Italian Film Festival of St. Louis March 30 to April 14

March 21, 2007 -- The Film & Media Studies Program in Arts & Sciences will host the Italian Film Festival of St. Louis March 30 to April 14.

The festival will feature the St. Louis premieres of six recent Italian feature films, screened on Fridays and Saturdays for three consecutive weeks. All films will be shown in 35mm format in Italian with English subtitles.

Courtesy photo

Romanzo criminale

Screenings are free and open to the public and begin at 8 p.m. in the university's Brown Hall Auditorium, located near the intersection of Forysth Boulevard and Hoyt Drive. For more information, visit www.italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com; email info@italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com; or call 314-422-3102.

The festival is organized by the Italian Film Festival of St. Louis with support from Film & Media Studies, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Chicago and the National Italian American Foundation. The complete schedule runs as follows:

Friday, March 30
La bestia nel cuore (Don't Tell), directed by Cristina Comencini
Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is beautiful, enjoys her job and loves her boyfriend, yet strange nightmares open a disquieting window onto her memories and inner life. Nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Saturday, March 31
Il mio miglior nemico (My Best Enemy), directed by Carlo Verdone
Achille De Bellis (Carlo Verdone), the CEO of a major hotel chain, seems to have everything a man could desire, yet his life is overturned by an infuriated 23-year old, Orfeo (Silvio Muccino), whose mother Achille has just fired.

Friday, April 6
La febbre (The Fever), directed by Alessandro D'Alatri
Mario (Fabio Volo), a 30-year-old surveyor who lives with his widowed mother, plans to open a discoteque but soon finds his entrepreneurial spirit hampered by a city desk job.

Saturday, April 7
Romanzo criminale (Crime Novel), directed by Michele Placido
A blockbuster hit in Italy, Romanzo criminale follows a group of young criminals over a 25-year period, beginning in the 1970's, as they scheme to conquer the underworld of Rome.

Friday, April 13
Alla luce del sole (Come Into The Light), directed by Roberto Faenza
Based on the true story of Father Giuseppe Puglisi, whose attempts to help the poor in his hometown of Brancaccio, Sicily, force him to confront local mafia powers.

Saturday, April 14
La terra (Our Land), directed by Sergio Rubini
After many years of separation, four estranged brothers reunite to decide if they should sell the family farm.