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To offer Vietnamese audiences contemporary perspectives on Italian cinema, the Italian Embassy in Hanoi, in collaboration with the Asian Film Festival in Rome, presents the Italian Film Festival 2024, which will take place at the National Film Center at 7:30 PM daily from September 23 to 28, 2024.
The 2024 Italian Film Festival showcases six of the most recent acclaimed films by Italian filmmakers, ranging from dramas to romantic comedies. These carefully selected films have won numerous prestigious awards at regional and international film festivals and embody the distinctive character of Italy.
Trailers for the films at the Italian Film Festival 2024:
From realistic to dreamlike, from humorous to tragic, the films screened at the Italian Film Festival 2024 portray modern Italian society in the most multifaceted way, addressing political, economic, and pressing social issues such as migration and working conditions.
From left to right: Writer Hien Trang, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Marco Della Seta, and film critic Trieu Minh Hai at the press conference.
Speaking at the press conference launching the Italian Film Festival 2024 on the afternoon of September 16th in Hanoi, the Italian Ambassador to Vietnam, Marco Della Seta, said: "This year, the Italian Film Festival will offer Vietnamese audiences a deep, authentic, and fresh look at contemporary Italy through a selection of six of the most highly acclaimed films currently showing. Each film screened at the event will be an emotional piece connecting the two cultures of Vietnam and Italy."
Film critic Trieu Minh Hai shared his impression of the expansive horizon in the drama film "I Am the Captain".
Master of Film Criticism and Visual Artist Trieu Minh Hai also said: "These films are adapted using the most natural cinematic language, creating profound emotions and are truly worth watching. In the film..."I am the captain."I was impressed by the expansive horizon, as the director created artistic shots that seemed to transport the viewer into each scene... sparking curiosity about the mysterious landscape and the wonder of the film."
What's so special about these 6 Italian films?
I am the Captain | Io Capitano (2023, drama)
Io capitanoThis film tells the story of the migration journey of two brothers, Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall, from their hometown of Dakar, Senegal, to Sicily, Italy – the gateway to vibrant Europe.
The adventure begins with hope and dreams, then gradually becomes raw and realistic through the chaos of the desert, the dangers of the open sea, and the skepticism and deceit of humanity. Drawing from true stories obtained through interviews with illegal immigrants in Italy, director Matteo Garrone offers a deeply humanistic and historically accurate perspective, told with a subtle, fairytale-like narrative interwoven with fantastical mythological details.
Io Capitano was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, marking its world premiere. Shortly afterward, in 2024, the film earned nominations for Best International/Foreign Language Film at both the prestigious Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
Cold Rolling Mill | Palazzina Laf (2023, Drama - Comedy)
When harsh reality is presented through a humorous lens - we havePalazzina LafThe film, directed by Michele Riondino, is based on a famous scandal in Italian industrial history.Palazzina LafIt is an abbreviation of "Laminatoio a freddo," meaning "cold rolling mill"—a section of the ILVA Taranto steel plant where the imprisonment and abuse of "unruly" workers took place throughout the 1990s.
Set in 1997, Cateriano, a lazy provincial worker with dreams of a better life in the city, chooses to become a spy for his employers. His goal is to participate in strikes to "inform" his colleagues, without any remorse or guilt towards his "friends." Only when he moves to Palazzina Laf – a "paradise" for tough workers – does Cateriano realize he has fallen into a psychological hell with no escape.
At the 69th David di Donatello Awards, Palazzina Laf was nominated for Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay.
ZAMORA(2024, Drama - Comedy)
It's a lighthearted comedy with a Milanese feel reminiscent of the 1960s.ZamoraThe story follows Walter Visamra, a thirty-year-old accountant in a small factory in Vigevano. The company closes abruptly, forcing Walter to find new work in bustling Milan, where he's confronted by his football-obsessed boss, Cavalier Tosetto, who constantly pushes his employees to follow his passion, and his sarcastic colleague, Gusperti, who mocks him both on and off the pitch.
Choosing to stand in front of the goal because he had no enthusiasm for the beautiful game, Visamra was nicknamed "Zamora," after the famous Spanish goalkeeper of the 1930s. Unable to tolerate such humiliation, Walter decided to plan his revenge against Gusperti, leading to humorous stories about friendship and love, as a 30-year-old single man decides to break out of his shell.
"Classic, simple, yet also fresh and surprising," Zamora premiered at the Villerupt Film Festival and subsequently at the Bifest in Bari, before being distributed in Italian cinemas in April 2024.
Summer with Irène | Quell'estate con Irène (2024 - Drama, Comedy)
In the summer of 1997, Clara and Irène met by chance at a hospital summer camp when they were both 17. Clara, shy and introverted, was overwhelmed by Irène's radiant energy. They were completely different, yet they understood each other perfectly, drawn to each other, bound together by a shared dream of escaping the shadow of illness. At the end of the camp, instead of returning to their families, Clara and Irène decided to run away to an island off the coast of Sicily. There they found freedom, dreams, love, memories captured on VHS tapes, and of course, a terrifying future awaiting them.
Summer with IrèneThe film is beautifully rendered in every scene and camera angle, imbued with layers of metaphors about life and its meaning. It was selected for international screening at the 74th Berlinale Film Festival.
Kidnapping | Rapito (2023 - Drama, Epic)
As a collaborative product between Italy, France, and Germany,KidnapBased on Daniele Scalise's book Il caso Mortara, the film tells the story of Edgardo Mortara, a 7-year-old Jewish child who was abducted by the State of Pope Pius IX in 1858 to be raised as a Catholic.
Through the arduous journey of Momolo and Marianna to reunite with their kidnapped child, the film portrays the political and religious conflicts that never subsided within Europe, set against the backdrop of a unique historical context where the Church was losing some of its power and the Savoy army was conquering Rome.
KidnapIt was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival (2023), which was also when the film premiered worldwide...
A dream that didn't come true | La Chimera2023 - Drama, Comedy
"La Chimera"- An impossible dream. Set in the 1980s, when grave robberies were a serious problem, the story centers on Arthur, a British archaeologist with the ability to sense "emptiness." For Arthur, that emptiness is Beniamina. "A dream," pursued with great effort, longing, and seemingly unattainable, much like the search for ideal love.
Arthur is a member of a gang of grave robbers, who possess a "chimera" signifying easy wealth. In their perilous journey between life and death, between mountains and cities, between bustling festivals and solitary solitude, the intertwined destinies of these characters are gradually revealed, all revolving around the "chimera."
La ChimeraConsidered by Italian film critics as one of the best Italian film projects of 2023, the film has won numerous prestigious awards such as the "Mutt Moment" and "AFCAE Art House Award" at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival, Best Cinematography and Best Group Performance at the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival, and Best Production Design at the European Film Awards...
Six films will be screened:
- September 23rd: I Am the Captain | Io Capitano, Directed by Matteo Garrone
- September 24th: Cold Rolling Mill | Palazzina Laf, Directed by Michele Riondino
- September 25th: ZAMORA, directed by Neri Marcorè
- September 26th: Summer with Irène | Quell'estate con Irène, Directed by Carlo Sironi
- September 27th: Kidnapping | Rapito, directed by Marco Bellocchio
- September 28th: A dream that didn't come true | La Chimera, directed by Alice Rohrwacher
All film screenings (with Italian subtitles in English and Vietnamese) will begin at 7:30 PM at the National Film Center (87 Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi).
