2023 Screenings – TCL CHINESE THEATRES

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

10:30am HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
The Year of Cannibals (88’) dir. Liliana Cavani

12:30pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
The Desired War (122’) dir. Gianni Zanasi

3pm CELEBRATING THE ITALIAN LEGENDS
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (117’) dir. Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson

5:30pm THE ITALIAN MASTERS: FERZAN ÖZPETEK
The Goddess of Fortune (114’) dir. Ferzan Özpetek
The director will introduce the movie

7:45 pm LOS ANGELES, ITALIA OPENING GALA and AWARDS

8:30pm CELEBRATING THE ITALIAN LEGENDS
Lamborghini – The Man Behind the Legend (91’) dir. Bobby Moresco
The director, the actor Frank Grillo and producers Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi will introduce the movie

10:30pm HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
Happy Birthday Massimo Troisi! (98’) di Marco Spagnoli

MONDAY, MARCH 6

10:45am HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
Love and Anarchy (120’) dir. Lina Wertmüller

1:15pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Yesterday (119’) dir. Andrea Papini

3:45pm ITALIAN WOMEN IN FILM
Me, Myself & Her (102’) dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi
The director will introduce the movie

6pm ITALIAN CINEMA WORLDWIDE
Tell It Like a Woman (112’) dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi, Catherine Hardwicke, Taraji P. Henson, Mipo O, Lucia Puenzo, Leena Yadav, Lucia Bulgheroni, Silvia Carobbio
The directors Maria Sole Tognazzi and Catherine Hardwicke, the producers Chiara Tilesi, Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, the singer Sofia Carson, the actress Jacqueline Fernandez will introduce the movie

9pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Burning Hearts (111’) dir. Pippo Mezzapesa
The director will introduce the movie

11:20pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Tomato Soup in Skid Row (42’) dir. Alexo Wandael
The director will introduce the movie

TUESDAY, MARCH 7

10.45am ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Orlando (120’) dir. Daniele Vicari

1:15pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
I Am the Abyss (116’) dir. Donato Carrisi

3:45pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Mindemic (83’) dir. Giovanni Basso

The director and the actor Giorgio Colangeli will introduce the movie

5:45pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
The First Rule (100’) dir. Massimiliano D’Epiro
The director will introduce the movie

8pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Flowers Over the Inferno (92’) dir. Carlo Carlei
The director and the producer Verdiana Bixio will introduce the movie

10:15pm HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
Dante (94’) dir. Pupi Avati

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

11am HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
La Traviata (132’) dir. Liliana Cavani

1:45pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Spotty & Me (90’) dir. Cosimo Gomez

3:45pm ITALIAN WOMEN IN FILM
The American (105‘) dir. Anton Corbijn
The actress Violante Placido will introduce the movie

6pm ITALIAN WOMEN IN FILM
Leaving The Factory (28’) dir. Alessia Cruci
The actress Roberta Sparta will introduce the movie

Followed by
A Five Star Life (86’) dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi
The director will introduce the movie

8:30pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Lonely Voices (80’) dir. Andrea Brusa, Marco Scotuzzi

10:20pm THE ITALIAN MASTERS: FERZAN ÖZPETEK
Loose Cannons (110’) dir. Ferzan Özpetek

THURSDAY, MARCH 9

10:15am HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
Mimmo Paladino – The Language of Signs (60’) dir. Nunzio Massimo Nifosì

11:45pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Vernissage (88’) dir. Pappi Corsicato

1:45pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Magic Naples (90’) dir. Marco D’Amore

3:45pm THE ITALIAN MASTERS: FERZAN ÖZPETEK
Ignorant Fairies (105’) dir. Ferzan Özpetek

6pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
The First Day of My Life (120’) dir. Paolo Genovese
The director will introduce the movie

8:30pm ITALIAN WORLDWIDE
The Ritual Killer (91’) dir. George Gallo

10:30pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Soldier In The Moonlight (100’) dir. Massimo Paolucci

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

10:45am ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Flowing (93’) dir. Paolo Strippoli

12:50pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Santa Lucia (76’) dir. Marco Chiappetta

2:40pm CELEBRATING THE ITALIAN LEGENDS
Vasco Live – Roma Circo Massimo (128’) dir. Pepsy Romanoff

5:20pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Three Too Many (90’) dir. Fabio De Luigi

7:20pm THE ITALIAN MASTERS: FERZAN ÖZPETEK
Naples In Veils (113’) dir. Ferzan Özpetek

9:45pm HONORING THE ITALIAN NOMINEES
Elvis (157’) dir. Baz Luhrmann

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

10am ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Me against you – Mission: Jungle (90’) dir. Gianluca Leuzzi

12pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
Daniel Pennac – Ho visto Maradona! (90’) dir. Ximo Solano
The director and the actor Giuseppe Supino will introduce the movie

2pm THE ITALIAN MASTERS: FERZAN ÖZPETEK
Facing Windows (106’) dir. Ferzan Özpetek

4:15pm ITALIAN CINEMA TODAY
The Fugitive (100’) dir. Carlo Carlei
The director and will introduce the movie

6:20pm HONORING THE ITALIAN MASTERS by Intesa Sanpaolo
Sergio Leone – The Italian Who Invented America (107’) dir. Francesco Zippel

 

SYNOPSIS

SANTA LUCIA

dir. Marco Chiappetta 76’ 

The story of a blind writer who, after forty years of exile in Argentina, returns to Naples because of the death of his mother and embarks with his musician brother on a journey of memory to the places of his youth that he can no longer see, in search of the real reason for his farewell.

YESTERDAY

dir. Andrea Papini 119’

The cinematic reconstruction of a crime revolves around the lives of Lara, Greta, Caroline, Luca, and Beppe: a documentary lent to reconstruct the unexplained murder of truck driver Beppe. During the making of the episode, Luca’s daughter returns to visit him after years of distance, which will force him to question his own relationship between identity and memory.

THE RITUAL KILLER

dir. George Gallo 70′

A detective on the verge of retirement teams with a professor of African Studies to track down a serial killer who is performing the ancient black magic practice of Muti.

SPOTTY & ME

dir. Cosimo Gomez 90’

Matthew is an introverted boy, who loves solitude, speaks very little, and is distrustful to the point of being grumpy. In his lonely world, every night when he returns from work, he wears a fur suit, and a mask, and plays at being a dog named Spotty. Matteo feels free and happy in those clothes, but something is missing in his life…

VERNISSAGE

dir. Pappi Corsicato 88’

Toni leads a normal life with his wife Paola, but one full of enthusiasm and passion. A chance meeting with the young and wealthy Chiara will rekindle in him the desire to redeem himself and realize his secret dream: to become an artist. The paths of the three will intertwine in a dangerous love triangle that will change the course of their lives forever.

BURNING HEARTS

dir. Pippo Mezzapesa 115’

Apulia. Burned by sun and hatred, the Gargano promontory is contested by criminals who seem to come from a remote time ruled by the law of the strongest. Rekindling an ancient feud between two rival families is a forbidden love: that between Andrea, the reluctant heir of the Malatesta, and Marilena, the beautiful wife of the Camporeale boss. A fatal passion that brings the clans back to war.

THE GODDESS OF FORTUNE

dir. Ferzan Ozpetek 114’

Arturo (Stefano Accorsi) and Alessandro (Edoardo Leo) have been a couple for over fifteen years. Even though their passion and love have formed a close and important affection, their relationship has been in crisis for a long time. The sudden arrival of two children, left in their care for a few days by Annamaria (Jasmine Trinca) Alessandro’s best friend, could give an unexpected turn to their tired routine. The solution will be a crazy departure for them both. But on the other hand, love is a state of pleasant madness.

THE DESIRED WAR

dir. Gianni Zanasi 130’

Following a clash between some youths, Italy finds itself at war with Spain. In Rome, clam farmer Edoardo Leo, psychologist Miriam Leone, her pilot brother who watches Top Gun every year at Christmas, laid-back barman Giuseppe Battiston, Stefano Fresi, Carlotta Natoli and many more, get on with their lives as, little by little, the everyday joys and worries of life slip into wartime paranoia. The same is happening in the world around them, with the arrival of weapons, camouflage outfits, patrols and sirens. 

ORLANDO

dir. Daniele Vicari 122’

Orlando lives alone in a mountain village,and his son who left 20 years ago in Brussels. A phone call from Belgium alerts him that his son needs help, and Orlando is forced for the first time in his life to leave. When he arrives he discovers he has a 12-year-old granddaughter, Lyse. Orlando and Lyse, like the past and the future, are as far apart as one can imagine, but they will unexpectedly discover that they need each other.

THREE TOO MANY

dir. Fabio De Luigi 90′

Marco (Fabio De Luigi) and Giulia (Virginia Raffaele) live their matrimonial life with harmony and passion. They know exactly what they want to be, that is distant from the life of those couples they are friends with, distressed by their marriages and worn out by their children. Yet, fate is already at work to turn their lives upside down and crush all their certainties: one day they wake up, inexplicably, with three children aged 10, 9 and 6, who call them mom and dad! 

ME AGAINST YOU – THE MOVIE: MISSION JUNGLE

Directed by Gianluca Leuzzi – 90 minutes

A magical spring in the jungle could undo all the spells in the world, but if contaminated it could turn the Earth into a lifeless wasteland. Viperiana, who has discovered the secret place, becomes aware that in a few days everything could be irreversibly poisoned. A struggle against time begins for Luì and Sofì, who together with their friends will need to decode the map to the magical spring to be able to thwart Viperiana’s evil plan.

DANTE 

dir. Pupi Avati 94’

Against that part of the ecclesial world that considers the Commedia to be a diabolical work, Giovanni Boccaccio decides he wants to tell Dante’s life story to denounce the injustices he suffered with the help of Sister Beatrice. In his long journey Boccaccio will retrace Dante’s journey from Florence to Ravenna.

LAMBORGHINI – THE MAN BEHIND THE LEGEND

dir. Bobby Moresco 97’

Set in the postwar period.  The story of the founder of the car manufacturer Lamborghini, from his modest beginnings as a tractor manufacturer to his infamous rivalry with Enzo Ferrari, but also about the history of Italy in the 1950s, a country committed to a new industrialized modernity. 

TELL IT LIKE A WOMAN

dir. Silvia Carobbio, Catherine Hardwicke, Taraji P. Henson, Mipo Oh, Lucía Puenzo, Maria Sole Tognazzi, Leena Yadav 112’

Seven short films are directed by seven female directors from around the world who use different styles to express the same idea of femininity. The individual episodes were filmed in Japan, Italy, India, and the U.S. and ranged between drama, comedy, documentary, and animation.

LOVE AND ANARCHY

dir. Lina Wertmüller 129’

Tunin is a freckle-faced innocent who became an accidental anarchist. His contact in Rome is Salomè (Mariangela Melato), a prostitute with her own sob story. While they prepare for the assassination, Tunin falls in love with Tripolina (Lina Polito), which threatens the entire operation.

YEAR OF THE CANNIBALS

dir. Liliana Cavani 90’

Set in the city of Milan, where a fascist government leaves the bodies of captured rebels on the streets, it is about Antigone, who wants to bury her dead brother. The character of Tiresias, a zombie-like Pierre Clementi who is about as expressive as the corpses we see lying around during the whole film, speaks an extra-galactic language and likes to eat fish. Antigone and Tiresias spend much time taking away some of the bodies, placing them in caves, and giving them bread and fish.

IGNORANT FAIRIES

dir. Ferzan Ozpetek 105’

Antonia and Massimo have been married for 15 years. Theirs is a happy marriage until Massimo dies in a car accident. Antonia closes herself off in her own grief, cared for by her mother and Filipino maid. One day, however, thanks to a dedication on the back of a painting, she discovers that her husband had been having an affair for seven years. This forces her to leave the house and begin a series of searches. 

LOOSE CANNONS

dir. Ferzan Ozpetek 110’

The youngest son of a pasta magnate resolves to tell his traditional Southern Italian family that he’s gay. But his older brother has his own agenda.

NAPLES IN VEILS

dir. Ferzan Ozpetek 113’

In a Naples suspended between magic and superstition, madness and rationality, a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana, overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime.

SERGIO LEONE 

dir. Francesco Zippel 107’

This documentary film is a tribute to one of the great legends of world cinema, whose extraordinary artistic vision transcended national boundaries, devising narrative and stylistic solutions that have become part of the language of cinema. The feature film offers a never-before-seen portrait: Sergio Leone and his cinema are recounted in this documentary through the unedited testimonies of those who knew him and those who were inspired by him.

Domestic exhibition rights for the film have been secured by Warner Bros. Discovery and it will premiere on WBD platforms in 2023/2024.

FLOWING

dir. Paolo Strippoli 93’

For the past few days Rome has been the scene of a singular event: when it rains, conduits and manholes overflow with a grayish slime and exhale a thick vapor whose origin is unknown. No one can imagine that whoever breathes in this mysterious vapor will have to come to terms with what he represses, his darkest instincts, his anger. Not even the Morel family.

THE FUGITIVE

dir. Carlo Carlei 110’

Arianna’s husband, the Head of Urban Development for a small town’s council near Turin, is killed. Evidence found at the crime scene seems to incriminate her. A woman shows up at the police station who claims to be the lover of Fabrizio, the dead man. Did Arianna kill out of jealousy? Shortly before the arrest Arianna escapes, but how can an apparently harmless mother with kids manage to escape arrest using military skills? Arianna’s past resurfaces.

A FIVE STAR LIFE 

dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi 85’

Stylish and independent, Irene (Margherita Buy) is a single career woman in her forties with a job to die for. As a luxury hotel critic, she checks into the world’s finest establishments incognito to assess their standards, meticulously judging every detail from the concierge’s manners to the temperature of the food to the quality of the bedsheets. On the rare occasions she’s not working, Irene’s world revolves around her absent-minded sister Silvia (Fabrizia Sacchi), two lively young nieces, and best friend–and former lover–Andrea (Stefano Accorsi).

SOLDIER IN THE MOONLIGHT

dir. Massimo Paolucci 100’

Clara is an alcoholic gambler in debt who spends her days without any goals or

hopes. Her life completely changes when she receives a letter: her uncle Anicio died, leaving her his whole estate, including his huge mansion in a small town. Since Anicio used to be a famous novel writer Clara goes to his mansion to inventory her new possessions. she finds a mysterious manuscript in her uncle’s studio, which reveals a dark secret, dating back to the second world war.

TOMATO SOUP IN SKID ROW 

dir. Alexo Wandael 48’

Homelessness is a reality that we are constantly reminded of here in Los Angeles. In the great Italian tradition of Neo-Realism, Alexo combines professional actors like Yari Gugliucci, an Award winner at Venice Film Festival in 2019, with real everyday people from the streets of LA, presenting first-hand testimonials of those who have experienced or are still experiencing homelessness.

THE FIRST RULE

Directed by Massimiliano D’Epiro – 96 minutes

Gabriele, a new professor at a high school in suburbia, has been assigned extra lessons by his Principal for six ‘difficult’ second-generation Italian students who have been suspended for disciplinary reasons and need to catch up to be admitted to their final exams. Despite his colleagues’ mistrust, Gabriele is able to win over the students both on a teaching and human level.  Overturning the rules, Gabriele becomes their friends.

THE AMERICAN

dir. Anton Corbijn 105’

When an assignment in Sweden ends badly, master assassin Jack retreats to the Italian countryside with the intention of remaining anonymous. He becomes friends with a local priest and pursues a torrid romance with a beautiful woman. But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be making a fatal mistake.

THE FIRST DAY OF MY LIFE

dir. Paolo Genovese 121’

In the exact moment they’re hitting rock bottom, a man, two women and a boy meet a mysterious man capable of gifting them a week of time where they’ll discover how the world would be without them. Will they find the strength to start over and fall in love with life again?

VASCO LIVE ROME CIRCO MASSIMO

Directed by Pepsy Romanoff –  135 minutes

After the ‘Record Tour’ and while waiting for the 2023 Vasco Live Tour, cinema audiences will enjoy the Pepsy Romanoff concert movie showing the highlights of Vasco’s incredible live show at Circo Massimo which brought the house down for two nights in a row, with an audience of  140,000 wild fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASSIMO TROISI

dir. Marco Spagnoli

Directed by Marco Spagnoli – 100 minutes

The documentary explores the life, work, and genius mind of Massimo Troisi through previously unreleased and touching comments and tributes tracing the highlights of the filmmaker’s unique life and career. The great Massimo Troisi is remembered by his family, friends, collaborators, and others who also had the opportunity to get to know his multi-faceted personality.

I AM THE ABYSS 

dir. by Donato Carrisi – 126′

His work is dealing with rubbish. People never really think about what they throw away. But he knows that trash hides people’s secrets. And this is how he chooses his victims. One day a girl storms into his lonely and ordinary existence. She throws herself away in the lake like garbage but he saves her.

MINDEMIC

dir. Giovanni Basso – 83’

A retired film director locked up in a suburban home apartment will attempt to write a new movie, his eternal opera zero.

FLOWERS OVER THE INFERNO 

(episodes 5-6 plus the summary of previous episodes)

dir. Carlo Carlei 110’

Teresa Battaglia, a brilliant but hard-nosed sixty-year-old profiler operating from the Precint of Bolzano, is ordered to root out a mysterious serial killer. She and her “partner-buddy”, young inspector Massimo Marini, a fresh transfer from a major metropolis and recent escapee from a sentimental situation that had become unbearable.

LONELY VOICES 

dir. Andrea Brusa and Marco Scotuzzi 80’

One family’s life goes haywire at the start of the pandemic as the matriarch—now without her steady housekeeper income— encounters a new kind of fame and celebrity when she begins teaching cooking lessons over the internet. 

LA TRAVIATA

dir. Liliana Cavani 132’

Cavani her 90th birthday by offering her stage and TV direction of Verdi’s La Traviata, which was staged at La Scala in Milan in 1992. Starring on stage is soprano Tiziana Fabbricin as Violetta Valery, tenor Roberto Alagna as Alfredo Germont, and baritone Paolo Coni as Giorgio Germont. One of La Scala’s most successful performances was revived many times in the following years.

LEAVING THE FACTORY

dir. Alessia Cruci 28’

“Leaving the Factory” brings back to life an industrial world where immigrant women helped build the foundations for modern America. Toiling away in the sowing ranks of a shirtwaist factory, we meet Marina (Roberta Sparta), an Italian who watches as fellow workers like Gina (Roberta De Santis) and Frieda (Anne Bedian) endure harsh conditions overseen by ruthless factory bosses. Inspired by the March 25, 2011 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City.