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“Italian Cinema Worldwide”
at ShowEast 2005
(Orlando, United States, 24 October)
Talk by Elisabetta Brunella,
Secretary General of MEDIA Salles
A warm welcome to you all and many thanks
to the organisers of ShowEast, that is hosting today Italian Cinema Worldwide,
the newest of MEDIA Salles’ initiatives.
MEDIA Salles – which, as many of you already know, is part of the
European Union’s MEDIA Programme for the promotion of European movies
– has been working with the support of the Italian Government to
Italian Cinema Worldwide, which brings the most recent Italian productions
to the main exhibitors’ meetings throughout the world. This is why
we set out last June from Cinema Expo International in Amsterdam, went
to exhibitors from Russia and the CIS countries during Kino Expo and in
December will be keeping an appointment at CineAsia in China.
Today, in this new leg of our journey, we have chosen to show you some
of the newest Italian productions that will be reaching several of your
countries in the coming days and months, both in North and in South America.
Unfortunately, for Italian movies there are no “day and date”
releases around the world. There are titles that have already been released
in some countries – where it is, perhaps, already the turn of dvd
distribution – and there are titles on the way to the big screens
now. Some stories are to do with Italy, the best or the worst of it, while
others are set far away: in Palestine, Uruguay, Iraq.
As in the film Private by Saverio
Costanzo, which was actually excluded by the Academy Awards Committee
from the candidature to the Oscar as Best Foreign-Language Film, because
the acting is in English. And yet, without wishing to object to the rules
of the award, perhaps this exclusion has one limit: that of failing to
recognize that a film does not belong to a country because of the language
spoken, but because it gives expression to talents and brings into play
ideas and people who do belong to that country.
And speaking of talent, this selection
closes with a film that, unlike others, has not actually yet stipulated
any agreement on distribution for the Americas: it is The Tiger and
The Snow, which has just been released in Italian cinemas with great
success and appears here as a homage to a great talent of Italian cinema,
already an Oscar award-winner, Roberto Benigni.
I shall now leave you to watch the trailers.
A you may have seen, more information on
these movies can be obtained from the special issue of our Newsletter
“European Cinema Journal”, which you can find here at the
lunch.
Information and trailers are also available on our website, the address
of which will be appearing on the screen at the end: please take note
of it and visit us there!
I wish you a pleasant viewing. I’m
certain that you will be able to make some enjoyable discoveries and,
perhaps, leave the room with the decision to bring a little bit of Italy
into your cinemas over the next few months.
Presentation of the trailers:
- Private
- Once You're Born
- Come Into The Light
- Good Morning, Night
- The Days of Abandonment
- Persona Non Grata
- The Keys to The House
- The Tiger and The Snow
You have seen excerpts from films capable of telling stories: in some
cases true stories, such as that of the kidnapping and assassination of
the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in Good Morning, Night or
the killing of an Italian priest, Don Puglisi, by the mafia in Come
Into The Light. In other, stories drawing on real life, such as Private
– to be released in the United States in November in prestigious
theatres like the Angelika Film Center of Manhattan and on a market of
vast dimensions, like that of Brazil; stories that narrate events and
dramas taking place in our society in a sober way (Once You’re
Born) or like a fairy tale (The Tiger and The Snow).
Some films tell a story about Italy, others are set far away: in Palestine,
Iraq, Uruguay.
The latter country, for example, was where Persona Non Grata,
co-produced by Italy, Russia and Poland, was shot. And then there are
films like, for instance, The Days of Abandonment, presented
at the latest Venice Film Festival, well received by Italian audiences
and already purchased for the Brazilian market, or The Keys to The
House which, after the success obtained in Italy, has already been
appreciated in countries such as the USA and Canada, is now showing in
cinemas in Mexico and Argentina and will soon be reaching those in Colombia
and Brazil.
These trailers are now available on our website (www.mediasalles.it) in
the section Italian Cinema Worldwide, which I invite you to visit. The
fact cards for the films are to be found in the “Special ShowEast”
issue of the MEDIA Salles’ Newsletter “European Cinema Journal”
n. 4/2005.
I’m now inviting you to the “Networking
Lunch”, which will give you the opportunity to meet and
share experience and strategies.
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