Italian Film Festival of St. Louis presents six films April 4 to 19

The Film & Media Studies Program in Arts & Sciences will host the 2008 Italian Film Festival of St. Louis April 4 to 19.

The festival will feature the St. Louis premieres of six recent Italian feature films, screened on Fridays and Saturdays for three consecutive weeks. All films will be shown in 35mm format in Italian with English subtitles.

Screenings are free and open to the public and begin at 8 p.m. in the university’s Brown Hall Auditorium, located near the intersection of Forysth Boulevard and Hoyt Drive. For more information, visit www.italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com; email info@italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com, or call (314) 422-3102.

The festival is organized by the Italian Film Festival of St. Louis with support from Film & Media Studies, the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

The complete schedule runs as follows:

Friday, April 4
It’s Not Our Fault (2002)
Directed by Carlo Verdone

Set in Rome, this award-winning comedy centers on a group of eight characters that meets once each week for a therapy session led by the elderly psychiatrist Dr. Lojacono. Indeed, these group sessions are so engrossing — filled with rare and cherished opportunities for self-expression — that the participants fail to notice when Lojacono dies right before their eyes.

Saturday, April 5
Along the Ridge (2005)
Directed by Kim Rossi Stuart

Winner of the 2007 David di Donatello Award for best new director, this family drama centers on 11-year-old Tommy, who lives in Rome with older sister Viola and their father, Renato. Though abandoned by the children’s mother, Stefania, the three manage to forge strong bonds of irony, spirit and love — bonds that are threatened by Stefania’s unexpected return.

Friday, April 11
A Dinner for Them to Meet (2006)
Directed by Pupi Avati

Amidst a glittering Christmas in modern-day Rome, struggling actor Sandro Lanza — recently bumped from his long-running television series — makes a half-hearted suicide attempt. Recovering in the hospital, Sandro is visited by his three independent daughters (each of whom have a different mother), who soon decide to help their father finally find the right woman.

Saturday, April 12
Once You Art Born (2005)
Directed by Marco Tullio Giordana

Nominated for the 2005 Golden Palm at Cannes, this coming-of-age tale centers on Sandro, the 13-year-old son of a wealthy family. One night, during a sailing trip through the Mediterranean, Sandro falls overboard and is presumed dead, yet is actually rescued by a fishing boat carrying illegal immigrants to Italy. Thus begins his adventurous return to Italy, a journey that will carry Sandro across the thin divide between adolescence and adulthood. Based on the novel by Maria Pace Ottieri.

Friday, April 18
My Brother is an Only Child (2007)
Directed by Daniele Luchetti

Growing up in a small Italian town in the 1960s and ’70s, brothers Accio and Manrico are constantly at odds. Where Accio is irritable and impulsive, Manrico is and charismatic and loved by all. As the years unfold, their opposing political beliefs and love for the same woman result in endless confrontations — confrontations that in many ways reflect a tumultuous period in Italian history. Inspired by the book Il fasciocomunista by Antonio Pennacchi, the film won the 2007 David di Donatello awards for best actor, best supporting actress, best screenplay and best editing.

Saturday, April 19
Red Like the Sky (2005)
Directed by Cristiano Bortone

This inspiring true story is based on the life of Mirco Mencacci, one of Italian cinema’s most renowned sound editors, who lost his eyesight during a tragic childhood accident. Sent to an institution, the young Mirco soon finds an old reel-to-reel tape player and discovers that, by slicing up the tape and piecing it back together, he can create fairy tales using only sounds.