The Diplomat
On Wednesday 23 November, the Opening Gala of the 15th Madrid Italian Film Festival was held at the Instituto Italiano de Cultura, thus kicking off a week full of good cinema.
The Ambassador of Italy, Riccardo Guariglia, said at the opening ceremony that “the Italian Film Festival, now in its 15th year, has become an unmissable event for film lovers in Madrid. The Embassy strongly promotes this review because it represents one of the best ways to make Italy and its excellence known: the cinema is, for this reason, an extraordinary vehicle because with a film we not only perceive the talent of the director or the actors, but also the language, the culture and the values of a country. It is therefore a perfect tool of cultural diplomacy”.
Marialuisa Pappalardo, director of the Italian Institute of Culture, hosted the evening and presented the programme, the directors and producers who will attend during the week (Mario Canale director of I magnifici 4 della risata, Corrado Ceron, director of Acqua e Anice, Nicola Prosatore, director of Piano Piano, Andrea Pallaoro, director of Monica, Paolo Strippoli, director, and Francesco Gheghi, actor, of Piove and the producers of La voce di Fantozzi) and the jurors of this edition.
During the event, the Special Award was presented to the Giffoni Film Festival, the youth film festival with more than 50 years of history for “having given prominence to young people, calling for the world’s attention to be directed to the least heard voices, and recognising the new generations a fundamental role in society and culture”, said Marialuisa Pappalardo.
To round off the presentation, there was the opportunity to enjoy the musical performance of the internationally renowned young Italian nu-soul/jazz performer Serena Brancale, who presented her latest work, Je so accussì, characterised by unpublished songs and important tributes to Pino Daniele, her greatest source of inspiration, to Lucio Dalla and Ornella Vanoni, preserving the original melodies but with a new look in the arrangements.
The Italian Film Festival of Madrid, organised by the Instituto Italiano de Cultura de Madrid, under the auspices of the Italian Embassy, will be held until Wednesday 30 November at the Cine Paz and the IIC Madrid with free admission. The complete programme and timetable can be consulted at this link.
