SYDNEY\ aise\ – He Sydney Film Festivalthe main international film festival of Australiacelebrates a remarkable milestone in 2023: its 70th edition.
Also this year, in consideration of the presence of Italian films, theSydney Italian Cultural Institute confirms its collaboration with one of the most prestigious film showcases in Australia and the world. A collaboration that has seen the Institute work actively over the years both to ensure the presence of Italian films in the annual magazine, and to see the presence of guests from Italy materialize, under the banner of this creation of international cooperation that leads to possible film co-productions.
The Festival will take place from June 7 to 19 and the Artistic Direction of the Festival, in charge of Nashen Moodley, has reserved the participation of two films for the Italian film industry.
The first feature film is the most recent work of Emanuele Crialese, the immensity (2022), which has the prestigious presence of Penélope Cruz in the leading female role and which addresses gender issues through a typical reading of “Italian comedy”. In 2022, she received nominations for the Golden Lion for Best Film, the Queer Lion and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Penélope Cruz at the Venice Film Festival. In 2023 for the David di Donatello the nomination for Best Actress for Penélope Cruz and the nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Emanuele Crialese, Francesca Manieri and Vittorio Moroni.
We are in Rome in the seventies and the couple formed by the Spanish Clara and the Sicilian Felice Borghetti move to a new apartment in the outskirts together with their three children. The marriage between the two is in crisis and Clara dedicates herself completely to the children to compensate, although her relationship with her eldest daughter soon becomes strained. In fact, the twelve-year-old girl not only feels the strains in her parents’ marriage, but she begins to question her gender identity, calling herself Andrea and presenting herself to others as male.
the second movie is prima donna (The Girl of Tomorrow, 2023) by marta sabina, a drama set in Sicily in the 60s and focused on the violence suffered by a young woman and her reaction outside the traditional schemes. In addition to Sydney, the film was shown in Stockholm, Dublin, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, London, Barcelona, Prague and Rome where it received the Raffaella Fioretta Award. The director will be present at both screenings.
Primadonna tells the story of Lia, a young woman who reacts to the most terrible violence with an act of rebellion that will undermine the social customs of her time. In a world where the law of the strongest prevails, the mafia is entrenched and accepted as a natural part of life, the powerful decide and the weakest execute, your courage will pave the way for the fight for women’s rights. (Aise)
