Nuovo Cinema Italiano Film Festival, with support from the College of Charleston and other sponsors, is proud to announce the 17th edition of the annual celebration of contemporary Italian cinema and culture. The 2023 event is set for Nov. 2-5 at the Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St., downtown Charleston.
“This year’s slate of movies is yet more proof of Italy’s remarkably innovative film production,” Festival Founder and Artistic Director Giovanna De Luca said. “Some of the movies focus on acute issues of the day, such as climate change, migration and human sexuality. Several films are directed by women, including Romantiche, a clever comedy by Pilar Fogliati. All of them say something important about Italian culture and society.”
As usual, a few of the filmmakers will attend the festival, engaging with audiences and students. Coming to Charleston are Sophie Chiarello, director of The Circle; Elia Moutamid, director of Maka; and Simone Brioni, screenwriter of Maka.
Thirteen films are on tap: dramas, comedies, documentaries and one animated feature.
Highlights of the festival include Caravaggio’s Shadow, an historical drama about the famous and controversial artist by Michele Placido; the latest feature film from director Roberto Andò, Strangeness, starring Toni Servillo as the playwright Luigi Pirandello; the new dystopian film by Paolo Virzì called Dry, starring Silvio Orlando, Monica Bellucci and others; Maka, a documentary by Elia Moutamid, which is about the first Black woman to be named director of an Italian newspaper; Good Morning Tel Aviv, a portrait of the city by Giovanna Gagliardo; and the family drama The Eight Mountains by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch.
Other films address themes of love, war, rebellion, gender identity, and youth. “None of these movies are big-budget blockbusters, none show off high-tech special effects,” De Luca said. “Instead, the movies—like most Italian production—are human-scaled, focused on aspects of real life.”
Tickets cost $12 each. All screenings are general admission. All students, faculty and staff with ID, regardless of institution, get in free.
Support for the annual festival comes from the College of Charleston, Istituto Luce of Rome, the Nathan and Marlene Addlestone Foundation, the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation, the Alfred Olivetti Foundation, local and international businesses and organizations, and generous individual donors.
