Lucca Film Festival 2022 presentation

The Lucca Film Festival will take place in Lucca from September 23^rd to October 2^nd, 2022. It is one of the most relevant Italian cultural events, organised with the contribution of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca.

Great cinema artists will attend the festival and there will be Lifetime Achievement Awards and Tributes, screenings and masterclasses. The Dante Alighieri Cinema Award will also be awarded for the first time. The prize was established in 2021 as a tribute to the poet, on the occasion of the 700^th anniversary of his death. The prize will be awarded to an artist who is able to increase social and general awareness of multiple issues through peculiar choices in their art, and who is able to turn on the public’s imagination and curiosity, as well as diving into the different components used in the making of the film, supporting the environment surrounding its creation and culture; hence, an artist who embodies excellence in art. The 2022 Dante Alighieri Cinema Award will be awarded to Peter Greenaway. The Welsh director, screenwriter, editor, painter and writer will be the protagonist of an exceptional meetup on Sunday, October 2^nd, coordinated by Cristina Puccinelli, that will focus on his plan of shooting his next film in Lucca. The meetup will be followed by a screening of The Draughtsman’s Contract, a film that has been restored and recently shown at the Venice Film Festival. The documentary The Peter Greenaway alphabet by director Saskia Boddeke, Peter Greenaway’s wife, will also be shown, and she will attend the festival as well.

Along with Greenaway, various other international artists will liven up the festival days as well, like Argentinian director, screenwriter, editor and producer Gaspar Noé. Director of films such as Irréversible, Enter the Void and Love, Gaspar Noé will be the protagonist of a retrospective of his feature films, edited by journalists Paolo Zelati and Stefano Giorgi – from the artistic direction of the festival – and taking place in different locations around the city. On September 24^th the director will also hold a Masterclass at the Cinema Astra, moderated by Paolo Zelati and followed by the awarding of the Lifetime Achievement Award in his honour. Another exceptional guest will be director and screenwriter Paolo Virzì, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Then, the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore, who will receive the new Sguardo Senza Confini Award and will be the protagonist of a soiree curated by Cristina Puccinelli, also featuring a meetup in honour of Ennio Morricone (whose last concert was held right in Lucca). For the occasion, members of the Boccherini Conservatory Orchestra will play, and after their performance there will be a screening of the documentary Ennio.

The competitions, as usual, are divided into feature films and short films. Both sections will have four juries: a jury made up of international audiovisual professionals (awarding a 3,000-euro prize to the best film from both sections), a popular jury, a university jury and a press jury. Among the new features introduced last year, we find the press jury, made up of press and communication experts who will give the “Marcello Petrozziello” award, dedicated to the late homonymous well-known journalist and great communicator from Lucca, who was Press Office and External Relationships coordinator for Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. Among the premieres, the festival will hold a screening curated by Cristina Puccinelli of the feature film Spaccaossa by Vincenzo Pirrotta, distributed by Luce Cinecittà, with Salvo Ficarra as a guest.

Participating in the contest are twelve feature films, selected by Stefano Giorgi and Martino Martinelli, all at their Italian premieres. The selection involves 13 producing nations, for 7 debut films, embracing multiple genres, languages and contents, aiming as usual at promoting the work of new international and talented cinema artists. The Best Film Award, worth 3,000 euros, will be awarded by a jury made up ofLina Nerli Taviani, Claudio Cupellini, David Riondino and Andrea Sartoretti.

The films come directly from the most important international film festivals: Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, Slamdance, Karlovy Vary, and many more, but always keeping in mind independent productions as well. The films will include Tenzin by Joshua Reichman and Michael LeBlanc from Canada, Seven Dogs by Rodrigo Guerrero from Argentina, White Whale by Tatiana Fedorovskaya from Russia, Hannah ha ha from the USA, directed by Jordan Tetewsky and Joshua Pikovsky, Tropic of Violence from France, by Manuel Schapira at his directorial debut and who will be a guest at the festival, the French-Mexican Dos Estaciones by Juan Pablo González, the Mexican-Argentinian Robe of Gems by Natalia López Gallardo, the Japanese-French Yamabuki by Juichiro Yamasaki, then Maya Nilo (Laura) produced by Sweden, Belgium and Finland and directed by Lovisa Sirén, Remains of the Wind from Portugal by Tiago Guedess, who will attend the festival as well, Sick of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli from Norway and Borders of Love by Tomasz Wiński from Czech Republic.

The “Lucca Effetto Cinema” Section, with the artistic direction of Irene Passaglia and Cristina Puccinelli, includes all performative events and, like every year, presents a special soiree involving tens of acting and dance companies, each performing a tribute to a different film associated to a public location in the city centre. The first soiree of this section will take place on October 1^st, after the two-year-long pandemic break. The 2022 jury will give the Best Performance Award, as well as a 500-euro prize, followed by the Best Production Design Award specific for public locations. This edition, in collaboration with Confcommercio di Lucca, Massa e Carrara, will involve retailers from the city centre, ready to embrace an interesting initiative: during the weeks before the festival, clients of the stores taking part in the initiative will find a QR code in the shops, which can be used to register to the contest, with the possibility to win an aperitif with a guest star, the free participation to the online Cinema History class, held by Professor Nicola Borrelli, and the 2022 Lucca Film Festival catalogue. The winner will allow their trusty retailer to get the same prize as well.

Now let us focus on the films that will be presented for the “Fuori Concorso” Section, dedicated to out-of-competition films. At its Italian premiere, Cuba’s musical rhythms will echo in Soy Cubana, directed by Jeremy Ungar and Ivaylo Getov, telling the story of the female a cappella ensemble Le Vocal Vidas from Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of Afro-Cuban music. In 2017, they were invited to perform for the first time in the United States, right at the moment when the diplomatic relations between Cuba and the USA were coming to an end. Their journey to Los Angeles, while the ensemble sings in restaurants and jazz clubs and prepares for their biggest concert yet in front of a 4,000-people crowd, becomes a mix of two cultures, geographically close but ideologically distant, that start reconnecting while facing international insecurities. Italy is present with the comedy Tutti a Bordo, featuring Stefano Fresi, Giovanni Storti and Carlo Buccirosso, directed by Luca Miniero, who will be a guest at the festival, and distributed by Medusa. Another title presented “The last days of humanity” directed by Enrico Ghezzi and Alessandro Gagliardo, which will be presented by Gagliardo himself and by Aura Ghezzi and, out of competition, the animated film “Where is Anna Frank?”, written and directed by Ari Folman.

Among the new features introduced last year for the Short Film competition – a historic contest that has always been at the heart of the festival – there is the opportunity to watch the films from all around the world on the Festival Scope platform. All of the short films, selected by Rachele Pollastrini, Laura Da Prato and Dario Ricci, will be screened in physical and virtual theatres and will be available free of charge to audiences from all around the world. The works touch upon various topics. The competing films deal with geopolitical issues (the Ukrainian K-Saram: Tale of the Pig Head and We Had Each Other from the USA), digital evolution (Entrance and Exit of Mascha B. and Relativity), situations and societies on the margins in the contemporary world (Hunters, The Captured, The Familiar, The Heart of Shelley, When the rain sets in) and the liminality of existence, told through artistic experimentation (Currents/Perpendicolare Avanti, Daphne is Gone, Lettera a Lia). On the other hand, the out-of-competition films deal with family matters, their various dysfunctionalities and disintegrations (Greenhouse, Night, Pappo e Bucci, Sissi), but also with the reiteration of time in history and everyday life (Le buone maniere, Rivolta e Malinconia, The Wet Nurse, Mille Cipressi). Among the short films that will be presented at the competition, we find the Italian premiere of When the rain sets in by British director James Hughes – who will attend the festival – featuring Toby Sebastian and Florence Howard and with music by Jean-Pascal Beintus. It is the story of a couple that, after a six-month romance, faces a possible separation. Meanwhile, among the out-of-out competition works, there is the Italian Sissy by Eitan Pitigliani, featuring Vincenzo Vivenzio, Dea Lanzaro, Fortunato Cerlino and Mirella D’Angelo. It is the story of the deep love of a son for his mother.

The “Educational” Section, coordinated by Leonardo Galeassi, is specifically designed for middle schools and high schools and includes a series of initiatives such as masterclasses, meetups with directors and actors, and screenings of films and documentaries with a specific program for students. Thanks to the project called “Linguaggi e pratica del cinema e dell’audiovisivo per la scuola” (Languages and Practice of Cinema and the Audiovisual for Schools), the relationship between cinema and school is made possible through a series of events, screenings and discussions: the masterclass with Studio Azzurro, pioneers of video art in Italy, with Fabio Cirifino and Laura Marcolini, hosted by Maurizio Marco Tozzi and Alessandro Romanini, and the masterclass with Alessandro Ludovico, director of Neural, both organised in collaboration with the festival Over the Real; the “Poesia e nuovi media” event, theatrical performance and screening of the web series Pascoli contemporaneo; the screening and debate on the documentary Tintoretto – L’artista che uccise la pittura by Erminio Perocco; the screening and meetup with the cast of Quel genio del mio amico by Alessandro Sarti, which celebrates the figure of Leonardo da Vinci in a comic way; the screening of the debut film La Timidezza delle chiome by Valentina Bertani; and, lastly, the screening and debate on Siccità, Paolo Virzì’s latest film distributed by Vision Distribution, both recently presented at the Venice Film Festival.

The “Film For Our Future e la Foresta del Lucca Film Festival” Section is the result of a renewed collaboration with European festivals and at the same time with the EURASF network. For the first time, the Lucca Film Festival has created a new competition for international short films – coordinated by Dario Ricci and Leonardo Galeassi – for films related to the protection and enhancement of the environment. The jury, made up of members from all the other festivals in the network, will evaluate the works and award 500 euros to the best one. The festival and the Comune di Lucca are working on a memorandum of understanding that will be announced by the end of the festival with a special notice. It will decide upon the planting of about 100 trees to be carried out starting from 2023, which will completely offset the CO₂ emissions produced by the festival.

The festival also features the Donne all’Ultimo Grido Award, coordinated by the association Donne all’Ultimo. The award ceremony, which will take place during one of the festival days, will be preceded by a public talk with the guest.

The “Over The Real” Section presents the most significant lines of research that have emerged in recent years in the international audiovisual arts and intermedial performance scene, with around sixty works by artists from all around the world, all at their Italian and world premieres. Moreover, a special emphasis will be placed on a selection of artists from Ukraine and Africa. The 2022 edition of the festival will feature meetups with Studio Azzurro and Alessandro Ludovico, founder of Neural. The section is complemented by several performances that will take place within the scope of Lucca Effetto Notte 2022, to be held on the evening of October 1^st. During the event, Over The Real will present a multimedia live performance where experimental music, video art and interactive audio-video installations will meet. Live musical performances by Alberto Papotto aka Sysiphus and Marco uBIK Bonini will be immersed in Lino Strangis’ audiovisual scenic settings, curated by Veronica D’Auria (C.A.R.M.A. Roma). A not-to-be-missed event allowing us to dive into the research and multimedia experimentation of contemporary art. The event starts at 9:30 p.m. at Biblioteca Civica Agorà.

For the “Mostre” Section – dedicated to exhibitions – the Lucca Film Festival presents an exhibition by Pisan painter Marcello Scarselli, titled Good Morning Taviani, dedicated to the films of the Taviani Brothers, that will be held at Palazzo Pfanner in Lucca. On this occasion, Paolo Taviani will attend the festival, as he already did in 2007 and in 2019, when Alfonso Cuarón awarded him the UNESCO Fellini Medal.

The “Cinema Arte&Musica” Section, dedicated to the relationship between cinema, visual arts and music, presents a specific program for high-profile documentary productions, both historical and recent. Screenings include a selection of documentaries by Luciano Emmer: Isole nella Laguna, I disastri della Guerra, I fratelli miracolosi, Le carceri d’invenzione, Leonardo Da Vinci, Incontrare Picasso. Then, a section dedicated to Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti’s critofilms, including: Michelangelo, Deposizione di Raffaello, L’arte di Rosai. Noteworthy is the presentation of the documentary Disco Ruin. 40 Anni di Club Culture Italiana, directed by Lisa Bosi and Francesca Zerbetto.

For the “Il cinema in gioco” Section, we find the meetup “Il (video)gioco del teatro?”: the player, as an actor in the electronic space, occupies a different body made up of numbers, while being themself occupied at the same time. The player is the one who moves the strings of a (super)puppet and is at once a puppet of a program that drives their senses and alters their emotions. Through a long and varied series of images, we will see how video games have treated and transformed the theatrical space and text, but more importantly how they are turning us into actors on their countless stages. The event is edited by Federico Ercole (il manifesto, Dagospia) and Matteo Lupetti (Art Tribune, il manifesto).

The “Focus” Section is dedicated to ongoing productions or with a strong local value, through the screening of films, trailers, teasers, and study and production materials of audiovisual projects related to Tuscany and, in particular, to the province of Lucca. The section will include the feature documentary film No Tenemos Miedo, by director Manuele Franceschini from Lucca, on the Chilean rebellion movements that started in 2019 as a result of the increase in public transportation prices. It will also feature the world premiere of the short documentary film Vivere Arte, directed by Leonardo Petrucci and written by the director himself together with Martino Martinelli: a journey to discover the way of seeing and living art, through the stories of four artists of different generations, all born and raised in Viareggio: Giorgio Michetti, Giampaolo Simi, Gabriele Libero Balderi and Anita Bertuccelli.

International guests will liven up the days of the festival. Key guests and lifetime achievement awards for the editions between 2014 and 2021 include names such as David Lynch, George Romero, Paolo Sorrentino, Oliver Stone, Olivier Assayas, John Boorman, Alfonso Cuarón, Terry Gilliam, Willem Dafoe, Anton Corbjin, Julien Temple, Stephen Frears, Martin Freeman, Matt Dillon, Rupert Everett, William Friedkin, Thomas Vinterberg, Lech Majewski, Rutger Hauer, Joe Dante, Paolo Taviani, Marco Bellocchio, Matteo Garrone, Sergio Castellitto, Elio Germano, Vinicio Marchioni, Sandra Milo, Valeria Golino, Laura Morante, Jeremy Irons,  Philip Gröning, Cristi Puiu, Aleksandr Sokurov, Silvio Orlando, Lodo Guenzi e Alba Rohrwacher.

Over the years, the Lucca Film Festival, chaired by Nicola Borrelli, has paid tribute to the great names of international cinema, such as Oliver Stone to David Lynch, Rutger Hauer, George Romero, Paolo Sorrentino and Willem Dafoe. It is one of the leading events of Tuscany’s cultural scene, and made possible thanks to the contribution of  Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. Banca Generali Private Wealth Management (Paolo Tacchi) and Banca Pictet are the Main Sponsors of the event and exhibitions. The festival also has the support of other esteemed sponsors: Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation, Audi Center Terigi, Buonamico Estate, Martinelli Luce, Wella, Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, Ministry of Education, Ministry of University and Research, Tuscany Region, Sistema Toscana Foundation, The Lands of Giacomo Puccini, Lucca Promos, Municipality of Lucca and the collaboration and co-production of Lucca’s Province, Giglio di Lucca’s Theatre, Giacomo Puccini Foundation and Puccini Museum-Casa Natale, San Lorenzo Art Centre, Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti Foundation, Tuscany Cinema Academy, Octocom, Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, Luigi Boccherini Institute and Liceo Artistico Musicale e Coreutico Augusto Passaglia. We would also like to thank the Italian Amateur Theatre Federation (FITA), A.C.S.I. Associazione Centri Sportivi Italiani, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Italia, the Regional Directorate of Trenitalia, Talea Organization, Unicoop Firenze, Confcommercio of the Provinces of Lucca and Massa Carrara, the Degree Course in Performing Arts and Communication Disciplines of the Department of Civilisation and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa, University of Florence, Associazione Donne all’Ultimo Grido, Circolo del cinema di Lucca, Cineforum Ezekiel 25:17, Corte Tripoli Cinematografica, Uicc, Cinit, Fedic, Ucca, Fic,  Photolux Festival and Lucca Classica Music Festival for their collaboration.

Info
Lucca Film Festival
www.luccafilmfestival.it – segreteria@luccafilmfestival.it

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