They hail from Venice, Cannes, Locarno and even further afield: ten titles have been selected for the sixth edition of the Barcelona Italian Film Festival, the so-called “Festival of the Festivals”, featuring the very best in this year’s Italian films, which will unspool in the Catalonian capital from 15-19 December.

Opening proceedings will be the Manetti Bros with their Neapolitan musical Love and Bullets [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marco et Antonio Manetti
fiche film], which was in competition at Venice this year. Marco Manetti will be at the Verdi Cinema in Barcelona to pick up the CIS Honorary Award, which is bestowed upon a prominent figure in contemporary Italian cinema every year.

Three further films were in the Venice selection this year; they all represent the Neapolitan new wave and embrace the topic of crime in various different ways: they are the second animated feature by Alessandro Rak, Cinderella the Cat [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alessandro Rak
fiche film] (Orizzonti), Crater [+lire aussi :
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interview : Silvia Luzi, Luca Bellino
fiche film] by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino (Critics’ Week, and recently awarded with the Grand Jury Prize at the Tokyo Film Festival), and Equilibrium [+lire aussi :
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interview : Vincenzo Marra
fiche film] by Vincenzo Marra, presented this year in the Giornate degli Autori – as was Tainted Souls [+lire aussi :
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interview : Matteo Botrugno, Daniele C…
fiche film] by Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, which, in contrast, explores the world of organised crime in Rome.

Another movie that screened in the Giornate degli Autori is Where Shadows Fall [+lire aussi :
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interview : Valentina Pedicini
fiche film] by Valentina Pedicini, set in Switzerland, while the comedy Easy [+lire aussi :
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interview : Andrea Magnani
fiche film] by Andrea Magnani, a road movie from Italy to Ukraine, was acclaimed at the most recent Locarno Film Festival. Two more comedies are on the menu: Stories of Love That Cannot Belong to This World [+lire aussi :
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interview : Francesca Comencini
fiche film], the new movie by Francesca Comencini, presented at the Torino Film Festival, and Husband & Wife [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Simone Godano, which is getting a special screening. Last but not least, rocking up from Cannes is Fortunata [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sergio Castellitto
fiche film] by Sergio Castellitto. Four of these titles already have a Spanish distributor: Cinemaran for Stories of Love That Cannot Belong to This World and Where Shadows Fall, Savor Ediciones for Fortunata, and Selecta Visión for Husband & Wife.

Several big names will be accompanying the films to Barcelona: Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, Simone Godano, Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino, Andrea Magnani, Marco Manetti, Vincenzo Marra, Lucia Mascino, Valentina Pedicini, Edoardo Pesce and Alessandro Rak.

Furthermore, there will even be room for the short films presented in the Venice Critics’ Week this year: Adavede by Alain Parroni, Due by Riccardo Giacconi, Ghosts of Yesterday by Manuel Billi, Il legionario by Hleb Papou, Malamènti by Francesco Di Leva, Piccole italiane by Letizia Lamartire and Le visite by Elio Di Pace. The seven shorts will be duking it out for the €2,000 Short Award, which will be handed out by a jury comprising Dimas Luis Rodríguez Gallego, Valentina Pedicini and Toni Benages.

The Barcelona Italian Film Festival is organised by Filmitalia-Istituto Luce Cinecittà in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute, the Italian Consulate and the Experimental Film Centre.