This month the Italian
Film Series will complete its first full year of monthly
screenings, bringing contemporary movies from Italy to eager audiences at the
Little Theatre. The series will celebrate this major milestone on Wednesday, April
25, with the Rochester premiere screening of the wartime romantic-comedy “In
War With Love,” from director Pierfrancesco Diliberto.
The Italian
Film Series founder Tony Mangione says he was spurred
to create the series out of a personal passion for film, but also a frustration
at the decrease in foreign films making their way into American movie theaters.
With the
rise of streaming services and shifting distribution methods, the way to see
foreign and independent films is increasingly at home in your living room.
Which means there are a huge number of films made outside the Hollywood system
that are becoming harder and harder to view in a theatrical setting. Magione says he’s determined to help rectify that
imbalance, as difficult a task as that can sometimes be. He admits losing out
on at least one film he’d planned to screen because an American studio snatched
up the rights, denying access in order to clear the way to release an
English-language remake down the line.
Foreign
films are a necessity, he says, allowing American audiences to gain different
perspectives. Movies made in other countries can provide a crucial alternative
to the “America first” way of thinking. “Movies allow you to step into an
experience that normally you don’t go through,” Mangione
says. “Because the beauty of a movie is after you leave, you take it with you.
It stays with you, and can alter your way of thinking.”
As a one-man
team, Mangione has the freedom to pick and choose the
films he feels will most connect with audiences, regardless of their scale. But
as the series continues to gain in popularity, Mangione
does eventually hope to secure sponsorships and turn the series into a
full-blown film festival.
The latest
is the genre-bending “In War With Love,” which melds
the World War II epic with romantic comedy. The film follows the romance
between Arturo (played by director PierfrancescoDiliberto, aka Pif) and Flora,
who’s been promised to the son of a prominent mobster. In a desperate attempt
to get overseas to win the approval of Flora’s Sicilian father for himself,
Arturo enlists in the U.S. army as it embarks on its massive invasion of Italy.
The film was
a massive box office success in its home country, and it’s indicative of the
high-profile films Mangione has gained access to by
working directly with Italian distributors, who are often eager for a chance to
get their films in front of an American audience.
“When I
first started, I had to go scrounge to find movies,” he says. “I brought in
some good films, but they weren’t too well-known. Now, within a year I’m
getting lists of all the movies that are going to the best film festivals in
the world, and I’m getting them in advance. To me that is massive. It’s a
massive change when I can write to the major distributors in Italy, and I get a
response. Before, nobody would answer me.”
While he’s
excited to bring Rochester audiences some of the biggest films and directors
that are making waves in Italy, Mangione says that
first and foremost, he’s showing the kind of films that he himself enjoys
watching. “Because when you’ve got something that you like, doesn’t it feel
better when you share it?”
Coming Attractions:
Throughout the month of April, the 13th
Annual Rochester International Children’s Festival continues its
free tour of venues all around the greater Rochester area. Featuring a
selection of animated short films from around the world — including France,
Germany and Switzerland to Estonia, Croatia, and Georgia, as well as one
locally-produced film made by the children enrolled in the School #8 YMCA
Afterschool Program — the festival seeks to bring non-violent and creatively
inspiring films to young audiences. For more information, visit kidsfestroc.org
or call 295-1000.
Jason Voorhees rises again this Friday the 13th as Fright
Rags and the Little Theatre’s “Saturday Night Rewind” shifts nights to screen “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives” at 9:30 p.m.
Drug-taking, promiscuous teenagers beware. thelittle.org.
Visual Studies Workshop will host “Last
Light of a Dying Star: 16mm Projection Performances by Roger Beebe” on Thursday, April 19, from 7-9 p.m. The artist will present a program of
experimental films performed on multiple 16mm projectors. Admission is $5, and
free to VSW members. vsw.org
Wakanda forever! On Friday, April
27, at 7 p.m. the Black Cinema Series screens the worldwide Marvel Studios
phenomenon “Black Panther” at The Little, with a
panel discussion to follow.
Have information about an upcoming film event or
screening? Send details to adam.lubitow@gmail.com.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2018.
