The journey to Italy is a major theme in literature. And it’s no coincidence. What traveler hasn’t fallen in love with this country, believing they were visiting a museum only to discover a society of great dynamism and a people of unparalleled kindness? Italians have the taste and talent for happiness.
This is undoubtedly what we find in their cinema, among many other things, that gives us so much pleasure.
Of course, Italy is also a country like ours with its strengths and weaknesses. Nothing is perfect anywhere, and the grass isn’t greener elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the myth endures, and there are good reasons for it. Somewhere, without offending other countries, Italy is the artistic heart of Europe. Rome, the Renaissance, the Baroque… It’s something. And the most beautiful Italian cities are anything but museum cities.
And then there’s the great art of the 20th century, cinema. The older generation remembers their first neorealist emotions: Bicycle Thieves, Rome, Open City… or the comedies of Totò. Others might have gone as lovers to a screening of La Dolce Vita or Big Deal on Madonna Street.
And then there are the great authors of the sixties and seventies: Antonioni, Pasolini, Ferreri, and many others. The eighties brought the revelation of Moretti. Up to the recent encounters with young authors brimming with talent like Attilio Azzola, Mirko Bergamasco, or Ivano de Matteo. It’s impossible to name them all, and each of us keeps a little place in our hearts for a particular film, director, or actor. Because, of course, Italian cinema is also about exceptional actors: and here I won’t name any for fear of not having enough space in this article…
Again, everyone can put their favorite actors and actresses in the spotlight, and they’ll be right. All moving, all immense. Like the exceptional Sophia Loren in Marriage Italian Style. There, I’ve named one, now it’s your turn!
What this festival has been offering for over thirty years is to forge connections, to immerse oneself in the very particular atmosphere of this cinematography that will never quite be like the others.
Feel free to come and discover the worthy successors of those who amused, taught, touched, or made you dream. They are all here.
So, like every year, let’s get our ticket to happiness and embark on a journey through Italian cinema, from today and forever!
Joël Bayen-Saunères
