XXI Cinema Italy

Romeo è Giulietta
A once famous director who star is waning decides to put up a last show in the biggest theatre in Rome by bringing back Romeo and Juliet to the stage. He is extremely rude in the selection of the perfect cast for his last show rejecting actors and actresses with snide remarks and ridicule. A young actress, Vittoria, rejected for the role of Juliet, feeling humiliated and determined to prove herself, returns to the audition under a false identity, “Fabio,” and auditions for the role of Romeo just to show him how good she really is and is cast for the role. A classic and fun Shakespearian gender role plot ends up confusing all in Rome.

Pare parecchio Parigi
In Florence, Bernardo, Giovanna, and Ivana are three siblings who haven’t spoken to each other for years and have a terrible relationship with their father, university professor Arnaldo Cannistraci. When their father suddenly falls ill and is hospitalized, the three siblings realize that there is little time left to try to mend the relationships that have been lost since their mother’s death. Their father has always expressed a desire to take a trip together to Paris, but his condition does not allow for too much adventurous travel. Therefore, the Cannistraci siblings decide to stage a camper trip towards Paris without ever actually leaving Bernardo’s ranch.

L'ordine del Tempo
A group of old friends, mainly urban professionals, have a get-together in a sea side villa to celebrate the 50^th birthday of one of them. A little late to the party is theoretical physicist Enrico, somewhat reluctantly at that, as his mind is troubled by some big and small issues, including an unresolved romantic situation with one of the other guests as well as that end-of-the-world thing, courtesy of an interstellar asteroid approaching the Earth at great speed.
As the asteroid makes its merry way ahead, various reactions are set in motion down at the summer house. It turns out that Enrico isn’t the only one with unresolved issues, especially those involving betrayals of different shapes and sizes. Confessions and revelations are aired, followed by reflections, reactions, regrets, resignations and/or reconciliations.

Io e il Secco
Denni has ten years and a mission to accomplish: to save his mother from the violence of his father. Small as it is, alone he cannot do it. So he decides to ask for help from someone that kill people for a living: a super-killer. The chosen person is the Skinny who is not a criminal, but a harmless drifter with a desperate need for money, who pretends to accept the assignment but only to rob the father of the child. The encounter between Denni and Secco gives rise to an adventure that oscillates between drama and comedy, a buddy movie at child height, poised between fantasy and a reality even too raw. Denni and Secco will live an experience that will lead them to question themselves on the meaning of being men, and on fear and the mystery that unites and separates fathers and sons.

Primadonna
Primadonna tells the story of Lia, a young woman who reacts to the most terrible form of violence with an act of rebellion which blows apart the social conventions of the time. In a world where the strongest dictate the rules, where mafia roots run deep and are accepted as a natural part of life, and where the powerful make decisions while the weak do as they’re told, her courage will pave the way for the fight for women’s rights. The movie is inspired by the true story of Franca Viola, a seventeen-year-old girl from Alcamo, Sicily, who, in 1965, was the first woman in Italy to say no to a “shotgun” wedding, refusing her abductor and rapist Filippo Melodia, who was the nephew of a local mafia boss.

Volare
One day, Annabì decides it’s enough. Her whole life has been affected by her fear of flying and so has her career. She is a successful actress but has turned down many roles abroad because flying is an insurmountable obstacle for her. Now, her daughter Serena has decided to study in California. Obsessed with the idea of not being a good mother, Annabì forces herself to cross the dreaded threshold of Fiumicino airport and to head to a secluded area where a course will take place. Other mysterious travelers are heading to the same place, all of them with their own baggage of fears and willing to overcome their aerophobia.

I limoni d'inverno
Pietro is a distinguished 70-year-old retired literature professor who leads a solitary life. The many plants on his terrace are his sole concern, especially the lemon tree, even though it has not been bearing fruits since his wife’s death. Eleonora, 40, has recently moved with her husband Luca into the apartment facing Antonio’s. On a hot summer night, when Luca is away, Eleonora and Pietro meet while they water their plants. It is a magical encounter that, night after night, will turn into a friendship and bring them ever closer.

Il Punto di Rugiada
25-year-old carouser Carlo is sentenced to one year of community service after crashing his car while drunk and on cocaine. He has to serve his sentence at the Villa Bianca nursing home, along with other non-violent felons. He initially lives it as yet another nuisance, but spending time with Villa Bianca’s residents, especially Dino, a cultured and sarcastic 80-year-old who has attempted suicide several times will make Carlo change his outlook on the world and on life itself.

Un mondo a parte
Arriving in the Abruzzo National Park during a snowstorm, a seasoned elementary school teacher, Michele Cortese, embarks on a new chapter of his life. He faces a unique challenge late in his career, after 40 years of teaching in the Roman jungle, he finds himself in a school nestled in the heart of nature. The stage is set for an emotional journey as Cortese, brilliantly portrayed by Antonio Albanese, takes on the task with determination. Agnese, the Vice-Principal, is played by the talented Virginia Raffaele. Together, they form an unlikely duo with a mission: to breathe life into a school threatened by dwindling enrollments. As Cortese acclimates to the picturesque setting and the multi-age class filled with spirited children aged 7 to 10, he discovers that real education goes beyond textbooks. With Agnese’s support and the camaraderie of the students, he sheds his metropolitan veneer and becomes an integral part of the close-knit community.

Il tempo che ci vuole
A deeply personal and emotional exploration of a father-daughter relationship, where cinema acts as both a metaphor and a tool for connection, Il tempo che ci vuole tells the real story of screenwriter/director Francesca Comencini and her father Luigi, one of Italy’s leading directors of the 60’s and 70’s. When the film begins, Luigi is working on his iconic film production of “Pinocchio”, and through this project he shares with his daughter both his work and his life. The film then evolves as the magic of childhood gives way to the complexities of adulthood. This transition and the inevitable loss of innocence are central themes, as is the way cinema shapes their connection and provides a language for their emotional exchanges. As the daughter grows, she begins to perceive the distance that grows between them, reflected in her belief that she will never measure up to her father. This recognition of a break with childhood is both painful and inevitable, with the father ultimately taking a decisive role in guiding her through a dark moment in her life.

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