email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FESTIVALS Italy

A mingling of genres at the Lucca Film Festival

by 

- This year’s edition, set to unspool from 2-9 April in Lucca and Viareggio, will open with Aki Kaurismaki’s The Other Side of Hope and will welcome various world-renowned directors

A mingling of genres at the Lucca Film Festival
The Other Side of Hope by Aki Kaurismaki

The Italian premiere of The Other Side of Hope [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile
]
by Aki Kaurismaki, which picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director at the most recent Berlinale, will serve as the opening film of the 2017 edition of the Lucca Film Festival on Sunday 2 April. Lead actor Sherwan Haji will be there in person to introduce the film, which hits Italian screens on 6 April, courtesy of Valerio De Paolis’ Cinema.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Besides Kaurismaki’s movie, the festival helmed by Nicola Borrelli will be presenting some other interesting titles out of competition, such as From the Land of the Moon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Nicole Garcia, starring Marion Cotillard and Louis Garrel, and the European premiere of A Family Man by Mark Williams, starring Gerard Butler and Willem Defoe (who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award). Among the other eminent guests slated to attend the gathering are Oliver Stone, Olivier Assayas, Valeria Golino, Sergio Castellitto, Julien Temple, Cristi Puiu, Bruno Monsaingeon and Giada Colagrande, who will either have retrospectives dedicated to them or will meet the audience. 

The second edition of the international feature competition will comprise 14 films hailing from all over the world, which will be having their Italian premieres at the event. They will be assessed by a jury chaired by Romanian maestro Cristi Puiu. The selection curated by Federico Salvetti, Stefano Giorgi and Nicolas Condemi boasts a huge variety of genres and subject matter: Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves by Canada’s Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie, which received a Special Mention in the Generation 14plus section of this year’s Berlinale; Tamara and the Ladybug [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Mexico’s Lucía Carreras, a Spanish-French-Uruguayan co-production supported by the Ibermedia programme; The Winter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Argentina’s Emiliano Torres; Afterlov [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stergios Paschos
film profile
]
, the superb feature debut by young Greek filmmaker Stergios Paschos; Rage by Japanese-based South Korean director Sang-il Lee; By the Time It Gets Dark [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Anocha Suwichakornpong, a co-production between Thailand, the Netherlands, France and Qatar; Rifle [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Davi Pretto, a Brazilian-Spanish co-production that was awarded at the Brasilia Film Festival, and which was presented at the project stage at the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, Brazil’s BrLab and the Berlinale Talent Project Market; Requiem for Mrs. J. [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bojan Vuletić
film profile
]
by Bojan Vuletic (Serbia/Bulgaria/Macedonia); The Levelling [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the debut film by Scottish director Hope Dickson Leach, which is toplined by Ellie Kendrick, one of the stars of the TV series Game of Thrones; The Misandrists [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by controversial director Bruce LaBruce, a New Queer Cinema icon (co-produced by Germany and Canada); the British title Butterfly Kisses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rafael Kapelinski
film profile
]
by Rafael Kapelinski, which won the Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus section of this year’s Berlinale; Dayveon, the feature debut by US-based Pakistani director Amman Abbasi; Paths [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Germany’s Chris Miera; and Ana, Mon Amour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Călin Peter Netzer
film profile
]
by Romania’s Cãlin Peter Netzer, who won the Golden Bear at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival with Child’s Pose [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Calin Peter Netzer
film profile
]
, in competition at the latest edition of the festival.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Italian)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy