From Susan Sarandon to Raoul Bova and Rocio Munoz, the guests of the Riviera Film Festival
ROME – The stars of Italian and international cinema return to shine on Sestri Levante from 7 to 12 May for the eighth edition of the Riviera International Film Festival, an event that has now become a point of reference among professionals and an unmissable appointment in the range of events of the Ligurian spring with talks, author's masterclasses and […]
ROME – The stars of Italian and international cinema shine again on Sestri Levante from 7 to 12 May for the eighth edition of the Riviera International Film Festival, an event that has now become a point of reference among professionals and an unmissable appointment in the Ligurian spring events offering with talks, masterclasses and previews.
RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL, THE GUESTS
The Hollywood icon Susan Sarandon and the other Oscar winners Eva Orner and Pietro Scalia will parade on the inaugural red carpet on Tuesday 7 May at the Ariston Cinema , the president of the jury Andrew Dominik, Martina Stella, Erika Calmeyer (best director of Riff 2023), the designer of the official poster of this edition of the eventJoe Dreherand the director Gianluca Santoni with the actors Barbara Ronchi, Andrea Lattanzi strong> and Andrea Sartoretti for ‘I and the dry’, the only Italian film in competition which will open the festival. Also expected this year on the shores of the Bay of Silence are Raoul Bova and Rocío Muñoz, ready to tell the public about themselves on Saturday 11 May at the Duferco Lounge, the tensile structure in Piazza Matteotti which, together with the former convent of Annunziata, it will host the many events of the program.
And again, Ambra Angiolini, Belen and Cecilia Rodriguez for the fourth season of ‘Celebrity Hunted – Manhunt’, Veronica Gaido, the actors Nicolas Maupas< /strong>and Damiano Gavinofor ‘A Professor’, Rossella Bresciaand Carlotta Natolifor ‘Il Santone’, the director of ‘Blocco 181 ‘ Ciro Visco with the actors Andrea Dodero and Fahd Triki introduced by Nils Hartmann, senior vice president of Sky Studios Italia, the screenwriter Francesca Manieri and the actress Gaia Messerklinger strong>, interpreter of Moana Pozzi, to narrate the Netflix series ‘Supersex’. Masterclasses are scheduled with Susan Sarandon, Andrew Dominik, Eva Orner and Pietro Scalia and Francesco Grisi, a world-renowned visual effects expert.
RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL, THE FILMS IN THE PROGRAM
At the center of the festival are the 11 films by directors under 35 and the 10 environmental-themed documentaries entered in the two main competitions to which is added, for the first time this year, a contest dedicated to short films, ‘ Riff shorts’, scheduled for Friday 10th and Saturday 11th May from 4pm at the Annunziata. The films in competition are: ‘I and the Dry’, the Icelandic ‘Solitude’ by Ninna Palmadottir, the Kenyan ‘After The Long Rains’ > strong> by Damien Hause, the Swiss ‘Electric Fields’ by Lisa Gertsch, the Czech ‘We Have Never Been Modern’ by Matej Chlupacek, the American ‘ What Doesn’t Float’ by Luca Balser, the English ‘In Camera’ by Naqqash Khalid and ‘Black Dog’ by George Jaques, the Spanish > ‘The Quiet Maid’by Miguel Faus, the Canadian ‘I Don’t Know Who You Are’ by M. H. Murray and ‘Handling The Undead’by Thea Hvistendahl, a co-production between Sweden and Norway.
Out of competition the preview of ‘Maschile plural’ with the protagonists Giancarlo Commare, Gianmarco Saurino and Michela Giraud strong> strong>, the horror-western thriller‘Silent Thunder’by Isaac Medeiros in its European premiere and the drama‘Fremont’by Babak Jalali, which tells the story of Donya, a time translator from Afghan on behalf of the US army and now based in San Francisco, which will be followed by the ‘Future for women’ panel between the journalist Stefania Vitulli, Mahdia Sharifi, Afghan university student athlete in the Olympic refugee program , and Angelo Pittaluga , advocacy JRS Jesuit refugee service. Also out of competition is the Italian ‘Food for profit’, the undercover journey through the farms of the main European countries to reveal the hidden reality behind the excellence of meat and cheese production, followed by a talk in the room with the journalist Giulia Innocenzi , co-author of the film together with Pablo D’Ambrosi; and the Ukrainian ‘What’s next’ by Daria Driuchenko, which follows the lives of some of the inhabitants of Kharkiv forced to find refuge in the subway to escape the bombings.
The Riff 2024 program includes the Antonioni Day, in collaboration with Belmond: on Thursday 9 May ‘Zabriskie Point’ will be screened at the Ariston Cinema at 10am and ‘Blow-up’ at 9.30pm . At 5pm at the Duferco Lounge, Michelangelo Antonioni’s wife, Enrica Fico, together with the director André Ristum and the producer Fabiano Gullane, connected from Brazil, will present an unpublished screenplay by Antonioni. This is a work written by the director in the 1960s entitled ‘Technically sweet’.
Space also reserved for the industry world: on Wednesday 8 May an entire day organized in collaboration with CNA Genova and CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo which will focus on tax credit, access to credit, facilitation opportunities and production trends and on Friday 10 a meeting on the relationship between Italian production and international distribution, both at the Duferco Lounge.
RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL, PRESIDENT TOTI: AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION FOR LIGURIA
“The Riviera International Film Festival is ready to surpass the success of previous editions, declares Giovanni Toti, president of the Liguria Region. “The international celebrities who will walk the red carpet testify to the growing prestige and importance of the event, made possible by the work of its organizers with the support of the Region. Liguria and Sestri Levante – continues Toti – thus become meeting places for actors of the star system, directors, fans of films, TV series and documentaries, together with critics and professionals in the sector. This event contributes to consolidating the name of Liguria as a tourist destination also linked to high-level cultural events. This is why the Riff is an essential event in the Ligurian spring events offering”.
RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL, THE ORGANIZERS: EVENT IN CONTINUOUS GROWING< /strong>
A growth that has artistically affected the entire territory that hosts it and which, thanks to Riff, has rediscovered art and creativity and found an exceptional driving force for promotion”, states Stefano Gallini Durante, president and founder of Riviera International Film Festival “It is the love for cinema and for the dissemination of its culture that pushes us to bet on a Riviera International Film Festival that is bigger and more complex every year, a real creative and networking hub where anyone, from simple enthusiasts to the many professionals who revolve around this splendid art, knows they can find a home that is always open to stimulate their inspiration”, adds Vito D’Onghia, executive director and co-founder of the Riff.
Furthermore, “it confirms itself as the home of the most promising and creative young directors under 35, and of documentaries that tell the story of the world by delving into environmental issues in the most original and disruptive way: again this year – explains Massimo Santimone, programmer of Riviera International Film Festival – these were the criteria that guided us in the selection of titles, both in the film section, which we expanded for the first time to eleven precisely with the intention of giving as much space as possible to new proposals, such as in that of documentaries, whose producers include heavyweights such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Matthew Modine, Julian Lennon and Rosario Dawson. Another feature of the Festival which is fully confirmed by this eighth edition is its internationality, with productions arriving from all over the world, seven Italian previews among the films in competition and the same number among the documentaries, two other national previews out of competition and the very entertaining ‘Silent Thunder’ in European premiere”.