NICE-New Italian Cinema Events makes its comeback in promoting emerging Italian cinema at the 19th edition of the NICE Russia 2016 festival directed by Viviana del Bianco. As in previous editions, the two Russian screenings will run almost in parallel: in Moscow from 5 to 11 April at the Illusion Cinema Theatre and from 8 to 13 April in St. Petersburg, where NICE is screening its films in a new venue, the Avrora Cinema, the city’s oldest cinema theatre. The event is promoted by the Italian Embassy in Moscow, the Italian Consulate in St. Petersburg and the Italian Institutes of Culture of the two cities. This year too, the selection of films is particularly varied, including widely differing genres and styles: “Cloro” (drama) by Lamberto Sanfelice, “Io, Arlecchino” (“I, Harlequin”, comedy-drama) by Giorgio Pasotti and Matteo Bini, “Se Dio vuole” (comedy) by Edoardo Falcone, “Mi chiamo Maya” (drama) by Tommaso Agnese, “Italo” (comedy) by Alessia Scarso, “Tempo instabile con probabili schiarite” (“Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells” comedy/drama) by Marco Pontecorvo, “Fino a qui tutto bene” (comedy) by Roan Johnson. The 2016 NICE for Russia selection will rerun the six films already screened in the United States last November with the fresh addition of a comedy (“Fino a qui tutto bene”) to testify to the Festival’s interest in selecting ever-differing films capable of giving a complete overview of Italian film-making, as explained by Viviana del Bianco. (Red)
The selection of films dedicated to Matteo Garrone
A selection of films dedicated to Matteo Garrone will open the festival of new Italian cinema in Russia. The opening might be unusual for a festival but not for NICE as, over the years, it has often dedicated retrospectives to established young film directors in whom it has confided ever since the they started their film-making careers. Mr Garrone will be present at the Moscow and St. Petersburg screenings of his films “Il racconto dei racconti” (Tale of Tales), “Reality”, “Gomorra”, “Primo amore” (First Love) and “L’imbalsamatore” (The Embalmer). The closing event of the festival will be the showing of “Noi e la Giulia” by Edoardo Leo, another young director who has been a guest of the Festival in the past. The film directors attending this year’s edition –Matteo Garrone, Alessia Scarso, Matteo Bini and Roan Johnson, in addition to the scriptwriter of “Fino a qui tutto bene”, Ottavia Madeddu – will present their films, the screening of which will be followed by a debate open to the public. Meetings are also scheduled in the schools and universities both in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.
