Italian Celebration Hones Hollywood Ties
As Italy’s film and TV industry forges ahead after bearing the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, the Filming Italy — Los Angeles fest, which is a bridgehead between Italy and Hollywood, is pulling out all the stops to drive and promote the country’s restart effort.
After Filming Italy miraculously managed to hold its sister shindig as a physical edition on the island of Sardinia last summer, the upcoming March 18-21 Los Angeles event will be mostly online. But going virtual has just prompted Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca, a longtime Italian industry promoter, to double her efforts.
This year the former Taormina Film Festival general manager is serving up twice the number of titles — a selection of more than 50 features, TV skeins, docs and shorts — and a marathon medley of 25 master classes, starting with Edoardo Ponti, director of Sophia Loren-starrer “The Life Ahead,” in conversation with Diane Warren, who wrote the film’s theme song “Io Si (Seen).” The song recently scored a Golden Globe for Warren.
“The entire industry is suffering,” says Rocca. “So I worked to broaden the scope to all industry sectors and also bring the event to film students across Italy and in the U.S.
“I want Filming Italy — Los Angeles to be a stimulus and provide hope for future filmmakers.”
Italy, which was initially among countries hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, is also among the first countries in the world where film and TV production restarted after the peak of the pandemic, and is now trying to become among the first in Europe to reopen movie theaters in the next couple of weeks.
The Filming Italy — Los Angeles selection features standout titles from last year’s Venice Film Festival — one of the few major international fests to take place physically — such as Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Miss Marx,” about Karl Marx’s ill-fated younger daughter Eleanor, a fervent feminist pioneer, and emerging actor-director Pietro Castellitto’s dark comedy “The Predators,” which won the screenplay prize in Venice’s Horizons section.
Also featured are standout Italian titles from other international fests, including dark drama “Bad Tales” by twin brothers Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, which won the Berlin 2020 screenplay award.
“The entire industry is suffering,” says Rocca. “So I worked to broaden the scope to all industry sectors and also bring the event to film students across Italy and in the U.S.
“I want Filming Italy — Los Angeles to be a stimulus and provide hope for future filmmakers.”
Italy, which was initially among countries hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, is also among the first countries in the world where film and TV production restarted after the peak of the pandemic, and is now trying to become among the first in Europe to reopen movie theaters in the next couple of weeks.
The Filming Italy — Los Angeles selection features standout titles from last year’s Venice Film Festival — one of the few major international fests to take place physically — such as Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Miss Marx,” about Karl Marx’s ill-fated younger daughter Eleanor, a fervent feminist pioneer, and emerging actor-director Pietro Castellitto’s dark comedy “The Predators,” which won the screenplay prize in Venice’s Horizons section.
Also featured are standout Italian titles from other international fests, including dark drama “Bad Tales” by twin brothers Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, which won the Berlin 2020 screenplay award.