Santa Barbara International Film Festival , one of the leading film festivals in the US, attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11days of films, tributes and symposiums, will host a selection of Italian films.
THE NEST (Il nido) directed by Klaudia Reynicke, 2016, 80’
Cora has returned to Bucco to help her father organize the annual Feast of the Virgin. The arrival of a mysterious man upsets the town’s harmony, unearthing a crime committed 40 years ago.
PIUMA directed by Roan Johnson, 2016, 98′
Piuma is the story of Ferro and Cate, your average couple. All of a sudden, an unexpected pregnancy turns their world upside down. Hesitant and tentative, the two main characters navigate the most exciting and complicated nine months of their lives, trying not to lose their purity and unique poetic air.
TOMMASO directed by Kim Rossi Stuart, 2016, 94’
In a case of eternal adolescence, a man leaves his wife and spirals further into lust and immaturity.
INDIVISIBLE directed by Edoardo de Angelis, 2016, 78’
Daisy and Viola are teenage conjoined twins blessed with beautiful voices, exploited by their father who turns them into an entertainment act to support the family. They face an emotional decision when a doctor claims that he can successfully separate them.
WATER AND SUGAR, CARLO DI PALMA AND THE COLOURS OF LIFE directed by Fariborz Kamkari, 2016, 90’
In this loving documentary, a galaxy of cinema luminaries — from Ken Loach and Ettore Scola to Wim Wenders and Bernardo Bertolucci — pay tribute to the great Italian cinematographer Carlo di Palma.
THEATER OF LIFE directed by Peter Svatek, 2016, 93’
Peter Svatek paints a compelling portrait of just a few of the individuals who frequent the Refettorio Soup Kitchen: political refugees, the homeless, blue-collar workers, and immigrants. With a poetic sensibility, the film highlights contrasting realities, raises social issues, and spotlights society’s spending habits.
ARRANGIARSARI (PIZZA AND THE ART OF LIVING) directed by Matteo Troncone, 2016, 104′
This delicious and whimsical film is a tribute to the entangled relationship between Napoli and pizza, and to the spirit of arrangiarsi, the art of making something out of nothing.