25/09/2012 - The man behind Gomorra presented his latest work, Reality, in Rome. The film, which was awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes, will be coming out on September 28 in 350 copies, distributed by 01.

Whether Reality [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] will be chosen to compete for Italy in the best foreign film category at the Academy Awards is something that will only be known tomorrow (read news story). Matteo Garrone was in Rome yesterday presenting his latest film, recipient of the Cannes Grand Prix, which will be coming out in Italian theatres on 28 September in 350 copies with 01. As for the Oscar nomination, he is not holding his breath. “You need a great deal of luck for juries to recognize the sensitivity in certain types of films, and for the members of the jury to agree on it. So much is to do with circumstance, something I saw in Venice. An Oscar nomination would be an important recognition, but it’s the physical cinema that counts, that the audience enjoyed itself. What will be, will be.”

Aniello Arena, the talented actor in the star role, who is also a prisoner serving a life sentence, was granted special permission to be at the press conference in Rome. Halfway between Totò and Robert De Niro, he plays Luciano, a fishmonger, who is convinced he has been selected to take part in Big Brother. “Luciano is friendly, something I am too. But then, moving forward, I made him grow emotionally within me, in jail. For us prisoners, all we have is television, but I don’t like reality tv. I watched the first few seasons of Big Brother because it was new. I prefer films and documentaries.”

A few words were spoken on why Reality was not released straight after Cannes, like Io e te [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Bertolucci. Producer Domenico Procacci from Fandango spoke up on the subject. “To contend that artists who make one film every four years play a game to prolong the cinematographic season does not seem correct to me. Prolonging the season would mean being a part of commercial cinema, not of quality cinema.” The film was successfully screened in Toronto and has already been sold in over fifteen countries. It will be coming out in Canada and the United States. (read news story).

(Translated from Italian)