Amelio’s The First Man has world premiere in Toronto

by Vittoria Scarpa

17/08/2011 - The First Man [trailer], the new film by Gianni Amelio will make its international debut at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival, taking place from 8 to 18 September. A co-production between France, Algeria and Italy, it is the first feature film in French from Calabria’s director (The Missing Star [trailer], The Keys to the House [trailer], Golden Lion for Best Film with The Way We Laughed in 1998) and is an adaptation of Albert Camus’ last novel of the same title, which was left unfinished and was published posthumously in 1994.

The film, with Claudia Cardinale, Maya Sansa, Jacques Gamblin and Denis Podalydès, takes place in the late 1950s and its main character is Jacques Cormery (Camus’ alter-ego), who comes back to Algeria and retraces his childhood.

Two further important Italian authors will be present at the prestigious Canadian film gala: Ermanno Olmi and Emanuele Crialese. Immediately after their participation in the 68th Venice Film Festival, the two directors will screen their films in a world premiere, respectively - Il villaggio di cartone and Terraferma [trailer, film focus] - at the festival’s Special Screenings.

The same section will host We Have a Pope [trailer, film focus] by Nanni Moretti, the rights for which have recently been bought by Sundance Selects, the American video-on-demand company linked to Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival. The Special Screenings will also show the co-production between France, Italy and Switzerland, Un êté brûlant [trailer] by Philippe Garrel, with Monica Bellucci, also at the 68th Venice Film Festival, in competition.

A touch of Italy is also to be found in the selection of Contemporary World Cinema: Isole, Stefano Chiantini’s new comedy (L'amore non basta), with Asia Argento and Rocco Papaleo, will be screened in a world premiere. The story is set in Puglia, on the Tremiti Islands, and features a bricklayer from eastern Europe who is looking for a job, a young woman who has retreated into the silence of her parish and a middle-aged priest who is at war with his sister. The same section will screen the North-American premiere of an Italian co-production, The Forgiveness of Blood [trailer] (US/Albania/Denmark/Italy), which is directed by California’s Joshua Marston and is already competing in the 61st Berlinale. It's about the ancestral codes that govern life in North Albania, and which Fandango will distribute in Italy under the title La faida.

(Translated from Italian)