The Cleveland Italian Film Festival 2019 showcasing award-winning films from Italy opens Sept. 5-26 at the Cedar Lee Theater in Cleveland Heights, the Atlas Cinemas Eastgate in Mayfield Hts. and the Capitol Theatre in Gordon Square Arts District.
All films ($10) are Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Pre-film dinners are Sept. 5, 12, 19, and 26, 5:30-7 p.m. Film/Dinner combo is $30 which includes tax, gratuity and coffee/soft drink.
All tickets sold in advance. For tickets: 1-800-838-3006.
Our gratitude to film festival sponsor
Italian Tours and Travel by Diana.
The Kickoff Dinner for the Cleveland Italian Film Festival 2019 with the acclaimed Michelin starred Chef Dante Boccuzzi highlighting the cuisine of Venice, Italy is on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. Pranzo Veneziano is $115 pp (includes wine with each course, gratuity & tax), $55 tax deductible. Free valet Parking. For reservations: 216-456-8117.
The Cleveland Italian Film Festival is the first independent film festival in Northern Ohio to exclusively showcase Italian award-winning films in Cleveland area theaters and has sold out every year since its inception.
“An Almost Perfect Country” (“Un paese quasi perfetto”). Comedy. Sept. 5, Cedar Lee Theater.
A wonderful film with outstanding comic performances! Villagers in the remote, mountain village of Pietramezzana will not give up their dream of reviving their dying village, firmly believing the opening of a mining company to employ villagers and getting a doctor to live there could be the solution to all their troubles. To achieve this, they hatch an elaborate, ingenious plan full of fakery; from pretending to have a local cricket team, leaving money outside the doctor’s home and having the town’s one restaurant add sushi to the menu – along with other uproarious schemes.
Italian Oscar David di Donatello Awards nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Director: Massimo Gaudioso. Starring: Miriam Leone, Fabio Volo, Silvio Orlando, Nando Paone, Carlo Buccirosso, Gea Martire, Maria Paiato, Franca Abategiovanni, Antonio Petrocelli.
“Like a Cat on a Highway” (“Come un gatto in tangenziale”). Comedy. Sept. 12, Capitol Theater.
Giovanni and Monica are the two most diverse people on the face of the earth. He is an intellectual and a social integrationist living in the center of Rome, while she is poor and a former cashier of a supermarket, dealing every day with the real problematic environment of her suburban neighborhood. They never would have met if their children had not fallen in love. They do have a common goal though: to end the love relationship their children have which they believe has the life expectation of a "cat on a highway.” Brilliant acting by Italian film star Paola Cortellesi rounds out this delightful comedy.
Italian Oscar David di Donatello Nominee for Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress and Best Actor. Winner of Italy’s Golden Ciak Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and nominated for Best Screenplay. Winner of Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Actor, Best Comedy. Director: Riccardo Milani. Starring: Paola Cortellesi, Antonio Albanese, Sonia Bergamasco, Luca Angeletti, Anthony D’Ausilio, Alice Maselli, Claudio Amendola, Simone de Bianchi.
“My Big Italian Wedding” (“Puoi baciare lo sposo”). Comedy. Sept. 19, Atlas Cinemas Eastgate.
Happily engaged, Antonio brings his fiancé Paulo home to the beautiful old Italian village of his birth to meet his headstrong parents and journey back to his roots. They are greeted with open arms until they break the news of their marriage. Many laugh out loud moments, stellar acting by Italian film stars Diego Abatantuono and Monica Guerritore, coupled with beautiful cinematography of the lovely, quaint hilltop village of Civita di Bagnoregio.
Nominee Best Supporting Actor, Italy’s Golden Ciak Awards. Won Best Foreign Feature 2018 Outflix Film Festival. Director: Alessandro Genovesi. Starring: Diego Abatantuono, Monica Guerritore, Salvatore Esposito, Cristiano Caccamo, Dino Abbraccia, Diana Del Bufalo, Beatrice Amera, Rossaria D’Urso, Antonio Catani.
“Just the Right Amount!” (“Quanto Basta!”). Comedy/Drama. Sept. 26, Cedar Lee Theater.
A heartwarming, brilliantly acted film. Arturo, a fallen, three-star chef whose anger issues resulted in his having to do community service, meets Guido, a young, aspiring chef with Asperger’s Syndrome who he takes under his wing. They both team up for a culinary competition. Both are artists and culinary geniuses in their own way. The transformation from antagonizing each other to working as a team ends in quite a journey. Against difficult odds, Guido stays true to his inborn talent remembering Arturo’s advice: “The world needs a more perfect spaghetti al pomodoro than it needs a chocolate branzino fish.”
Winner of Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Award. Directed by: Francesco Falaschi. Starring: Vinicio Marchioni, Valeria Solarino, Luigi Fedele, Alessandro Haber, Nicola Siri, Mirko Frezza, Stephanie de Jongh, Benedetta Porcaroli, Gianfranco Gallo.
