Stellar Red Carpet in Lucca and Viareggio from Sunday 8 April to Sunday 15 April 2018
Stephen Frears, Martin Freeman and Anton Corbijn
at Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema 2018
Prize-giving ceremonies, Film screenings and public Masterclasses for all International Film Stars
Lucca, 18 March 2018 – Stephen Frears, Martin Freeman e Anton Corbijn are among the stars of Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema 2018, taking place from the 8th to the 15th of April in the Tuscan cities of Lucca and Viareggio. The Film Festival will pay tribute to each of the award-winning international film stars with dedicated film screenings, prize-giving ceremonies and masterclasses open to the public. The International Feature Film Contest returns for the 3rd year in a row with 14 films competing from around the world premiering in Italy, enriched by Hors-Concours Premiers and by the well-established International Short Film Competition. The Film Festival will take place in various locations around the city, including the cinema Astra, the cinema Centrale, the Teatro del Giglio, Palazzo Ducale and the Fondazione Ragghianti.
“Over the years, Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema has become a not-to-be missed event for Italian and international cinema and for all lovers of the seventh art. Furthermore, the feature film and short film competitions are a showcase for young directors and established ones alike,” explains Marcello Bertocchini, President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. “The festival aims to be a hub of the culture of cinema and to offer our public programs and selections of ever-increasing quality and interest, year after year”.
Stephen Frears, 13 – 14 April – Having celebrated David Lynch (2014), David Cronenberg (2015), George Romero (2016) and Oliver Stone (2017), this year Stephen Frears will be the protagonist of one of Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema 2018’s main sections. The twice Academy Award nominated British director (in 1991 for The Grifters and in 2007 for The Queen) will be in the Tuscan city from April 8th to the 15th to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and to hold a masterclass on cinema during which Frears will answer questions from the audience and meet students. The Festival will also honor Stephen Frears with a film retrospective of some of his most iconic works, retracing the highlights of his career as a filmmaker; from his debut film Gumshoe (1972) to the recent Vittoria and Abdul (2017) passing through unforgettable classics that include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), High Fidelity (2000) and Florence (2016), without forgetting Vendetta (1984) and The Grifters (1990).
Martin Freeman, 9 April – A multifaceted actor, over the past twenty years, Martin Freeman has encountered remarkable success both on the big and on the small screen, playing unforgettable roles such as Bilbo Baggins in the three film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit the fantasy, Dr. Watson in the publicly acclaimed television series Sherlock and Lester Nygaard in Fargo, the award-winning production inspired by the homonymous film directed by the Coen brothers, without forgetting the witty salesman Tim Canterbury series that led him to be famous, The Office . Currently in cinemas worldwide with the superhero movie Black Panther, Martin Freeman will be the guest of the festival on Monday 9 April when he will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and present his latest work in Italian premiere Ghost Stories co-directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman. Ghost Stories is the adaptation of the homonymous theatrical work in which he plays a skeptical television host who is dealing with phony psychics and violent unresolved mysteries. After the screening, the British actor will meet the public. Ghost Stories will be in Italian theaters starting 19 April and is distributed by Adler Entertainment.
Anton Corbijn, 10 April – The Dutch photographer and director is renowned worldwide for having immortalized the heavyweights of rock history, from Joy Division and Tom Waits to the U2 and Rolling Stones and for having produced over 60 video clips that include masterpieces like Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana and Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. On Tuesday 10 April, Anton Corbijn will be in Lucca as a guest of the Lucca Film Festival and hold a masterclass open to the public in which he will illustrate his forty-year militancy behind the lens and talk about the relationship between cinema and music. Anton Corbjin’s Control, the biographical film dedicated to Joy Division leader Ian Curtis, will be screened before the masterclass. Control premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 where it won several awards and is the first feature film directed by Corbjin.
International Feature Film Contest – This year, the International Feature Film Contest will feature 14 films premiering in Italy. The Chairman and Members of the Jury who will award the “Best Film” prize will be announced at a later date. The winning director will receive a sum of 3,000 Euros. Also in the 2018 edition, University Jury will award the “Best Film – University Jury” prize and the Popular Jury will bestow the “People’s Choice Special Mention” to one of the competing works.
International Short Film Contest – LFFEC International Short Film Contest continues to be one of the most important European showcases for experimental cinematography. The composition of the Jury that will assign the “Best Short Film” award and the 500 Euro prize will be announced at a later date. Starting in 2018, all competing short films will also be viewed by the University Jury that will award the “Best Short Film – University Jury” prize
Effetto Cinema Notte – Day for Night 2018 – Effetto Cinema Notte 2018 (Day for Night) is a section in its own right within the international film festival that was created to tribute the greatest films of all times and that transforms the whole city of Lucca into a giant open-air movie set. Extending over the whole week of the Festival, 38 local downtown establishments are already hard at work with teams of set designers and performers to stage screenings, performances, build sets and create costumes in the five different areas matched to a film genre. Every evening the city will become alive with concerts and events leading up to the Grand Finale scheduled for Saturday 14 April, when all sets designs and roving performances will take place at the same time from the afternoon until late at night. On Saturday night, Effetto Cinema Notte will host a Main Event dedicated to the stars of the Film Festival co-produced by the LFFEC and by the establishments located in the theme area. A Technical Jury will award the Effetto Cinema Notte Best Costumes Prize to the staff of the venue staging the performance most in line with the assigned film.
The Exhibitions – This year, Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema host two exhibits. The first, Luchino Visconti. In Search of Lost Time. History of a Never-Made Film is curated by Alessandro Romanini and by set designer Francesco Frigeri, produced by the Experimental Center of Cinematography in Rome and will be hosted at the Palazzo Ducale in Lucca (17 March-21 April 2018). After last year’s tribute to Federico Fellini and The Journey of G. Mastorna hosted at the GAMC in Viareggio, the students of the Department of Stage Design headed by Francesco Frigeri and those led by costume designer Maurizio Millenotti have drafted over 40 executive storyboards – that is to say ready to be transformed in a film set – and designed a similar number of costumes. Aided by a wide range of original documents, the goal is to recreate a journey that illustrates Visconti’s dream of transposing on film Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu, a pharaonic project, which had to be abandoned due to lack of funding.
The second exhibit entitled Art Cinema – An Unprecedented Dialogue. Behind the scenes of Sky Art Cinema curated by SKY in collaboration with Alessandro Romanini will be on display at the Fondazione Ragghianti, (23 March-23 April 2018). Over 40 large-format photographs guide the visitors through a journey to discover the “dream machine” in all of its aspects: the sets, the actors in the various stages of filming, film and art professionals at work, the Directors of Photography, the Studios of Cinecittà in Rome, set preparation from the initial sketch to the making of it, the process of costume design and, last but not least, the processes of the new 3D “immersive” technologies. Viewers will be able to enjoy never-seen-before stills of the masterpieces of Michelangelo, Raphael and Caravaggio, of the Vatican Museums and breathtaking aerial views of the Papal Basilicas (filmed for the first time close-up thanks to a special permit granted by the Holy See) and of The Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
From 19 to 22 April, Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema’s program will be further enriched thanks to the screening all the art films produced by Sky in collaboration with Magnitudo Film. The art film screening will open with Caravaggio – the Soul and the Blood at the Monumental Complex of San Micheletto and is promoted by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca in collaboration with the Film Festival and with the Fondazione Ragghianti. The documentary on Caravaggio premiered in cinema halls last February and in Italy ranked as the most seen art documentary counting over 130.000 viewers. On 19 April, Cosetta Lagani, Director of Sky Art Cinema, film director Jesus Garces Lambert and screenwriter Laura Allievi will introduce this unrivalled, emotional and visceral journey into the life, works and torments of Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio. Art film screenings will continue on the following days in the nearby San Franceschetto with previous Sky Art Cinema blockbusters that have been distributed in 60 countries: Vatican Museums – Between Heaven and Earth, Saint Peter and the Papal Basilicas (20 April), Florence and the Uffizi Gallery. A journey into the heart of the Renaissance (21 April) and Raphael – Prince of the Arts (22 April).
The main sponsors of the event are Banca Generali and Banca Pictet, whereas the exhibits are produced with the support of Banca Societe Generale. The organization of the Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema is also made possible thanks to the funds made available by Funder35 and enjoys the support of Gesam Gas & Luce S.p.A Istituto Luce Cinecittà S.r.l., Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Lucar S.p.A, Alleanza Assicurazioni S.p.A, Luccaorganizza, Il Ciocco S.p.A, MiBACT (the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism), the Region of Tuscany, the City of Lucca, the City of Viareggio, the Province of Lucca with the collaboration and co-production of the Martinelli Luce, Cantina Campo alle Comete, Giglio Theatre in Lucca, Fondazione Giacomo Puccini e Puccini Museum – Casa Natale, Fondazione Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Fondazione Centro Arti Visive, Fondazione UIBI and CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo Toscana. Thanks also to Lucca Comics & Games, Trenitalia Regional Management, Unicoop Firenze and to the Degree Course in Performing Arts and Civilization Department of Communication and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa and Photolux Festival for their collaboration.
The Lucca Film Festival and Europa Cinema is an annual event that celebrates and promotes cinematic culture. The Festival is able to engage an ever-growing public through screenings, exhibitions, conferences and performances, which range from mainstream to experimental cinema. Throughout its history, Lucca Film Festival has excelled thanks to its ambitious and well-researched programming. The Festival has paid tribute to celebrated figures in the cinema world while at the same time rediscovering other notable names and identifying up-and-coming talents. The beautiful cities of Lucca and Viareggio contribute to the Festival’s appeal, serving as the stunning backdrop to an event that has become a much awaited and not-to-be-missed happening in Italy and Europe.
Lucca Film Festival and Europa Cinema
segreteria@luccafilmfestival.it ; www.luccafilmfestival.it
Press Office Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema:
PS Comunicazione: Antonio Pirozzi (+393395238132) and Martina Angeli; www.pscomunicazione.it
English translation: Tessa Wiechmann
Press Office for Exhibitions:
Davis & Co. Lea Codognato e Caterina Briganti; +390552347273; info@davisandco.it | www.davisandco.it
Communication and External Relations Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca:
Marcello Petrozziello e Andrea Salani (+390583472627 – +393406550425) comunicazione@fondazionecarilucca.it
