benvenuti
welcome
It is our great pleasure to present the Ninth Edition of the Italian Film Festival | Cinema Italiano Festival NZ.
Compiling our curation of Italian films is a formidable and pleasurable task. Nothing we read or watch is ever truly impartial, so I have endeavoured to make my film selection reflect my personal understanding of great cinema. Balancing genres, styles and film availabilities, this is one of the strongest line-ups in the nine years since starting the festival.
Films such as The Eight Mountains, There’s Still Tomorrow, Kidnapped, La Chimera or Caro Diario are masterful and diverse films that keep Italian Cinema at the summit of the art form. Watching this year’s films, I sensed a thematic ‘palimpsest’, where the past, present and future operate simultaneously. In films like Nanni Moretti’s Aprile, we see the comic emergence of populism - the unfortunate movement that influences the world today. In Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped, the dangers of blind dogma are chronicled. At the same time, many of our films play with concepts of ‘future’, like the gently apocalyptic The Order of Time or Nanni Moretti’s self-deprecating A Brighter Tomorrow.
In Director Paolo Genovese’s The First Day of My Life, we are asked what we might do differently if we could do it all again. Yet this gaze toward what is to come is rooted in Italy’s enormous cultural patrimony and I am reminded of the power, necessity and enduring nature of art.
In commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, a moment in history where New Zealand and Italy were unfortunate protagonists, I have included my short film, Maunga Cassino. The first film is entirely in Te Reo Māori and Italian languages.
I do hope to see you in person.
Un caro saluto
Paolo
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Embassy of Italy, Wellington
Francesco Calogero, Ambassador of Italy
The Italian Embassy is proud to support once again the Cinema Italiano Festival, the biggest Italian cultural event in Aotearoa. During my nearly four years in New Zealand, I've witnessed a consistent increase in the attention and participation of audiences, both Italian and New Zealanders, as well as those from other countries, in the film festival organised by Renee' and Paolo Rotondo.
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID period, this growth has been steady.
It brings me great joy and satisfaction to observe this growing interest in our film culture. I firmly believe that it has not only contributed but continues to contribute to enriching and diversifying the potential of filmmaking. Moreover, I am pleased to have played a part in this success through the ongoing support of the embassy.
This year, the selection of films proposed is rich, varied, and interesting, reflecting the vitality and creativity of the Italian film world. I extend my gratitude to Renee' and Paolo for their generous and highly professional work. I also want to express my thanks to all the viewers for their interest.
Francesco Calogero -
Paolo Rotondo, Artistic Director
Collaborating with Italy and many international companies, I am reminded that sharing Cinema together is a tremendous privilege. In the past two years, the Cinema Italiano Festival | Italian Film Festival was resilient and nimble enough to reschedule our Programme. We demonstrated our commitment to cinemas and the ‘cinema experience’. In 2023 we now travel to 20 cinemas nationwide with an eclectic curation of Italian Cinema that will make us want to Journey to Italy once more.
