Press Release
The German filmmaker of Into Great Silence will receive the “Lifetime Achievement Award”, he will present his new film as an Italian premiere and will be a jury member of our international competition.
The German director and screenwriter Philip Gröning will open the Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema 2019, taking place from 13th to 21st of April, with the Italian premiere of his new film “My Brother’s Name is Robert and He Is an Idiot”, concurrently with museum MAXXI in Rome.
During the Festival, Gröning will receive the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the 2019 edition and he will also hold a masterclass dedicated to his work in the film industry.
The German filmmaker will be a jury member of the Festival’s famous Feature Film Competition that will present 14 films in Italian preview. There will be the screening of a complete retrospective of his works, including his documentaries, as a tribute to his brilliant career.
Along with Joe Dante and Mick Garris, the German filmmaker becomes one of the three international artists that enrich our guestlist for the 2019 edition of the Lucca Film Festival. The organisers of the festival described Gröning as “one of those directors who has captured our attention because of the diversity and the wide scope of topics that he has dealt with; this will enable him to educate us regarding the complexity of the film industry: from distribution to production and direction. During his career, the German filmmaker has crossed the dividing line existing between fiction films and documentaries.”
Nicola Borrelli, President of the Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema, explained that “He managed to illustrate the entire world of Cinema, ranging from documentaries to fiction films, creating outcast characters and using real stories, bringing together tradition and modernity, crossing paths with the experimental vein that has always interested the festival. To us, Gröning is the director who best embodies what it really means to give and receive the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ of the Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema 2019”
The homage to Gröning will retrace his entire career. Not only is he a passionate cinephile, but also an “independent” producer who has ranged from fiction films to documentaries and highly experimental works. He shot his documentary Into Great Silence while spending six months in the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse, in the French Alps, about thirty kilometres from Grenoble. One of his most recent works is The Police Officer’s Wife (2013) that won the Special Jury Prize at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, of which he became a member the following year.
Besides being a professor of directing at cologne based IFS, Gröning was also appointed Professor of Contemporary Art at the Munich Academy of the Fine Arts, a position that is rarely occupied by a filmmaker, underlining his unique position between cinema and contemporary arts.
The Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema directed by Nicola Borrelli, is one of the key events organised and sponsored by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. 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 organisation of the Lucca Film Festival and Europa Cinema has the support of the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Lucar S.p.A, Martinelli Luce, Wella, Alleanza Assicurazioni S.p.A, Luccaorganizza, Il Ciocco S.p.A, Cantina Campo alle Comete, MiBACT (the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism), the Region of Tuscany, Fondazione Sistema Toscana, the City of Lucca, the City of Viareggio with the collaboration and co-production of the Province di Lucca, Giglio Theatre in Lucca, Fondazione Giacomo Puccini e Puccini Museum – Casa Natale, Fondazione Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Fondazione UIBI, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo Toscana, Istituto Luigi Boccherini and Liceo Artistico Musicale e Coreutico Augusto Passaglia. We also thank for their collaboration Federazione Italiana Teatro Amatori (FITA), Lucca Comics & Games, Trenitalia Regional Management, Unicoop Firenze and to the Degree Course in Performing Arts and Communication belonging to the Department of Civilization and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa and Photolux Festival.
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 e Europa Cinema
segreteria@luccafilmfestival.it | www.luccafilmfestival.it.
Press office Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema:
PS Comunicazione – Antonio Pirozzi (339 5238132) and Martina Angeli; www.pscomunicazione.it.
Press office for Exhibitions: Davis & Co. Lea Codognato and Caterina Briganti; 055/2347273; info@davisandco.it | www.davisandco.it.
Communication and External Relations Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca:
Marcello Petrozziello and Andrea Salani (0583 472627 ; 340 6550425); comunicazione@fondazionecarilucca.it.
