Into Paradiso
By Paola Randi
Alfonso is a Neapolitan scientist; he is shy and inept and has just lost his job. Gayan is a fascinating former cricket champion from Sri Lanka. Now penniless, he has just arrived in Naples in the belief that here he will find Paradise. Alfonso has spent his life studying cell migration and watching soap operas with his mother. Gayan has travelled and known fame, glory and money. What do these two men have in common? How can two such different people come into contact and how can their lives become so indissolubly bound? In a multi-ethnic Naples, Alfonso and Gayan’s lives become intertwined as they are forced to share a shack built illegally on the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city’s Sri Lankan neighbourhood. Because of a tragicomic misunderstanding, Alfonso needs to hide from a gang of mobsters and Gayan becomes first a hostage and then his only ally. And from this paradoxical cohabitation, a very special friendship is born, a partnership that gives them the courage to face their fate and change it forever.
Artemisia Gentileschi,Warrior, Painter
By Jordan River
In 1618, at the age of 23, Artemisia became the first female artist to get international recognition. She came in touch with the most brilliant minds of her time, including Caravaggio. The film recalls her life, for which she is recognized as a modern feminist icon, due to her personality and the unyielding defense of her professional integrity, documented in the letters she wrote to art collectors and other eminent figures of her time, like Galileo Galilei. Artemisia’s fame is also tied to the rape trial she started against a colleague, Agostino Tassi. She survived the experience thanks to her moral strength and, through her painting, succeeded as a woman and as an artist, producing masterpieces that can touch the heart and soul of audiences who admire them four hundred years later.
Bangland
By Lorenzo Berghella
A journey into the heart of Bangland, a city in a dystopian America now under the presidency of Steven Spielberg, who has declared war on the African nation Mahaba, thereby launching his own war on terror, the gist being that anyone who isn’t white is a potential terrorist. On the eve of the presidential elections that could spell the end of the Spielberg administration, the fates of a number of Bangland residents become entangled: Charlie Tucano and Tony Beretta, modern-day inquisitors working for the influential television evangelist Gold; Loogie Boogie, an Irish loan shark with a dysfunctional family.
The Pastry Chef
By Luigi Sardiello
Following in the footsteps of his father, Achille Franzi is the pastry chef. As a child he spent his days in the bakery of his father, whose advice represented a real guide for interpreting life, almost a gospel. Now that he is adult, Achille lives his work as a mission, to make people happy through the perfection of sweets.
But one day the chance, or perhaps destiny, takes him away from the routine full of delicious creams and yeast, sugar and cream puffs. Despite himself, he begins a journey that will change his life. To survive, Achille will face dangerous tests, both escorted and hampered by a femme fatale, a shyster and a foul scrupulous cop. As the journey proceeds, Achilles will tell us his story, his past: a paradise of pastel colors, scents, flavors and secret recipes.
On the Way Home
By Emiliano Corapi
Alberto, owner of a small company, confronted with financial difficulties, becomes a courier for a powerful criminal organization in the attempt to save his company. He hides the truth of his trips from his loving wife Laura, who has always appreciated him for his honesty, until a rival gang’s interest in the illicit package he is about to deliver forces him to face the consequences of a choice far beyond his nature.
I'll Come Too
By Corrado Nuzzo
This is the story of an aspiring suicide, a former prisoner, a boy with Asperger's syndrome and a young Salentine athlete. Besieged by life, and tired of getting involved because now accustomed to defeat, for a strange twist of fate will be forced to undertake a journey together that will lead them to confront their own past, to fight with their demons and get out of their loneliness. A trivial amateur rowing race will make them a cohesive group, eager for a ransom at all costs. To win they will cheat and lose badly, but it will not be a real defeat, because in the meantime they will discover that they have become a family that is able to turn the sum of their individual defeats into success. A unique, eccentric, but enviable family that we would all like to have as neighbors.
Into Paradiso
By Paola Randi
Alfonso is a Neapolitan scientist; he is shy and inept and has just lost his job. Gayan is a fascinating former cricket champion from Sri Lanka. Now penniless, he has just arrived in Naples in the belief that here he will find Paradise. Alfonso has spent his life studying cell migration and watching soap operas with his mother. Gayan has travelled and known fame, glory and money. What do these two men have in common? How can two such different people come into contact and how can their lives become so indissolubly bound? In a multi-ethnic Naples, Alfonso and Gayan’s lives become intertwined as they are forced to share a shack built illegally on the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city’s Sri Lankan neighbourhood. Because of a tragicomic misunderstanding, Alfonso needs to hide from a gang of mobsters and Gayan becomes first a hostage and then his only ally. And from this paradoxical cohabitation, a very special friendship is born, a partnership that gives them the courage to face their fate and change it forever.
Pietro
By Daniele Gaglianone
Pietro lives in an anonymous suburb. He has a job, a home and a family. His job consists in distributing leaflets on the streets. His home is an old apartment left to him by his parents, now decaying. Pietro lives in it with his brother Francesco, who represents his entire family. However their relation is anything but easy. Francesco’s a drug addict, depending on his drug dealer and friend NikiNiki and his mates. The only way Pietro has to connect to his brother seems to be to live out the role of a fool assigned to him by the friends’ circle. This stuff he’s put through during the nights spent with his brother at home is only the other side of the many insults that on his work place he has to suffer by the hand of a violent boss for little more than peanuts. Despite all this all these characters go on with their lives blindly facing the on-going devastation in their broken lives.DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS ON THE FILMFOUR WORDSAnger, affection, frailty and violence. These are the themes, the ingredients ofPIETRO, a movie generated by different circumstances and suggestions (some ofwhich are personal). It was a difficult period for me, I was not doing anything. Yet,people were telling me to be less radical. Thus, I wrote my first draft of this story: aharsh movie that reflects a harsh situation and some people I know who arefragile, invisible. Although society denies their existence, these people have a rolein our society and allow it to function. They could become ticking bombs. A personI know, for example, is a mix of fragility and dormant violence.REFERENCES TO CURRENT EVENTSNone. Total absence of references to current events in the form of news. However,the film shows how reality affects people. Also, I did not want to adopt an explicitstance or take sides because, by doing so, I would have offered a reassuring picturein which everything is already in its place. For example, I opted against making thewoman a foreigner because, as Pasolini said, discrimination exists even among thewhite population. What I can say is that this film is a forecast of what we are aboutto become‐ or what we already are.MAN AND SOCIETYSurprisingly, in a society where man seems to have complete sovereignty, he is thefirst to die. Man is not entitled to his rights and does not have any boundaries. Theissue presented in PIETRO is that, at times, individuals have to use inhumanemeans to obtain a legitimate status of humanity. This is a clear and cruel film but itis also filled with an undeniable kindness and affection.TELEVISIONThe only way Pietro can capture his brother’s attention is to act like a jester. Pietrolives in a world that has become a sort of television show. People are “televisonlike”.They are not unkind but indifferent and careless towards humanity. In fact, itis not a coincidence that Pietro’s brother tells him: “you should have been ontelevision”. Television never appears in the movie and it is mentioned only oncePIETRO but it permeates everyone. Everybody sees Pietro as a character of a trashytelevision show because it fits his character, how he acts around others.ACTORSI have been asked if I found my actors on the street…but it is not true, they areprofessionals! They act so well that they seem the characters they play. I have agood relationship with those who do surreal theatre and cabaret. I had alreadyworked with Fabrizio Nicastro for the movie Nemmeno il destino where he playedFerdi. The characters of this film came to life thanks to the actors. When I wrotethe script I had certain features in my mind and those stimulated me to make thisfilm. Pietro Casella, the actor who plays Pietro, is a talented comedian and, as weall know, there is a subtle line that separates comedy from tragedy.WHEREPietro was filmed in Turin but I chose anonymous places, places that are so genericthey can be considered universal.THE PRODUCTIONThe film was carried out in a very independent fashion and represents a coproduction of our job. This is very important because sometimes it is the only wayto maintain some freedom.MOTION‐PICTURE CAMERAThe type of motion‐picture camera used for this film is worth mentioning. We usedthe Red, which is the same digital camera that Soderbergh used for Che. Theadvantage of using this type of camera is that it forces you to keep acinematographic mentality and it makes you respect the timing of everything. Thephotography director Gherardo Gossi wanted very few lights but used in a perfectway.
Talk
By Joaquín Oristrell
An anthology film with 20 stories on the subject of words, communication, linked to one another over a 400-metre stretch: from Madrid’s Lavapiés Square to the Sala Mirador. A journey between theatre and cinema, filmed in a single fixed shot running continuously over 80 minutes and half a kilometre, in Madrid’s popular Lavapiés district. The characters talk, argue, laugh, cry, threaten, whisper, shout, steal, make dates, get angry with and hug one another, prompting the spectator to reflect on the immense power of words.
Game Therapy
By Ryan Travis
The film tells the story of a shy genius of videogames. A friend wants to help him with a machine to detoxify him from dependence on video games, but the machine sends him instead in a virtual world, as Morpheus in Matrix. His friend be forced to follow him to save his life. There will be many action scenes, the two protagonists will have to fight for their lives.
Bangland
By Lorenzo Berghella
A journey into the heart of Bangland, a city in a dystopian America now under the presidency of Steven Spielberg, who has declared war on the African nation Mahaba, thereby launching his own war on terror, the gist being that anyone who isn’t white is a potential terrorist. On the eve of the presidential elections that could spell the end of the Spielberg administration, the fates of a number of Bangland residents become entangled: Charlie Tucano and Tony Beretta, modern-day inquisitors working for the influential television evangelist Gold; Loogie Boogie, an Irish loan shark with a dysfunctional family.
The Dirties
By Matt Johnson
Two best friends, Matt and Owen, a pair of misfit high-school students who love making and talking about movies, are the victims of systematic bullying at the hands of The Dirties, a group of classmates who constantly humiliate them. But soon, the two boys start fantasizing about revenge.
Into Paradiso
By Paola Randi
Alfonso is a Neapolitan scientist; he is shy and inept and has just lost his job. Gayan is a fascinating former cricket champion from Sri Lanka. Now penniless, he has just arrived in Naples in the belief that here he will find Paradise. Alfonso has spent his life studying cell migration and watching soap operas with his mother. Gayan has travelled and known fame, glory and money. What do these two men have in common? How can two such different people come into contact and how can their lives become so indissolubly bound? In a multi-ethnic Naples, Alfonso and Gayan’s lives become intertwined as they are forced to share a shack built illegally on the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city’s Sri Lankan neighbourhood. Because of a tragicomic misunderstanding, Alfonso needs to hide from a gang of mobsters and Gayan becomes first a hostage and then his only ally. And from this paradoxical cohabitation, a very special friendship is born, a partnership that gives them the courage to face their fate and change it forever.
Artemisia Gentileschi,Warrior, Painter
By Jordan River
In 1618, at the age of 23, Artemisia became the first female artist to get international recognition. She came in touch with the most brilliant minds of her time, including Caravaggio. The film recalls her life, for which she is recognized as a modern feminist icon, due to her personality and the unyielding defense of her professional integrity, documented in the letters she wrote to art collectors and other eminent figures of her time, like Galileo Galilei. Artemisia’s fame is also tied to the rape trial she started against a colleague, Agostino Tassi. She survived the experience thanks to her moral strength and, through her painting, succeeded as a woman and as an artist, producing masterpieces that can touch the heart and soul of audiences who admire them four hundred years later.
Pietro
By Daniele Gaglianone
Pietro lives in an anonymous suburb. He has a job, a home and a family. His job consists in distributing leaflets on the streets. His home is an old apartment left to him by his parents, now decaying. Pietro lives in it with his brother Francesco, who represents his entire family. However their relation is anything but easy. Francesco’s a drug addict, depending on his drug dealer and friend NikiNiki and his mates. The only way Pietro has to connect to his brother seems to be to live out the role of a fool assigned to him by the friends’ circle. This stuff he’s put through during the nights spent with his brother at home is only the other side of the many insults that on his work place he has to suffer by the hand of a violent boss for little more than peanuts. Despite all this all these characters go on with their lives blindly facing the on-going devastation in their broken lives.DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS ON THE FILMFOUR WORDSAnger, affection, frailty and violence. These are the themes, the ingredients ofPIETRO, a movie generated by different circumstances and suggestions (some ofwhich are personal). It was a difficult period for me, I was not doing anything. Yet,people were telling me to be less radical. Thus, I wrote my first draft of this story: aharsh movie that reflects a harsh situation and some people I know who arefragile, invisible. Although society denies their existence, these people have a rolein our society and allow it to function. They could become ticking bombs. A personI know, for example, is a mix of fragility and dormant violence.REFERENCES TO CURRENT EVENTSNone. Total absence of references to current events in the form of news. However,the film shows how reality affects people. Also, I did not want to adopt an explicitstance or take sides because, by doing so, I would have offered a reassuring picturein which everything is already in its place. For example, I opted against making thewoman a foreigner because, as Pasolini said, discrimination exists even among thewhite population. What I can say is that this film is a forecast of what we are aboutto become‐ or what we already are.MAN AND SOCIETYSurprisingly, in a society where man seems to have complete sovereignty, he is thefirst to die. Man is not entitled to his rights and does not have any boundaries. Theissue presented in PIETRO is that, at times, individuals have to use inhumanemeans to obtain a legitimate status of humanity. This is a clear and cruel film but itis also filled with an undeniable kindness and affection.TELEVISIONThe only way Pietro can capture his brother’s attention is to act like a jester. Pietrolives in a world that has become a sort of television show. People are “televisonlike”.They are not unkind but indifferent and careless towards humanity. In fact, itis not a coincidence that Pietro’s brother tells him: “you should have been ontelevision”. Television never appears in the movie and it is mentioned only oncePIETRO but it permeates everyone. Everybody sees Pietro as a character of a trashytelevision show because it fits his character, how he acts around others.ACTORSI have been asked if I found my actors on the street…but it is not true, they areprofessionals! They act so well that they seem the characters they play. I have agood relationship with those who do surreal theatre and cabaret. I had alreadyworked with Fabrizio Nicastro for the movie Nemmeno il destino where he playedFerdi. The characters of this film came to life thanks to the actors. When I wrotethe script I had certain features in my mind and those stimulated me to make thisfilm. Pietro Casella, the actor who plays Pietro, is a talented comedian and, as weall know, there is a subtle line that separates comedy from tragedy.WHEREPietro was filmed in Turin but I chose anonymous places, places that are so genericthey can be considered universal.THE PRODUCTIONThe film was carried out in a very independent fashion and represents a coproduction of our job. This is very important because sometimes it is the only wayto maintain some freedom.MOTION‐PICTURE CAMERAThe type of motion‐picture camera used for this film is worth mentioning. We usedthe Red, which is the same digital camera that Soderbergh used for Che. Theadvantage of using this type of camera is that it forces you to keep acinematographic mentality and it makes you respect the timing of everything. Thephotography director Gherardo Gossi wanted very few lights but used in a perfectway.
Talk
By Joaquín Oristrell
An anthology film with 20 stories on the subject of words, communication, linked to one another over a 400-metre stretch: from Madrid’s Lavapiés Square to the Sala Mirador. A journey between theatre and cinema, filmed in a single fixed shot running continuously over 80 minutes and half a kilometre, in Madrid’s popular Lavapiés district. The characters talk, argue, laugh, cry, threaten, whisper, shout, steal, make dates, get angry with and hug one another, prompting the spectator to reflect on the immense power of words.
Game Therapy
By Ryan Travis
The film tells the story of a shy genius of videogames. A friend wants to help him with a machine to detoxify him from dependence on video games, but the machine sends him instead in a virtual world, as Morpheus in Matrix. His friend be forced to follow him to save his life. There will be many action scenes, the two protagonists will have to fight for their lives.
Bangland
By Lorenzo Berghella
A journey into the heart of Bangland, a city in a dystopian America now under the presidency of Steven Spielberg, who has declared war on the African nation Mahaba, thereby launching his own war on terror, the gist being that anyone who isn’t white is a potential terrorist. On the eve of the presidential elections that could spell the end of the Spielberg administration, the fates of a number of Bangland residents become entangled: Charlie Tucano and Tony Beretta, modern-day inquisitors working for the influential television evangelist Gold; Loogie Boogie, an Irish loan shark with a dysfunctional family.
The Pastry Chef
By Luigi Sardiello
Following in the footsteps of his father, Achille Franzi is the pastry chef. As a child he spent his days in the bakery of his father, whose advice represented a real guide for interpreting life, almost a gospel. Now that he is adult, Achille lives his work as a mission, to make people happy through the perfection of sweets.
But one day the chance, or perhaps destiny, takes him away from the routine full of delicious creams and yeast, sugar and cream puffs. Despite himself, he begins a journey that will change his life. To survive, Achille will face dangerous tests, both escorted and hampered by a femme fatale, a shyster and a foul scrupulous cop. As the journey proceeds, Achilles will tell us his story, his past: a paradise of pastel colors, scents, flavors and secret recipes.
The Dirties
By Matt Johnson
Two best friends, Matt and Owen, a pair of misfit high-school students who love making and talking about movies, are the victims of systematic bullying at the hands of The Dirties, a group of classmates who constantly humiliate them. But soon, the two boys start fantasizing about revenge.
And Peace on Earth
By Daniele Coluccini, Matteo Botrugno
The distant outskirts of Rome witness the birth of three parallel stories destined to be tied together.
Marco, ex prisoner, goes back to dealing cocaine for his old friends Glauco and Mauro. Faustino, Massimo
and Federico spend their days doing drugs and irresponsible things. Sonia is a university student but also
works in a gambling club. A trivial incident will force the main characters to leave a trail of fire, blood
and violence behind them.
I'll Come Too
By Corrado Nuzzo
This is the story of an aspiring suicide, a former prisoner, a boy with Asperger's syndrome and a young Salentine athlete. Besieged by life, and tired of getting involved because now accustomed to defeat, for a strange twist of fate will be forced to undertake a journey together that will lead them to confront their own past, to fight with their demons and get out of their loneliness. A trivial amateur rowing race will make them a cohesive group, eager for a ransom at all costs. To win they will cheat and lose badly, but it will not be a real defeat, because in the meantime they will discover that they have become a family that is able to turn the sum of their individual defeats into success. A unique, eccentric, but enviable family that we would all like to have as neighbors.