The Italian Embassy in Lebanon and the Italian Cultural Institute of Beirut, in collaboration with the Metropolis Art Cinema, have launched the first edition of the Italian Film Festival in Beirut.
The festival opened with the screening of Vermiglio by Maura Delpero, marking its premiere in the Mediterranean and Middle East region, and concluded with a cine-concert of È Piccerella, a masterpiece of Italian silent cinema, accompanied by an original electronic soundtrack composed and performed live. The film was originally shot in 1922 by Elvira Notari, Italy’s first female director.
The Italian Film Festival was conceived to bridge the gap in the awareness of contemporary Italian cinema in Lebanon, a country where classic masterpieces are well-appreciated, yet modern productions remain largely unseen.
The festival’s programme featured the following selection of films:
- Vermiglio (Maura Delpero)
- Nonostante | Feeling Better (Valerio Mastandrea)
- Sulla terra leggeri | Weightless (Sara Fgaier)
- Quell’estate con Irene | My Summer with Irene (Carlo Sironi)
- Familia (Francesco Costabile)
- La vita accanto | The Life Apart (Marco Tullio Giordana)
- Iddu | Sicilian Letters (Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza)
- Confidenza | Trust (Daniele Luchetti)
- Un mondo a parte | A World Apart (Riccardo Milani)
- Gloria! (Margherita Vicario)
- È Piccerella | The Little Girl’s Wrong (Elvira Notari)
