The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival that kicks off Italys summer moviegoing season will play a prominent role in the ongoing push to lure Italians back into movie theaters, just as the countrys box office is starting to gain traction.
A robust roster of talents from Hollywood and Italy and a solid lineup of premieres are booked for this event, which combines film and TV and unspools June 22-25 in the Forte Village resort near Cagliari, capital of Sardegna (Sardinia in English). The fest is set to take place just as the Italian government starts to invest 20 million ($22 million) to promote moviegoing through a campaign called Cinema Revolution, under which cinema tickets will be half-price for a limited time.
While in past years I struggled to find films, this time around I have 50 titles, notes Tiziana Rocca, the marketing guru and former Taormina Film Festival chief who launched the Sardinia event six years ago.
To help restore moviegoing mojo, Rocca has secured the Italian bow of racy Jennifer Lawrence comedy No Hard Feelings as the opener, while the local launch of latest DC offering The Flash will be the fests closer. The selection is in the spirit of trying to stimulate word of mouth on the part of the youth demographic, she says. Other movies premiering locally include Pixars Elemental, Liza Azuelos Room of Miracles and Italian vampire comedy Un matrimonio mostruoso.
While the catchy opening and closing titles will not have talent in tow though Lawrence will be taping a salute to the fest that will be shown at the premiere Rocca has recruited stars to make the trek, including Rosario Dawson, who, reflecting the fests strong accent on women in the biz, will receive its Filming Italy Women Power Award; Richard Gere; Laura Dern and Woody Harrelson, who will be having a joint onstage conversation; Dennis Quaid; Christopher Walken; Aaron Eckhart; Dominic West; Emile Hirsh; and Fast X star Daniela Melchior.
Actor Alessandro Nivola will hold a masterclass with Varietys executive VP of content, Steven Gaydos, during which he will talk about his Sardinian roots. His grandfather Costantino Nivola was an artist who fled Nazi and Fascist persecution and settled in New York in 1939.
The Italian talent contingent comprises ace director Matteo Garrone and A-list actors Francesca Chillemi, Claudia Gerini, Paola Cortellesi and Laura Chiatti.
Besides being a local industry booster, Filming Italy Sardegna also serves as a campus of sorts for more than 2,000 Italian film students from more than 20 film schools who will be attending screenings and masterclasses and reaping benefits from the informal contact with stars and industry execs.
Highlights from fests TV component include the Italian premiere of Netflixs animated comic series Nimona, which is set in a techno-medieval landscape where magic and technology combine, HBOs The Idol and Italian megahit Mare Fouri (The Sea Beyond), which is set in a youth detention center overlooking the bay of Naples where male and female inmates contend with being incarcerated as they explore love and dream of a better life.
The Filming Italy industry panel will explore the prospects and hopes for Italys box office, which in 2022 tallied a measly 44.5 million admissions, a 48% drop compared with its average pre-pandemic level. That total is also below theatrical moviegoing recovery rates for Europes main territories though Italys numbers have been gradually improving in the first half of 2023 as well as challenges faced by the Italian industry in the international market arena. Panelists include RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco, Fremantle Group COO Andrea Scrosati and Italys deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni.