FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES
OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA 2011
June 1 – 8

Opening Night film The Salt of Life, and a special screening of Alessandro Blasetti’s 1860 set for the series’ 11th edition

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the details today for the upcoming film series, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater June 1 - 8.  This year, the 11th edition of this popular showcase will open with the US Premiere of The Salt of Life, director Gianni Di Gregorio’s warm and witty follow-up to his 2010 sleeper hit Mid-August Lunch.  With Salt of Life, writer-director-actor Di Gregorio has created another sparkling comic ode to the ladies in his life. He will appear in person with the film on June 1. 

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Risorgimento—the movement that created modern Italy from a group of disparate states—Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is proud to present the premiere of Mario Martone’s We Believed, an epic reconstruction and re-imagination of the social and political forces that led to Italian independence. Faithful followers of Open Roads will also find a number of favorite directors from the past—among them, Sergio Castellitto, Roberta Torre, Gabriele Salvatores and Andrea Molaioli. Also part of Open Roads this year is a rare screening of 1860, Alesasandro Blassetti’s 1934 epic of the Risorgimento that follows a group of peasants on their road to joining Garibaldi.

Other highlights include the U.S. Premiere for Giulio Manfredonia’s Whatsoeverly; and conversations after the screenings with the directors: Gianni Di Gregorio (The Salt of Life), Luca Lucini (The Woman of My Life), Roberta Torre (Lost Kisses), Alessandro D’Alatri (On the Sea), Mario Martone (We Believed), Carlo Mazzacurati (The Passion), Lucio Pellegrini (Children of the Stars), Giovanna Taviani (Return to the Aeolian Islands), Giorgia Cecere (The First Assignment), and the actor Antonio Albanese (Whatsoeverly)

According to the Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director Richard Peña, “With a strong presence at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, this will be another banner year for the new Italian cinema. Many artists we introduced through Open Roads are back with new works that show their growing breadth of style and artistic maturity. We feel a strong commitment to this new generation and are proud that Open Roads has become its most important showcase in America.”

Tickets are on sale both at the box office and on-line. Discounts are available for Film Society members. Read more about The Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Caption: Scene from La Bellezza

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