Alessandro Preziosi and Maria Grazia Cucinotta are this year’s winners of the Los Angeles Creativity Award organised by the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC). The presentation of the award took place at the end of the ‘Los Angeles Italia – Film Fashion and Art Fest’, which is celebrated every year in the week preceding the Oscars. The whole Italian delegation at the Festival was hosted at the Consulate by Consul General Silvia Chiave. The Consulate is one of the sponsors of the Festival. In addition to the award winners, present at the event were also Luca Barbareschi, actresses Angela and Marianna Fontana, and cinema producer Matteo Rovere. The prize is a tribute to the points of excellence of Italy and consists of an original work drawing inspiration from the ceiling of the Pantheon and created for the Institute by Emilio Cavallini.
‘Los Angeles, Italia – Film, Fashion and Art Fest’, presented by the Istituto Capri nel Mondo with the support of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and of the local ICE Agency in Los Angeles, the SIAE, ANICA, Associazione Produttori Televisivi and MATERA 2019 Open Future, is only one of the initiatives sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles to promote Italian cinema.
This year in particular, concomitantly to Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture, the IIC will co-present the film ‘Mathera’ by Francesco Invernizzi and Vito Salinaro at the Italian Film Festival USA in Phoenix and, in partnership with the Italian Consulate General in Houston, will sponsor the candidacy of the film ‘Lucania’ by Gigi Roccati at the “Panorama Italia” section of the WorldFest Houston.
The densest period of initiatives is the one between the Golden Globes (in January) and the Oscars (in February). In addition to ‘Los Angeles Italia’, in January, the IIC, in cooperation with Agnus Dei by Tiziana Rocca, organised ‘Filming Italy’, which focuses on promoting the Italian territory as a location for the cinema.
In addition to cooperating with several American festivals, the IIC also co-presents other important initiatives which include Fare Cinema – Italian Cinema Week, the most awaited Italian cinema festival that also presents the Italian film running for the Oscars. The cinema promotion initiatives end in December with the ShortFilm Day, which is co-presented with the Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio of Turin.
