
by Moshen Melliti
with Raoul Bova,
Giovanni Martorana, Mario Pupella
On the tatty fishing boat Medea, time seems to have stopped for Giuseppe and Yousef, were it not for a radio, their only
means of communication with the outer world. Giuseppe
is an unsociable and crusty Sicilian fisherman, Yousef a
playful and solar Tunisian immigrant. In the narrow and claustrophobic space of a rusty boat, a small spot in the middle
of the Sicilian sea, the brotherly relationship of the two men
united in their misery and hard work is broken by the radio
announcement regarding the authorities hunting for a certain
Yousef, a terrorist responsible for the Madrid tragedy. This the
spark that initiates all doubts and suspicion vs. “the other” in
Giuseppe’s mind. In a crescendo of uncertainty and misunderstanding, the situation threatens the two men’s friendship
more than once, as both become victims and executioners
of a psychological game of diffidence and aggression.
by Ettore Scola
with Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
LA DOLCE VITA
the sweet life
by Federico Fellini
with Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg
Marcello is a journalist who writes celebrity articles for a
tabloid magazine focusing on the facts and personalities of
Via Veneto. Because of his job, his lifestyle is very similar to
that of the celebrities he writes about. At the same time he
swings from one relationship to another with indifference.
The arrival of an American actress, Sylvia, becomes the
chance for another sentimental adventure. Without thinking
twice, Marcello plunges into the vortex of Rome’s social life.
After an orgy, that leaves everybody with a sense of boredom
and sickness, Marcello encounters a young girl at the beach
by chance. Her limpid and innocent eyes strike a deep chord
in him but he fails to understand what the girl is trying to tell
him as he is unable to catch her words because of a canal
separating them. Marcello has no choice but to follow his
squalid acquaintances.
LE ROSE DEL DESERTO
the roses of the desert
by Mario Monicelli
with Michele Placido, Giorgio Pasotti,
During the summer of 1940, a medical unit of the Italian army
camps out at Sorman, a lost oasis in the Libyan desert. The
occasional and rhetorical war bulletins from the front turn the
war into something abstract and distant. The atmosphere in
the camp is relaxed: the commander, a major, spends his
time writing passionate love letters to his young wife while
an Italian friar involves the Italian soldiers in helping the local
population, turning their military expedition into a humanitarian mission. But the conflict taking place in the North Africa
has an unexpected twist and the Sorman camp is suddenly
invaded at first by retreating soldiers and later by the wounded escaping from the English army. For the soldiers and
officers of the medical unit this is their first real encounter
with the cruel reality of war. Based on the novel “The Desert
of Libya” by Mario Tobino, Monicelli chooses a great cast to
portray a “dirty war” and his glance on the past becomes a
means to analyze the present.
UNA GIORNATA PARTICOLARE
a special day
On May 6th, 1938, a fascist Rome is celebrating Hitler’s
visit to Mussolini in the streets. In a working class tenement,
Antonietta, wife to a fervent “black shirt” fascist and herself
a passionate fascist, cherishes a photographic album filled
with Mussolini’s pictures and famous words. By chance,
while chasing a parrot escaped from the cage, she encounters a neighbour, Gabriele. The latter, an ex-radio speaker,
has lost his job following the accusation of being a subversive, a false reason to hide the fact that he’s an homosexual.
Antonietta’s first reaction towards the man, who invites himself over for a coffee, is of mistrust. But understanding soon
takes over. The man and the woman exchange secrets and
have a brief love encounter. At the end of the day, both return
to their usual lives: Antonietta to being her husband’s slave,
while Gabriele is arrested and sent to confinement.
IERI, OGGI E DOMANI
yesterday, today, tomorrow
by Vittorio De Sica
with Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
1 Adelina: Naples, 1954. Adelina smuggles cigarettes in
order to support her family and unemployed husband. Her
only way to avoid going to jail is by getting pregnant every
time she is about to be arrested.
Episode 2 Anna: In Milan, a rich woman starts a relationship
with a man of modest origins out of boredom, but their union
lasts the time of an outdoor trip.
Episode 3 Mara: In Rome, Mara, a young prostitute, has to
talk her neighbour’s nephew into going back to the seminary
after he has madly fallen in love with her.
MATRIMONIO ALL’ITALIANA
marriage italian-style
by Vittorio De Sica
with Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
In a bordello during the war, Domenico Soriano meets
Filumena Marturano, a middle-aged woman of humble origins. After falling in love with her, Domenico and Filomena
move in together. After twenty years, during which Filumena
has never stopped behaving as a dedicated wife and geisha,
Domenico still fails to marry her and is actually thinking of
putting an end to their relationship by marrying a younger
woman who works as a cashier in one of his shops. Filumena
has no other choice but to try and rescue the situation with
one last desperate attempt. Pretending to be terminally ill,
she tricks Domenico into marrying her, managing to get rid
of the younger rival. After the ceremony, Domenico learns
about the existence of Filumena’s three children, but she
will never tell him which is his real son. In spite of his many
attempts, Domenico eventually gives up and decides to stay
with Filumena, the woman he has after all always sincerely
loved, and adopts all three children.
LA MASSERIA DELLE ALLODOLE
the lark farm
by Paolo e Vittorio Taviani
with Paz Vega, Moritz Bleibtreu
It’s 1915 and the Great War is at its start. Turkey is shaken by
the conflict and numerous soldiers are planning an ethnic
cleansing against the Armenian minority communities living
in the country. The Avakian family is celebrating the funeral of
its patriarch but it’s are also bravely trying not to be defeated
by the recurring rumour regarding a possible deportation.
Offspring Nunik has more than a good reason to oppose leaving her home country: her love for Turkish officer Egon, who
has promised to take her safe and sound over the border
where they will peacefully live their love story. Unfortunately
things will not go as planned and the girl will find herself
forced to witness the horrors of the Armenian genocide, the
extermination of her whole family and the deportation of the
few women survivors.
LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE
by Pupi Avati
with Antonio Albanese, Katia Ricciarelli
Italy, end of WW2. A widow, Liliana, is forced to leave her
beloved town Bologna with her son Nino, for their severe economical problems. They move to Apulia into the
farmhouse of her brother-in-law Giordano, the brother
of Liliana’s deceased husband, who in youth had been
madly in love with her. Their arrival arouses tension, both
in the life of Giordano, a weak man, and in the routine of
the farmhouse, awakening old conflicts also in the hearts
of the two aunts of the in-law, Suntina and Eugenia, still full
of rancour towards Liliana’s family.