The Hollywood Reporter described the 9th edition of the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival as ‘The last major film event before the Oscars,’ which wrapped up its last screening day on the evening of March 1st at the TLC Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The event – organized by the Istituto Capri nel Mondo, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the Italian Trade Agency in Los Angeles – flaunted a red carpet premiere of global celebrities that were in fact Oscars worthy. Italian and American actors, singers, producers, and directors flashed smiles and posed for the shouting paparazzi.
The actors included from Oscar and BAFTA awards winners for best foreign language film, multiple European Film Awards winners, Nastri D’Argento, a Golden Globe winner, The Great Beauty’s director Paolo Sorrentino, Naomie Harris, who played Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Caribbean , songwriter and singer Bono Vox, legendary actor Al Pacino, Italian beauty Elisabetta Canalis, Anjelica Houston, The Addams Family’s Morticia, Joe Mantegna, The Godfather: Part III and Criminal Minds actor who was also 2011 Capri Italian-American Award winner. Mantegna was this year’s event chairman of the event. Other attendees included Lawrence Bender, producer and actor in cult movies like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill, and—of course—the freshly appointed Italian American film director of the year, David O. Russell, best picture Oscar nominee and director of American Hustle director.
From left: Elisabetta Canalis, Pascal Vicedomini, Naomi Harris, Bono Vox, Al Pacino Photo by Los Angeles, Italia Film Festival
These are only a few of the names of the celebrities whose presence was broadcasted and reported by many TV channels, magazines, and newspapers all over the world. The 2014 edition movies selection wasn’t overshadowed by the celebrities as it was neither anything but expected nor monotonous. For starters, nothing else aside from The Great Beauty—now the official winner of the best foreign film at the 2014 Oscar—a movie that has been consistently misunderstood and misinterpreted by critics in Italy, could possibly have sealed the opening success of the festival.
It took Italy more than 15 years to win an Academy Award. The last winner was Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful. However, this long-awaited ‘great beauty’ was the utter perfect introduction to many Italian and American screenings. They were worth the trip to the chaotic and overwhelming Hollywood. The elegance and the subtle irony that characterized the entire week also clashed a bit with the simplicity. Not only was the history and culture of Italy very well-represented through the various screening concerning political and historical issues, but new and old genres, movies, and documentaries that reflected and portrayed Italy’s societal changes were also given homage to.
However, what does the Los Angeles, Italia – Film, Fashion & Art Fest have more of than any other film festival in the United States, Italy, or entire world? It offers more than just a series of screenings, recognitions, speeches, or showcases of new, emerging talents and renowned artists. It is more than just an opportunity to network and inspire new collaborations, projects, and movies. It is more than just benefiting Italian and American artistic and cultural growth, stimulating entrepreneurial efforts, or educating attendees who even included senior citizens wanting to brush on old memories of the Italian language.
It is more than a complimentary fashion exhibition and gallery of Great Beauty’s 2014 Oscar-winning costumes design at the festival’s venue. It is more than a completely free service and entertainment to local, national, and international communities. It is more than a solid, loving, and historical friendship and reciprocal respect between Italy and the United States. It means so much more that no one could possibly be disappointed or left behind. It means more than welcoming tourists and fans from all over the world, more than bringing together the Italian-American community in Los Angeles.
Attendees also shared something else in common: a profound love for Italian films, movies, documentaries, and even animation. And, yes, it’s more than just another red carpet event in LA. It’s a fascinating feast of Ordinary Love—like Bono Vox would call it, it’s the appreciation of a great beauty, reminded to all of us by Paolo Sorrentino. In the last few days not only were sweet memories made but also artistic consciousness and the history of Italian cinema. The institution of the Los Angeles Italia Film and Fashion Festival has the responsibility and duty to keep the Italian artistic flag up and vigorously waiving for many, many years to come with artistic excellence, passion, and love for the Italian and American cultures and cinema by officiating the yearly renewed artistic wedding vows between the old and the new country.
The Great Beauty could be a metaphor for everything special, beautiful, excellent, elegant, and exciting of Italy’s popularity in the world. Yet the beauty of Italy’s landscapes, music, cinema, fashion, lifestyle, and so much more is so fragile and can be easily turned down. Thanks to the Los Angeles, Italia Film Festival Italy’s historically, culturally and artistically meaningful heart is alive and beating.
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