Kolkata, October 2022: ITALIAN SCREENS, the festival that will present the best of Italian cinema abroad, in the name of a program of high artistic and cultural value, was born on the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), Cinecittà for the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC) and the Academy of Italian Cinema – David di Donatello Awards.
All screenings will take place simultaneously, from the 12th through the 14th, in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and at the historic New Empire cinema in Kolkata, in the presence of the institutions and some of the most famous names in Indian cinema. The films presented, in Italian with English subtitles, are Il Buco by Michelangelo Frammartino, Sulla giostra by Giorgia Cecere, Qui rido io by Mario Martone, L’Arminuta by Giuseppe Bonito and Ariaferma by Leonardo di Costanzo.
At a Press Conference held to announce the Film Festival the celebrated Indian Director Gautam Ghosh, who is undertaking an Italo-Indian collaborative project himself noted that: “It is very good news that an official Italian Film Festival is taking place after so many years in India. Satyajit Ray started making films after being inspired by Italian films like ‘Bicycle Thief’, and I too gained inspiration from ‘Rocco and his Brothers’. The new generation of Italian films will be shown to the Kolkata audience – a city which has a great connection with Italian cinema starting in the late 1940s. There is a great synergy between Italian and our film makers in terms of passion, culture and love for cinema.”
The Consul General for Italy in Kolkata, Gianluca Rubagotti emphasized the importance of this initiative. This Film Festival of Italian Films is a comprehensive event on cinema. Our main is to promote and recognize Italian Movies. People will enjoy contemporary Italian Movies as Italy continues to produce quality films.”
Ushoshi Sengupta said: “I am glad and excited that the Film Festival is happening in Kolkata. I am sure people will enjoy this because all forms of art are experiential and cinema is a vital part of this.”
This initiative is part of a wider project of deepening cultural relations between Italy and India, organized by Cinecittà for the DGCA of the MiC in order to ensure a rapprochement with Bollywood/Tollywood and to stimulate meeting opportunities between producers, distributors and creatives of both countries.
Italian Screens is providing a crucial opportunity to introduce the protagonists of Italian cinema abroad, to build up an audience that appreciates the great productions of the moment, but also to present to local operators the best of what the Italian audiovisual system has to offer in order to encourage co-productions, the growth of the professional quality of our industry and the internationalization of our cinema. The event also represents an important networking opportunity to enable industry operators to get in touch with those who can best illustrate the incentive program at national and regional levels, to support the production for those filming in Italy.
After India, the busy calendar of appointments of Italian Screens will stop in Los Angeles from 31 October to 2 November, in Sao Paulo from 4 November and in Berlin from 8 to 13 November. Following, the festival will continue around the world until 2023, from Buenos Aires to Washington, New York, Seoul, Tel Aviv and Bogotà.
What: Press Conference with Gianluca Rubagotti (CG Italy), Director Gautam Ghosh and Screen Personality Ushoshi Sengupta
When: 11 October, 2022
Where, Octa, 20G Park Street
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