FEU Bamboo Band to perform Broadway musical tunes in concert

BREAKING:

As the 6:00 PM performance has sold out, there will now also be an earlier run at 3:00 PM on May 4, 2019.

Free admission but tickets required from www.Ticket2Me.net

Beat the summer heat with tunes from Broadway musicals performed by unique bamboo instruments as the Far Eastern University President's Committee on Culture presents the FEU Bamboo Band in A Toast of Broadway this May 4, 2019, 6:00 PM at the historic FEU Auditorium.

A Toast to Broadway celebrates a couple of milestones namely the 10th anniversary of FEU Bamboo Band's artistic director Norberto Cads and the 70th anniversary of the FEU Auditorium, once considered as the cultural center of the Philippines.

Popular tunes from Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Wicked, and Les Misérables, to name a few, will be performed by the FEU Bamboo Band whose members are made up of students from different institutes of the Far Eastern University.

FEU Bamboo Band

Joining the band are two award winning artists, Raymond Gorospe and Banaue Miclat-Jansen.

Raymond is a host, commercial model, and a multi-awarded vocalist. Banaue, on the other hand, recently won an Aliw Award for her performance in the latest prdocution Ginugunita Kita that was also held at the FEU Auditorium.

A sneak peek of the concert was presented during a recent press conference. And it was an opportunity to get acquainted with the bamboo instruments used in the band.

The main instrument is the marimba, which is just like the traditional one but with tiles made out of narra and resonators made out of bamboo. They provide the melodies and also the counterpoints.

Looking like tubular bells, the kalagong provides the bass line for the ensemble. Sound is produced by striking the top of the bamboo tubes with mallets made out from rubber slippers. This instrument was named after its inventor Siegfredo Calabig combining kala with gong.

Raymond Gorospe, Banaue Miclat-Jansen, Norberto Cads, and Martin Lopez
with the FEU Bamboo Band

Accompanying chords are produced by the bumbong, large pipes that are blown to produce a long sustained note. With bumbong players grouped in threes, each play a different note together forming a three note chord. A drum set (like the one used in rock bands) acts as the rhythm section of the band.

The ensemble that performed at the press conference is just a fraction of the entire band and it will be interesting to see if there are other bamboo instruments aside from the three that were seen.

Admission to A Toast to Broadway is for free. One is still required to get tickets via www.Ticket2Me.net, a convenient ticketing app available online and in mobile devices.

Prior to the concert on the same day, Significance in the Details: Identifying Values in Heritage Sites and Structures, a heritage conservation talk organized by the Heritage Conservation Society, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Far Eastern University starts at 1:30 PMthe PCC Center Studio at the FEU campus. This event covers heritage law, digital scanning and documentation, and a walkabout inside the FEU campus (a 91 year old heritage structure with Art Deco details). Admission to the talk costs P400, inclusive of light snacks. Limited seats available.

With an educational and entertaining line up of activities happening on May 4, 2019 at the FEU, one can spend a worthwhile Saturday this summer without spending much and traveling too far.

All female ensemble MusiKa Filipina in first major concert

After being launched earlier this year, MusiKa Filipina present their first major concert on May 2, 2019, 6;30 PM at the Ayala Museum.

MusiKa Filipina is an all-female vocal ensemble under The Nightingales (Bianca Camille Lopez and Rhina Paula Palma-Cruz) inspired by the vision of a Singing Philippines by Prof. Andrea O. Veneracion.

Moviemov Italian Film Festival returns to Manila, war melodrama opens festival

Luca Bellino, Silvia Luzi, Federica Sabatini, Mario Sesti, Goffredo Bettini,
Silvia D'amico, and Agostino Ferrente

After almost two and a half years, Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now 2019 has returned to Manila. And true to the Moviemov experience, a delegation from Italy composed of actors, directors, film personalities, and of course, Senator Goffredo Bettini, flew to the country for the duration of the film festival held at the Cinematheque Centre Manila at the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

The Italian delegation is led by actress Silvia D’amico who overcame her fear of traveling by air to be here as the godmother of this edition's Moviemov.

Agostino Ferrente, Mario Sesti, Federica Sabatini, Silvia Luzi, and Luca Bellino

Filmmaker Agostino Ferrente, whose film Selfie is part of the lineup, was in a more somber mood during the press conference as his thoughts are with the victims of the earthquake that shook parts of Luzon on Monday, the day before the film festival opened.

The ever reliable Cristina Moricca translating for Senator Goffredo Bettini

The directing duo of Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino of Il cratere, Saremo giovani e belissimi actress Federica Sabatini, and film critic Mario Sesti made up the rest of the delegation who graced the opening of the festival. It is such a pity that actor Lorenzo Richelmy, previously announced as part of the delegation, wasn't able to make it especially since he stars in Una questione privata, the festival's opening film.

Una questione privata/Rainbow: A Private Affair

The last film to be directed by the brothers Vittorio and Paolo Taviani as a duo, before Vittorio passed away in 2018, Una questione privata is about Milton (Luca Marinelli), a lovestruck resistance fighter whose political cause goes to the wayside as he searches for his friend Giorgio (Lorenzo Richelmy), who is also a partisan stationed elsewhere. Milton gets shaken when he learns that his object of affection, Fulvia (Valentina Belle), had several late night rendezvous with Giorgio soon after he left to join the resistance.

Milton's search for Giorgio gets more complicated when the latter gets captured by the fascists. He goes on trying to find himself a fascist to take prisoner whom he could exchange for his friend. And just like the mist that fogs the hills, Milton's mind is clouded as well with his search for Giorgio. In the end, it is still shrouded in mystery the final fates of the three.

Discussions on what the ending of the movie really means could be heard as soon as people left the Cinematheque. This made me wish that Richelmy was present at the festival to know his views regarding the ambiguous ending of the film. It probably would be helpful to get hold of a copy of the novel by Beppe Fenoglio  in which this film was based on to understand the movie a lot better.

Moviemov Italian Cinema Now 2019 runs until April 26, 2019 at the Cinematheque Center Manila at the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

Inaugural Scandinavian Film Festival launches in Davao

The Embassies of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in partnership with fhe Film Development Council of the Philippines and SM Lanang Premier, SM Cinema, present the first Scandinavian Film Festival launching in Davao this April 28 - May 3, 2019.

Faturing 23 contemporary feature length films and a handful of documentaries and short films from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Mindanao community, the Scandinavian Film Festival gives Filipinos (especially Davaoeños) a glimpse of Scandinavian culture and way of life.

The feature films will be screened at SM Lanang Premier on April 28-May 3, 2019 while documentaries, children's short films, films from the Mindanao Film Community, and other activities will be screened at the Cinematheque Centre Davao from April 29-May 3, 2019.

Leading the film selection is Rosita from Denmark. This film, directed by Frederikke Aspöck, stars Filipina actress Mercedes Cabral in the title role. Rosita, a mail order bride from the Philippines, causes tension between father and son who both fall in love with her.

The box office hit The Wave/Bølgen is the main offering from Norway. This disaster film, directed by Roar Uthaug, has won Amanda Awards for Best Norwegian Film in Theatrical Release, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Design.

Finally, Sweden offers the documentary The Girl Who Saved My Life/Flickan som räddade mitt liv. In it, filmmaker Hogir Hirori, leaves his pregnant wife in Sweden and returns to Iraq to film refugees fleeing ISIS, while trying to find a young girl whom he believes saved his life.

These films are just three of the over 30 films (feature length, documentaries, and shorts) offered in the first ever Scandinavian Film Festival. Admission to all the films is free on a first come, first serve basis.

Here is the schedule for the SM Lanang Premiere screenings.

April 28, 2019

1:00 PM The Wave (Norway)

3:00 PM Martha & Nikki (Sweden)

6:00 PM Rosita (Denmark)

April 29, 2019

1:00 PM A Holy Mess (Sweden)

3:00 PM I Am William (Denmark)

5:00 PM Tsatsiki, D&TOW (Sweden)

7:00 PM Kiss Me YFM (Norway)

April 30, 2019

1:00 PM Warmer (Norway)

3:00 PM Pioneer (Norway)

5:00 PM Winter Brothers (Denmark)

7:00 PM Drifters (Sweden)

May 1, 2019

1:00 PM Reflections (Sweden)

3:00 PM The Girl TMTD (Sweden)

5:00 PM Darling (Denmark)

7:00 PM Victoria (Norway)

May 2, 2019

1:00 PM A Family (Denmark)

3:00 PM Siv Sleeps Over (Sweden)

5:00 PM A Serious Game (Sweden)

7:00 PM A Second Chance (Denmark)

May 3, 2019

1:00 PM The Optimists (Norway)

3:00 PM The Commune (Denmark)

5:00 PM White People (Sweden)

7:00 PM Kon Tiki (Norway)

Here is the schedule of the screenings and activities at Cinematheque Centre Davao.

April 29, 2019

Opening Reception: Contemporary Films from Mindanao and Scandinavia 

April 30, 2019

Documenting Conflict: Documentary Workshop with Sheron Dayoc

May 1, 2019

Short Films from Mindanao and Scandinavia

May 2 -3, 2019

Documentary Films from Mindanao and Scandinavia

Music treats at Día del Libro 2019

The highly anticipated Día del Libro 2019, the all day book fair and more happening this April 27, 2019 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens may be a treat for bookworms, but there are a couple of events lined up during the day that will delight the music lovers attending the event.

First up is the Music Lunch Concert at 11:00 AM featuring frequent collaborators Spanish flamenco guitarist Alex Alcaraz and Filipino percussionist Jean Paul Zialcita. The duo will also be among the musicians for the upcoming Euro-Pinoy Concert on May 7, 2019, 7:00 PM at The Ruins in Poblacion Makati.

Wrapping up Día del Libro is the Posporos concert at 7:00 PM featuring Basque punk band Vulk from Bilbao, Spain and art rock band The Late Isabel from the Philippines. This performance caps the weeklong music residency between the two bands. This residency will be filmed for a later broadcast over at Jack TV.

Vulk

Posporos is a project that began in 2016 that brings together music acts from the Philippines and Spain for collaborative performances.

The Late Isabel

Día del Libro 2019 is presented by Instituto Cervantes de Manila the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, AECID Philippines, Make It Makati, Ayala Land, Inc., Philippine Transmarine Carriers Inc., Rustan's, Turkish Airlines, LaLiga, with the collaboration of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, European Union in the Philippines, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, CSB Theater Arts Program, Kyusi Sketchers, La Peñica Corp., Anvil Publishing, Visprint Inc. and the best Manila bookstores.

PPO's Rite of Spring, a strong finish to 45th Anniversary Season

Guitarist Kiyoshi Shomura and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Coming off the heels of a performance that has been considered as one of the best in recent years, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, along with Music Director/Principal Conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura, wrapped up its 45th Anniversary Season at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Expectations for this evening were really high not just because of the previous PPO outing but also due to the inclusion of the fiendishly difficult Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky that closed out the concert and the season. 

Conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

The evening started off with a breezy Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 “Italian” by Felix Mendelssohn. Had the closing piece been different, the tarantella at the finale would've sounded more frantic. This was how highly anticipated the Stravinsky was.

Preconcert talk by PPO Director Eugene de los Santos

The evening saw Japanese guitarist Kiyoshi Shomura as the guest artist in Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 99. The Mediterranean images evoked in this piece served as the calm before the storm. But there was a bit of hesitation and lack of command with his performance of the concerto. Shomura's encores, Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega and Sons de carrilhões by João Pernambuco, treated the audience with popular staples of the guitar repertoire.

The much awaited Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky saw the orchestra (fortified with a number of guest musicians) tackle the piece with an intensity and an attack that truly made the tarantella at the Mendelssohn feel like a walk in the park. There were moments of brilliance, but there were times when they teetered close to the edge. The Rite was a competent one but clearly not the homerun that the Tchaikovsky's fifth was the previous month.

Overall, it was still a triumphant end to the season with the PPO under Fukumura getting stronger with each performance since the series resumed at the start of the year. The bar has been set high and they have to be golden next season as the CCP celebrates a milestone 50 years.

Guitarist Noli Aurillo joins MSO's Rush Hour Concert at Ayala Museum

The Manila Symphony Orchestra and the Ayala Museum welcome guitarist Noli Aurillo for their latest Rush Hour Concerts offering happening on April 26, 2019, 6:30 PM at the Ayala Museum.

The concert, billed as Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue, sees acoustic guitar expressionist Noli Aurillo teaming up with the MSO for a night of music featuring the works of George Gershwin, Antonin Dvořák, Georges Bizet, Freddie Mercury and his band, Queen.

NAMCYA winner Joshua Ethan Dakanay in ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra concert

Barely a couple of weeks after the educational Evening with Beethoven, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra presents its latest installment of their Classical Concert Series happening this April 26, 2019, 6:45 PM at the ABS-CBN's Studio 4.

For this evening, the orchestra, along with conductor Joshua Dos Santos, welcomes Joshua Ethan Dakanay as their guest soloist.

Dakanay won the 1st Prize at the 2018 National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Junior Strings Category. He will be the featured soloist at Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33.

Also part of the evening's program are Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune/Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, "From the New World".

Admission to the concert is free. Seats are limited so do contact Joji Cardones at (02) 415-2272 extension 2407 or (0998) 969-7329 to ensure one's seat.

Czech guitarist/composer Lukáš Sommer goes on Philippine tour

The European Union's music project Euro-Pinoy Concert, a collaborative performance between Filipinos and musicians from the EU, may still a few weeks away, but let's get to know right now one of the artists slated to perform in that event, the Czech guitarist and composer Lukáš Sommer who will be on tour here this May 6-10, 2019.

The tour starts with a performance at the National Museum of Natural History on May 6, 2019, 6:30 PM.

On May 7, 2019, 7:00 PM, he joins Spanish guitarist Alex Alcaraz, Filipino percussionist Jean Paul Zialcita and German-Filipina DJ Marie Badkiss in the Euro-Pinoy Concert at The Ruins, in Poblacion, Makati

On May 8, 2019, 7:00 PM, he will have another performance at the Rockwell Center in Makati.

Lukáš is also scheduled to conduct masterclasses at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and at the International School Manila.

The tour poster indicates a performance at the Room Gallery in Puerto Galera on May 10, 2019. This might be a recent development that came after the Viva Europa 2019 launch. Do watch out in this space for whatever updates there may be as the tour fast approaches.

Guitarist/composer Lukáš Sommer

Regarded as a prominent figure of the young composer generation, Lukáš has studied at the Conservatory in České Budějovice and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Since then, he has devoted himself fully to composition and concert activities. His works have been produced by prestigious institutions or prominent musical personalities

Lukáš Sommer's Philippine tour is presented by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Manila.

RAd's Playlist | Lukáš Sommer Savanna! and Three Concerts

Here are a couple of releases by Lukáš Sommer, both featuring his compositions. Savana! features very personal compositions he has written for the guitar. I expect that tracks from this album will make up his solo performances.

A trio of concertos, one for the harp, another for the oboe, and the last for the flute are the tracks found in his latest release, Three Concerts, featuring his works for a solo instrument and orchestra. This gives a hint of what is possible on the horizon after Lukáš' finishes his tour in here. I, for one, would love to hear this works performed locally.

Baka Naman Hindi returns at the CCP

After a successful limited run in October last year, Baka Naman Hindi returns once again this April 25-28,2019 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino).

Adapted to Filipino by Virgilio “Beer” Flores from Georges Feydeau's La Puce à l'oreille/A Flea in Her Ear, the play is a classic farce filled with innuendo, physical comedy and snappy dialogue.

Rina Reyes and Ricky Davao
Photo by Kiko Cabuena

The cast is led by Ricky Davao and Rina Reyes. They are joined by Rafa-Siguion Reyna, Tex Ordoñez-De Leon, Nazer Salcedo, Randy Villarama, Raffy Tejada, Wenah Nagales, Lao Rodriguez, Mosang, Jonathan “Tad” Tadioan, Marco Viaña, Jef Henson Dee, Felipe “Ronnie” Martinez, Kathlyn Castillo and Aldo Glenn Vencilao.

The creative team is headed by CCP President Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso as producer, Dennis Marasigan as director and lighting designer, Ohm David as set designer, James Reyes as costume designer and, TJ Ramos as sound designer. Lizaso directed the play when it was first staged at the CCP back in the 1970’s.

The opening night of Baka Naman Hindi also serves as the 6th installment of Les Jeudis Culturels/Cultural Thursdays, a monthly cultural rendez-vous initiative of the Embassy of France and Alliance Française de Manille.

Winning children's choirs in NAMYCA concert at the Ayala Museum

BREAKING:
Due to unforeseen circumstances the Davao Girls Choir will not be able to perform as originally scheduled. 

Please rest assured that the concert will push through with a full repertoire from the Miriam College Middle School Chorus, Balon Dagupan Children's Choir, and the Loboc Children's Choir.

The National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) and the Ayala Museum present Pandayan ng Pag-asa, the next installment of the Alab ng Musika series, on April 25, 2019, 6:30 PM at the Ayala Museum.

This concert will feature some of the winners of the Children's Choir Category at the NAMCYA namely the Davao Girl's Choir with choirmaster Maria Elena Barradas Gementiza, Miriam College Middle School Chorus with choirmaster Sinamar Pascua Respicio, Balon Dagupan Children's Choir with choirmaster Jean Llamas Mendoza, and Loboc Children's Choir with choirmaster Lea Claudia Cal.

An educational Beethoven evening with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra

Joshua Dos Santos and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor Joshua Dos Santos led the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of two Beethoven symphonies that not only delighted the predominantly young audience that filled the Dolphy Theater, but also served as further education for a more enjoyable concert experience.

Before the performance began, Joshua gave the audience a brief background on Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 and the more popular and frequently performed symphonies that preceded and followed it. He stressed the importance of thinking the fourth as a transition to Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, undeniably the most popular symphony out there. And that whatever baffles the audience with the fourth with its less than dramatic and majestic music will fall into place and finally make sense once he/she gets listens to the fifth 

Conductor Joshua Dos Santos gives a pre-concert talk

As for me, this was a new way of approaching the fourth since I always regarded it as an unusual follow up to the epic, revolutionary third symphony. Instead of further revolutionizing the symphony, it seemed to harken back to the second. So in this concert, I had the fifth in mind (instead of the second and the third) while listening to the fourth.

Joshua conducted the orchestra with such vigor as if he had a Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra sized battalion of strings at his disposal. Despite the small number of the strings, he was able to bring out a full, robust sound from them without sacrificing precision.

Joshua Dos Santos "conducts" the audience on how to applaud

After the concert, an audience unaccustomed to how applause is usually done was "conducted" by Joshua. He said that while it is not cool to applaud in between movements, it is definitely cool to clap loudly during the curtain call and while the soloists from the orchestra are acknowledged. And proving how effective of a conductor he is, the audience was able to pick this up and I am confident that they will applaud in a cool way when they watch their next concert.

Italian films, actors, and directors at Moviemov 2019

Roll out the red carpet as Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now returns this April 23-26, 2019 at the Cinematheque Centre Manila at the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

Now in its fifth edition here in the country, Moviemov this year will focus on Authors of Cinema of Reality, featuring a selection of eight of the most representative and awarded movies of the last cinema season namely Una questione privata/Rainbow – A Private Affair, Manuel, Saremo giovanj e bellisimi/We'll Be Young and Beautiful, C'è tempo, Il cratere/Crater, La paranza dei bambini/Piranhas, Selfie, and Troppa grazia/Lucia's Grace. The festival will also pay tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci through the screening of The Dreamers. The films will be in their original Italian language with English subtitles. Admission is for free on a first come, first served basis.

Aside from the screenings, the festival will also see the arrival of a delegation from Italy composed of directors Silvia Luzi, Luca Bellino and Agostino Ferrente, actors Lorenzo Richelmy and Federica Sabatini, film critic Mario Sesti, and film producer Daniele Orazi. They will present their respective films at the screenings while some will conduct masterclasses for the educational component of the festival.

Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now is created and directed by Goffredo Bettini and organized by Playtown Roma, the Moviemov is realized thanks to the MIBACT (Directorate-General for Cinema of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism) and SIAE (the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), with the collaboration of the Italian Embassy in Philippines, the Philippine Italian Association, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

Here are the selection of films for Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now 2019.

Una questione privata/Rainbow – A Private Affair

Director: Vittorio Taviani, Paolo Taviani

Cast: Luca Marinelli, Lorenzo Richelmy, Valentina Bellè, Francesca Agostini, Jacopo Olmo Antinori

Summer 1943, Piedmont, Italy. Milton loves Fulvia who plays with his love: she only likes the depth of his thought and the letters he writes to her. One year later, Milton has joined the Resistance and fights beside other partisans. He learns during a conversation that Fulvia was secretly in love with his friend Giorgio, a partisan like him. Milton decides to go find Giorgio in the Langhe region and its misty hills… But Giorgio has just been arrested by the Fascists.

Manuel

Director: Dario Albertini

Cast: Andrea Lattanzi, Francesca Antonelli, Renato Scarpa, Giulia Elettra Gorietti, Raffaella Rea

Manuel has just turned 18. It is time to leave the foster home where he has lived for the past years, after his mother went to prison. But the newfound freedom is bittersweet. Roaming the streets of his desolate neighborhood, alone with his hopes and fears, Manuel tries to leave the teenager behind and become a responsible adult. He must prove to the authorities that he can look after his mother if she is granted house arrest. Can he give her back her freedom, without losing his?

Saremo giovani e belissimi/We'll Be Young and Beautiful

Director: Letizia Lamartire

Cast: Barbora Bobulova, Alessandro Piavani, Massimiliano Gallo, Federica Sabatini, Elisabetta De Vito

Isabella still sings Tic Tac, the song that made her famous in the early nineties, when she was only seventeen. Her place is the Big Star, which has also become her second home. Her young son Bruno is her guitarist. The two are inseparable, they perform every night together and they share a ramshackle but happy life of unpaid bills and midnight strolls around the city. Bruno, however, dreams of a different musical career.

Light touches of comedy and the music bring to life the slow but necessary separation between mother and son, a crucial and painful detachment. Just like the end of any other love story.

C'è tempo

Director: Walter Veltroni 

Cast:  Stefano Fresi, Giovanni Fuoco, Simona Molinari, Francesca Zezza, Jean-Pierre Léaud

Stefano is a 40 year old with two different jobs: staring at rainbows and guardian of a mirror that reflects the sunbeams illuminating the town of Viganella, where he just moved with his wife Luciana.

While he is guarding the mirror, a notary comes to Stefano giving him the tuition of a kid, Giovanni, that appears to be his brother - one of the many children his father gave birth. The two different brothers start to know each other and the story turns out to be a road movie between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany in the centre of Italy.

Il cratere/Crater

Director: Silvia Luzi, Luca Bellini 

Cast: Sharon Caroccia, Rosario Caroccia, Tina Amariutei, Assunta Arcella, Imma Benvenuto

In a cursed land, a father uses his daughter and her voice to take on the world and his own destiny. But success becomes an obsession, and talent becomes a punishment. Crater is a Disney fairy tale in reverse.

La paranza dei bambini/Piranhas

Director: Claudio Giovannesi 

Cast: Francesco Di Napoli, Artem Tkachuk, Alfredo Turitto, Viviana Aprea, Valentina Vannino

Naples. Nicola and his friends are fifteen years old. They want to make money, buy designer clothes and brand new scooters. They play with weapons and ride around the city to take power in the district of Sanità. They love each other like family, they don’t fear prison nor death, knowing their only chance is to risk everything, now. They experience war with the irresponsibility of adolescence, but their criminal activities soon lead them to the irreversible sacrifice of love and friendship.

Selfie

Director: Agostino Ferrente

Naples, Traiano district. Initially it had to be a temporary peripheral destination for the inhabitants of the slums on the seafront of Naples, left homeless after the war. But the lodgings were permanently occupied, including the basement cellars, and soon the district became a sort of ghetto. Alessandro and Pietro are two 16-years-olds who film themselves with a smartphone to tell their difficult neighborhood, their everyday life, the friendship that binds them.

They also tell of the tragedy of Davide, their neighbor who was killed innocent by a carabiniere after a chase, because he was mistaken for a fleeing wanted. He was sixteen too. It happened to Davide, but it could also happen to Alessandro or Pietro... That's why the director gave them his smartphone, asking them to film themselves in "selfie" mode, as if they looked in a mirror themselves, their world, their life.

Troppa grazia/Lucia's Grace

Director: Gianni Zanasi

Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Elio Germano, Giuseppe Battiston, Hadas Yaron, Carlotta Natoli

Single working mother Lucia is trying to find the right balance between life with her teenage daughter, a complicated romance and her career as a land surveyor. Lucia’s future is jeopardized when she realizes that an ambitious new building is environmentally dangerous due to the city council’s inaccurate maps. Lucia is torn by her decision to keep her mouth shut for fear of losing her job. A mysterious foreign woman tries to convince Lucia to stand up to her superiors and recommend a church as the only solution for the troubled building site. Lucia’s belief in miracles will soon be put to the test.

The Dreamers

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Cast: Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green, Robin Renucci, Anna Chancellor

Left alone in Paris whilst their parents are on holiday, Isabelle and her brother Theo invite fellow student Matthew, a young American, to stay at their apartment. Here they make their own rules as they experiment with each other’s emotions and sexuality, playing a series of increasingly demanding mind games. Set against the turbulent political backdrop of France in Spring 1968, when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, The Dreamers is a story of self-discovery as the three students test one another to see just how far they each will go. From the novel The Holy Innocence by Gilbert Adair.

Here is the screening schedule for Moviemov 2019.

April 23, 2019 (Invitational)

7:30 PM Una questione privata/Rainbow – A Private Affair

April 24, 2019

5:00 PM Manuel

7:00 PM Selfie

April 25, 2019

11:00 AM The Dreamers

5:00 PM Saremo giovani e belissimi/We'll Be Young and Beautiful

7:00 PM Il cratere/Crater

April 26, 2019

3:00 PM C'è tempo

5:00 PM Troppa grazia/Lucia's Grace

7:00 PM La paranza dei bambini/Piranhas