Ciao Paolo,
The Cinema Italiano Festival is about to
hit Auckland and we are all very excited about it.
This is the second edition organized by
you and your wife Renee Mark, and I want to thank you, on behalf of the Italian
Community and Kiwis who love and support Italian culture, for making it
possible.
Grazie
a voi, e un piacere. It’s a pleasure, after all it’s rare not to enjoy cinema.
1) When did you decide to take on the
challenge of organising this festival?
I
had dreamed of being involved in an Italian Festival of film for over fifteen
years. When attending Film Festivals overseas as a filmmaker over the years I
became very interested in the value of Festivals themselves. Having been
involved with the old NZ Italian Film Festival run by Tony Lambert, when it
ceased to exist after 2014, I immediately knew I had to do something. As an
Italo-Kiwi living in NZ, Italian Cinema had always been a way for me to keep
connected to some of the ideas and the cultural climate of Italy from
afar. It feels to me like it was meant
to be and with my wife Renee (the brains behind the enterprise) it became a
reality.
2) Tell us something about the movies you
have selected this year. There seems to be a very broad variety of choices:
from new releases to classics, from fiction to documentaries…
Italian
culture cannot easily be quantified or explained in a single film or with a
particular style. Italy is such a diverse country, that I felt like the
Festival needs to reflect this. This year I was particularly moved by the
powerful expression of traditions and history in a contemporary context. For me
this mix of modernity and ancientness can be seen as something unique and
precious in Italian culture. I am also very passionate to bring New Zealand
audiences a broad and surprising look at Italian culture. Through
documentaries, thematic choices, classics, dramas and comedies I can expose
kiwis to the dynamic nature of Italy. You couldn’t get more different films
from say Quo Vado / Where am I going? to
Fuocoamare / Fire at Sea, yet both in
hilarious and eloquent ways express the complexity of Italy in superb and
totally different cinematic ways.
3) Where do you see the Festival in five
years from now?
I
look forward to The Cinema Italiano Festival being established as an essential
event on the New Zealand cultural calendar. I see The Cinema Italiano Festival
as a window into many aspects of Italian culture and business. I want Italians
in New Zealand to feel an enormous sense of pride and along with kiwis feel
that they simply must be part of it. The world and business of Cinema is
changing rapidly and we want to be at the crest of those changes. In five years
we will have a ‘famiglia’ of loyal businesses and patrons that will feel they
simply have to be part of our celebration.
4) tell us where the opening night will
be? We are curious to know a little bit more about it.
We are
rapidly becoming famous for our opening nights, its. We will have our opening night at one of
Auckland’s most charming boutique Cinemas The Bridgeway Theatre on August 31.
Vino by Carpinetto, Banfi and Zabu, birra by Peroni and aqua by San Pellegrino.
Esteemed Chef Antonio Crisci of Poderi Crisci will be creating some sensational
stuzzichini. We
will kick the Auckland Cinema Italiano Festival 2017 with a classic, the
beautifully restored Roman Holiday with
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, quite possibly the greatest ever romantic
comedy.
Cinema Italiano, the Italian Film Festival in New Zealand, will run in Auckland for two weeks,
from 1 September to 14 October at:
Click here for the full programme
ENQUIRIES +64 27 2244541 renee@cinemaitaliano.co.nz
