San Diego Italian Film Festival Announces Lineup Of Films For 2018–19 Monthly Series At Museum Of Photographic Arts

San Diego-The San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF) has announced a lineup of eclectic films to be presented as part of its monthly series at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park through September 2019.

Carefully selected by Artistic Director and film professor Antonio Iannotta, these films represent a selection of the wide variety of movies being made by and about Italians and the Italian experience.

Start time for all screenings in the series is 7:30 p.m.

San Diego Italian Film Festival 2019 Monthly Series at MoPA

Thursday, January 17: Io sono Tempesta (I am Tempesta)
Numa Tempesta is a fascinating, charismatic businessman at the top of his game. Driven by a ruthless, relentless need to succeed, Numa will stop at nothing to close a deal, even if it means bending the law. That's until the law catches up to him and to avoid prison, Numa is sentenced to a year of community service in a homeless shelter (a clear and hysterical reference to Silvio Berlusconi...). While there, Numa cannot conduct any business, but he must close the deal of the century or lose his fortune. It will take all Numa's skill to find a solution, and he may just find it where he least expects it.

Thursday, February 28: The Leisure Seeker
Directed by Paolo Virzi, the film stars Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren and two-time Golden Globe-winner Donald Sutherland as a runaway couple going on an unforgettable, romantic journey in the faithful old RV they call "The Leisure Seeker," travelling from Boston to The Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West. They recapture their passion for life and their love for each other on a road trip that provides revelation and surprise right up to the very end.

Thursday, March 14: Acqua di marzo (Late Winter Rain)
Libero goes back to his hometown in Battipaglia, near Salerno, to say goodbye to his dying grandmother. While he's there, the past comes back to life with all its overwhelming memories. Libero had shut the door to his unlived adolescence, never really changing nor growing up. All around him, of course, things have changed. All of a sudden, spring rain washes away the wintry stillness. Neve, Francesca, and the other female characters are the real drivers of the story: not scared of change, they are more willing than Libero to embrace it, and they will help him to make him change.

Thursday, April 25: Roma città aperta (Rome Open City)
Roma città aperta was Roberto Rossellini's revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with more melodramatic flair than the other films that would form this trilogy and starring some well-known actors-Aldo Fabrizi as a priest helping the partisan cause and Anna Magnani in her breakthrough role as the fiancée of a resistance member-Roma città aperta is a shockingly authentic experience, conceived and directed amid the ruin of World War II, with immediacy in every frame. Marking a watershed moment in Italian cinema, this galvanic work garnered awards around the globe and left the beginnings of a new film movement in its wake.

Thursday, May 23: Questione di karma (It's All About Karma)
Giacomo, the rich and quirky heir to a fortune, deeply believes in reincarnation. 40 years after the loss of his father, he believes he sees his father again when he meets Mario Pitagora, a man far from being spiritual, interested only in money and heavily indebted. This absurd encounter will change the lives of both. An unexpected comedy about friendship that's not to be missed.

Thursday, June 20: Amori che non sanno stare al mondo (Stories of Love that Cannot Belong to this World)
Claudia and Flavio were passionately in love for a long time. Then their story ended and things were not easy, especially for her. After a few years, their world is adrift. Flavio feels the need to keep on going, down on the ground; Claudia would rather never forget. A sentimental comedy about a love story that is not fit to survive, with a touch of irony and a new beginning.

Thursday, July 18: Made in Italy
Riko works in a cured meats factory, just like his father, in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. He got married at a young age to hairdresser, Sara. While Riko is clearly unhappy with his job, he's lucky to be working at all, as his factory keeps letting go of its aging staff. He's living in a home he can barely afford and all he wants is to help his son move out and grow up. At times life can be difficult, but Riko refuses to yield: there are friends to count on, a marriage to be won back, and a home to save. Twenty years after their first collaboration, Stefano Accorsi and Luciano Ligabue reunite for this poignant, music-filled look at the ordinary moments that make a life.

Thursday, August 15: Taranta on the Road
The day after the Arab Spring of 2011, Amira and Tarek, two Tunisian migrants with nothing in common, reach the Italian coast. By chance, they find themselves both seeking help from a music band from Salento, Apulia, in search of success around festivals and weddings. The band mistakes them as a couple that's going to have a child and the band members decide to help them to reach France. The trip, fear, love, the uncertain future and the desire to find their own way join all in a unique experience that, perhaps, will change their lives forever. A beautiful comedy full of music, hope, and good vibes!

Thursday, September 19: Caravaggio - L'anima e il sangue
Here is another chance to see this incredible documentary, which was a huge hit during our 2018 feStivale. The film is a journey through the life, works, and struggles of the great artist Michelangelo Merisi, who took on the name of his hometown, Caravaggio. His life as well as his art was marked by lights and shadows, genius and intemperance, contrasts and contradictions. A revolutionary artist, he was often not so beloved by his contemporaries. He travelled Italy in search of good fortune or perhaps in search of himself, escaping the enemies he always seemed to make along the way, from Milan to Venice, Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily. Even his death seems a twist of fate: he died in Porto Ercole, one step away from Rome and salvation.

All tickets for individual movies are $12 ($8 SDIFF Members/Students/Military), and can be purchased at the door or online at http://sdiff.yapsody.com/.

Subject to change

Events, dates, venues, tickets, and more details: www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com.

The San Diego Italian Film Festival is supported in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, San Diego County, the California Arts Council, and the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego.

About the San Diego Italian Film Festival
Now celebrating its twelfth season, the San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF), a not-for-profit 501c(3) organization, has made its mark on the local landscape, becoming among the most beloved film festivals San Diego has to offer. Each year it brings the passion, love, comedy, despair, and hope of the best of Italian film to San Diego, affording audiences the opportunity to learn about Italian film from scholars and directors who continue to influence filmmaking throughout the world.

The San Diego Italian Film Festival is about more than just movies-it is about identity, history, and a shared appreciation of Italian culture and great cinema. In a word, it is about community, a place for a diverse audience of film lovers and those who appreciate Italian culture. Movies or events such as CineCucina or Dine on the Docks are presented year-round, celebrating Italian film and cuisine.

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