Now in its 28th year, the AFI European Union Film Showcase continues its tradition of bringing the best in European cinema to Washington audiences.
This year’s selection of more than 50 films includes international film festival award winners, European box-office hits and debut works by promising new talents, plus many countries’ official Oscar® submissions for Best Foreign Language Film.
For a full program listing: click here.
This year’s Italian selection presented with the Italian Cultural Institute:
YOUTH (LA GIOVINEZZA)
DECEMBER 3, 2015 AT 7:00PM
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Italy/France/Switzerland/UK, 2015, color, 118 min
Longtime pals Fred (Michael Caine), a retired composer,
and Mick (Harvey Keitel), a filmmaker, visit their favorite alpine spa in Switzerland, as they have for the past 20-odd years. The old friends walk, talk and spritz together in peace until the announcement of their children’s divorce – Fred’s daughter (Rachel Weisz) is married to Mick’s son (Ed Stoppard) – intrudes upon their tranquility. This bittersweet rumination on life and how to live it from Oscar®-winner Paolo Sorrentino (THE GREAT BEAUTY) also features Jane Fonda and Paul Dano as two Hollywood actors struggling with their own senses of self. Official Selection, 2015 AFI FEST, Cannes, Toronto Film Festivals.
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TALE OF TALES (IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI)
DECEMBER 12, 2015 AT 7:00PM
DECEMBER 17, 2015 AT 7:15PM
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Italy/France/UK, 2015, color, 125 min
Neapolitan filmmaker Matteo Garrone (former AFI European Union Film Showcase titles GOMORRAH and REALITY) gives full rein to his visionary imagination with this suite of fairy tales penned by Giambattista Basile (1566-1632). Even bawdier and bloodier than tales by the Brothers Grimm, Garrone’s film will fascinate fans of folklore and fantastic cinema. The international cast includes Salma Hayek, John C. Reilly, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, Shirley Henderson, Stacy Martin and Alba Rohrwacher. Score by Alexandre Desplat. Official Selection, 2015 AFI FEST, Cannes, Karlovy Vary Film Festivals.
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MY MOTHER (MIA MADRE)
DECEMBER 13, 2015 AT 5:05PM
DECEMBER 15, 2015 AT 9:00PM
Directed by Margherita Buy
Italy/France, 2015, color, 106 min
Director Margherita Buy projects calm confidence, but the mounting strain of various life challenges is starting to take a toll. Her mother (Giulia Lazzarini) is hospitalized with heart trouble, her movie shoot is not going well, she’s just broken up with her actor boyfriend (Enrico Ianniello) and her daughter (Beatrice Mancini) is flunking Latin. Add to this mix the arrival of American actor Barry Huggins (John Turturro), whose cartoonish ego and tales of working with Stanley Kubrick mask a ham actor with so-so Italian. The latest film from auteur Nanni Moretti blends melancholy with the madcap, to moving effect. Official Selection, 2015 Cannes, Toronto Film Festivals.
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THE WAIT (L’ATTESA)
DECEMBER 16, 2015 AT 9:20PM
DECEMBER 20, 2015 AT 9:00PM
Directed by Piero Messina
Italy/France, 2015, color, 100 min
This stunning first film from Piero Messina (AD on Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar®-winning THE GREAT BEAUTY), stars Juliette Binoche as Anna, a grieving mother holed up at a Sicilian villa. When her son’s girlfriend Jeanne (Lou de Laâge, BREATHE) shows up unexpectedly, Anna isn’t able to break the tragic news, instead pretending he will return in a few days. While waiting for him to arrive, the two strike up a complicated friendship, in which Anna can delay the inevitable and bask
in Jeanne’s reality where her son still lives. This breathtakingly beautiful film marks Messina as a new talent to watch in Italian cinema. Official Selection, 2015 Venice, Toronto, London Film Festivals.
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