26/10/2007

Italian director Mimmo Calopresti’s fifth feature, L'abbuffata [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“The Feast”), which screens out of competition at the RomeFilmFest, is, in the filmmaker’s words, a “tribute to expressive freedom and all those who have the courage to pursue their dreams with whatever resources they have, and without asking anyone’s permission.”

Unable to find a leading man for their short film in Diamante, their seaside hometown in Calopresti’s native Calabria, three young, would-be filmmakers – Paolo Briguglia (Good Morning, Night [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marco Bellocchio, director …
film profile]), Lele Nucera and Lorenzo Di Ciaccia – follow the advice of Neri (Diego Abatantuono), a director suffering from a creative block, and head to Rome.

There, in less than 24 hours, they are given the address book of a famous but neurotic actor (Calopresti) and at a party meet his former girlfriend (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), who happens to be dating Gerard Depardieu, who agrees to come to Calabria and work for them for free. In an unexpected twist, the film ends with a large feast that ultimately does the French star in.

Originally intended to be an Iranian project, Calopresti and co-screenwriter Monica Zapelli transposed the story to the Italian south because the director feels its culture still retains that spirit of purity and innocence that should be the basis of creativity in general and filmmaking in particular yet is in danger of extinction.

“We [directors] take ourselves too seriously and are taken too seriously by others,” he said. “This separates us from the real world and makes us forget that cinema is one big game. We have to remember that we make films in order to be together, to have fun, and to entertain.”

L'abbuffata was produced by Coopertiva Gagè, Dania Film and Istituto Luce, the latter which will release the film in Italian theatres on November 16.