Movie screening
Tommaso Cantone has lived in Rome for some time, and there he has been able to set up his own independent life as a homosexual man. At some point he goes back to his native Salento, in the South of Italy, soon to realize how difficult it is for him to adapt to his bourgeois parents and a bigoted society after such a long absence.
Tommaso’s family is large and wealthy, owning the biggest pasta factory in Lecce. It includes the suffocating mother Stefania; the severe and narrow minded father Vincenzo, who is very disappointed by Tommaso’s professional choices; the frustrated sister Elena, who dreams of breaking loose from her housewife destiny; the elder brother Antonio, who is completely under their father’s control and would like Tommaso to help manage the pasta factory. There are also an eccentric aunt and a grandmother who always thinks of a lost love. Tommaso has planned to tell everyone about his secret, but things take different twists and turns, so it takes him longer than he had wished. Unexpectedly, it is Antonio who suddenly comes out, revealing to the whole family that he is gay. As a consequence Vincenzo throws him out of the house, but shortly after he falls ill because of the stress. He therefore decides to put Tommaso at the helm of the family business. At this point Tommaso is afraid that his own coming out would kill his ailing father, now at the hospital, and he ends up with postponing his revelation to a more convenient time. Life becomes definitely complicated for Tommaso when his boyfriend Marco comes to visit him in Lecce together with a group of close friends from Rome.
Italy 2010, 110 min.
Directed by Ferzan Özpetek
Film in Italian with English subtitles
TRAILER (via Youtube)
Cineforum movie series is presented in collaboration with Italians in DC
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30PM AND CLOSE PROMPTLY AT 7:00PM
RSVP
Please click on “Make a Reservation” by September 10, 2013 at 2 PM
The Reservation System will allow you to register until we reach
capacity or by the event’s date and time above (whichever comes
first.)
PLEASE NOTE: RESERVATION IS REQUIRED FOR OUR EVENTS FOR SECURITY REASONS. A RESERVATION IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF A SEAT. OUR VENUE HAS LIMITED SEATING AND WE WILL ACCOMODATE GUESTS ON A FIRST-COME FIRST-SERVED BASIS. GUESTS WITHOUT SEATS ARE WELCOME TO STAND IF THEY LIKE.
PHOTO ID REQUIRED
LOCATION
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
THE DIRECTOR
Born in Istanbul, director and screenwriter Ferzan Ozpetek moved to Italy in 1978 to study History of Cinema at the University “La Sapienza” of Rome. He began his activity as assistant director in 1982, first with Massimo Troisi with Scusate il ritardo (Sorry I am late), then with many other important directors up to Marco Risi, for Il branco, 1994. In 1997 his debut as a director was The Turkish Bath – Hamam, an immediate success in Italy and abroad. In the following years his major works include Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life), 2001; La finestra di fronte (Facing Windows), 2003; Cuore sacro, 2005; Saturno contro (Saturn in Opposition), 2007; Un giorno perfetto, 2008; Magnifica presenza, 2012.
Often referred to as the Italian Almodovar, Ozpetek is probably at his best when he focuses on the world of feelings, human relations, charms and contradictions of daily life. His cinema seems to know the secret of pushing controversial and uncomfortable issues onto the foreground with a kind of lightness of his own, which enables him to engage the large public in a far reaching discussion.
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