OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA, May 30- June 6, 2024

[Chris Knipp]

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER AND CINECITTÀ
ANNOUNCE THE 23rd EDITION OF
OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA, MAY 30–JUNE 6, 2024

FESTIVAL THREAD



13 features including the North American premiere of
Opening Night film, Edoardo De Angelis’s Comandante,
with the director in person

New films by Enrico Maria Artale, Giorgio Diritti, Ginevra Elkann,
Laura Luchetti, Piero Messina, Nanni Moretti, Alain Parroni,
Tommaso Santambrogio, Roberta Torre, and more

New York, NY (May 2, 2024) – Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà announce the lineup for the 23rd edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, running from May 30 to June 6.

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is an annual showcase of the best in new Italian cinema. This year’s edition unveils a broad and diverse selection of Italy’s most exciting films, all North American or New York premieres, with appearances and discussions by several of the filmmakers. On Opening Night, Edoardo De Angelis returns to Open Roads with his latest feature, Comandante, a gripping maritime thriller set in the early years of World War II, driven by a powerhouse performance from Pierfrancesco Favino as an Italian Royal Navy commander who finds himself at a moral crossroads.

Star-studded ensemble casts are featured in A Brighter Tomorrow, the latest from Nanni Moretti, who plays the lead alongside Margherita Buy, with memorable turns by Silvio Orlando and Mathieu Amalric; Ginevra Elkann’s I Told You So, with cast members Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Danny Huston; and Adagio, Stefano Sollima’s modern take on the noir genre with some of Italy’s best-known leading actors, including Pierfrancesco Favino, Valerio Mastandrea, Toni Servillo, and Adriano Giannini.

Alongside the latest works from the country’s most revered talents, Open Roads presents the opportunity to discover new voices in Italian cinema. Not to be missed are debut titles from three of Italy’s gifted emerging filmmakers: the recent box office sensation There’s Still Tomorrow, Paola Cortellesi’s 1940s-set story of a battered woman who finds the courage to change her life; Alain Parroni’s electrifying An Endless Sunday, a stark, unblinking depiction of teenagers facing the bleakness of an uncertain future in Rome; and Tommaso Santambrogio’s stunningly photographed tale of exile in contemporary Cuba, Oceans Are the Real Continents.

This year’s program boasts a range of genres, including Enrico Maria Artale’s vividly traced neo-noir tragedy El Paraíso; Pietro Castellitto’s crime-thriller-social-satire Enea, which skewers hereditary privilege; Piero Messina’s Another End, a philosophical take on science fiction, contemplating a futuristic twist on the afterlife and its implications; and historical dramas like the WWII-set Lubo, the latest from Giorgio Diritti, featuring a magnetic performance by Franz Rogowski, and Laura Luchetti’s elegantly framed coming-of-age tale The Beautiful Summer.

Also featured is Roberta Torre’s Mi fanno male i capelli, a lovingly crafted homage to Monica Vitti worthy of the late muse of Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Alba Rohrwacher and featuring new original music by composer Shigeru Umebayashi.

“I think we have an especially strong lineup at this year’s Open Roads, which is nothing if not an encouraging sign of things to come as we continue to move forward from the production pauses and shutdowns wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dan Sullivan, FLC Programmer. “A satisfying mix of the familiar and the new, of low- and higher-budget movies, of fresh takes on the genre film and consummately artful period dramas (not to mention a comedy or two): fans of Italian cinema have a lot to look forward to in this year’s edition.”

“The program of Open Roads confirms the good health of our cinema and the way it succeeds in exploring the genres and seasons of life with the same extraordinary intensity,” said Nicola Maccanico, CEO of Cinecittà. “All the credit goes especially to the Italian producers who were able to meet the global challenge of the new audiovisual market and to the directors confirming the Italian talent to mix images, stories, and emotions with interpretations which go beyond our borders. The delegation representing our cinema in New York consists of some of these talents who will keep contributing to make our cinema rise around the world.”

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema tickets will go on sale on Monday, May 6 at noon, with an early access period for FLC Members starting Friday, May 3 at noon. Tickets are $17; $14 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $12 for FLC Members. See more and save with a 3+ Film Package ($15 for GP; $12 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $10 for FLC Members), and an All-Access Pass for $129.

Co-presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà. Organized by Dan Sullivan of Film at Lincoln Center and by Monique Catalino, Carla Cattani, Griselda Guerrasio, and Rossella Rinaldi of Cinecittà, Rome.

Open Roads is supported in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in NY and with the support of Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò NYU, ITA Airways, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.