Fare Cinema: A film festival in Luxembourg with a focus on Mastroianni and restoration
The ‘Fare Cinema’ Festival, launched by the Foreign Ministry to promote high-quality film productions abroad, has landed in Luxembourg. The Italian Embassy has organised a series of screenings spanning from the classics of the past to contemporary cinema with two films of civic engagement. The week chosen for the Festival, from 3 to 11 November, coincided with the 41st edition of the ‘Festival du film italien de Villerupt’. The Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg, together with the Centre National de l’Audiovisuel is the Italian Embassy’s principal partner in presenting “Looking for Marcello”, a retrospective of some of Marcello Mastroianni’s most famous performances.
The Cinématèque also hosted the opening ceremony of the Festival with the screening of ‘Twin Flower’ (‘Fiore gemello’) by Laura Luchetti, who was sitting in the audience. The award-winning film at the Toronto Film Festival and at the Cannes Festival tackles the story of young migrants landing in Italy against the background of the arid and sun-scorched island of Sardinia. Another very topical issue – that of sexual harassment on the workplace – is instead the theme of the second film screened: ‘Woman’s Name’ (‘Nome di donna’) by Marco Tullio Giordana, which is based on a real story and unveils the world of resigned and tight-lipped people that the principal character manages to disrupt.
Moreover, in order to promote the competence of Italian professionals in the field of film restoration and preservation, a round table was held to which the Embassy invited Daniela Curro’, Restorer at the National Cinematheque of Rome and the top Italian expert of film restoration and preservation who was awarded the Golden Lion at the latest edition of the Venice Festival for the restoration of “The Night of the Shooting Stars” (“Notte di San Lorenzo”) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. To expand the debate to other experiences, the panel included Mirco Santi from the National Archive of Family Films of Bologna – Home Movies and Diego Cavallotti from the Laboratorio Camera Ottica of Gorizia, who presented a few short films restored by the laboratory of the University of Udine.
This market niche can foster a fruitful partnership between Italy’s specialists and the activities being developed in Luxembourg also thanks to the historic presence of the titan RTL Group, which operates in around 30 Countries worldwide.
