On March 29, the Festa do Cinema Italiano, a great event dedicated to Italian cinema and culture, returns to over 20 Portugal cities, supported by Cinecittà, the Italian Embassy, and the Italian Cultural Institute in Lisbon. The 16th edition will end on April 6.
The Festa includes 50 titles among feature films, documentaries, and short films, many of which are national previews. Among the most awaited titles Siccità by Paolo Virzì, Eight Mountains by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, In viaggio by Gianfranco Rosi, and Scarlet by Pietro Marcello.
Guests of honor join the rich programming: Toni Servillo accompanies the preview of Roberto Andò’s The Strangeness and will be on stage on April 4 at the Maria Matos Theater with “Le Voci di Dante”, based on a text by playwright Giuseppe Montesano. Director Emanuele Crialese presents his latest film, L’immensità, in preview on the opening night. Both are to be honored together with Gina Lollobrigida by three celebration screenings: Pane, amore e fantasia, L’uomo in più, and Nuovomondo. A tribute focus dedicated to Elio Petri includes a complete retrospective in collaboration with the prestigious Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema.
From March 28, the Centro Cultural de Belém hosts Luigi Ghirri, ‘Obra Aberta,’ a photographic exhibition dedicated to one of the most influential artists of 20th-century Italian culture. This itinerary of 70 works is accompanied by the documentary Infinito – The Universe of Luigi Ghirri introduced by his daughter, Adele Ghirri.
The Festa Do Cinema Italiano broadens its gaze also to literature through an encounter with writer Alessio Forgione, to video art with artist Rä di Martino, and to Virtual Reality thanks to a selection of 15 Italian VR works introduced by Davide Rapp. The program includes gastronomic tours, concerts, karaoke, stand-up comedy, and more.