In the year celebrating the 100th anniversary of Franco Zeffirelli’s birth, the Los Angeles, Italia Film Festival & the Capri in The World Institute with the Italian Cultural Institute present the US Premiere of Franco Zeffirelli – Conformista Ribelle written and diected by Anselma Dell’Olio (ITA 2022 123′, in Italian with English subtitles).
The screening will be followed by a special program honoring the Italian nominees at the 2023 Academy Awards: director Alice Rohrwacher (“Le Pupille”, Best Live Action Short Film) and hair and wigs designer Aldo Signoretti (Best Makeup & Hairstyling, “Elvis”); as well as Chiara Tilesi, producer of “Tell It Like a Woman” (Best song with “Applause” by Diane Warren, performed by Sofia Carson). The conversation will be moderated by journalist Francesca Scorcucchi (Critics Choice).
Concluding the night, Los Angeles, Italia will recognize some of the talents participating in the 2023 edition of the Film Festival, including Paolo Genevose, Ferzan Ozpetek, Maria Sole Tognazzi, and Lorenzo Zurzolo.
BY INVITATION ONLY
PROGRAM
4:30 pm Franco Zeffirelli – Conformista Ribelle, Directed by Anselma Dell’Olio (ITA 2022 123′)
6:30 pm Italy at the Oscars
Followed by
Los Angeles, Italia – Film, Fashion & Art Fest | Awards Ceremony
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The documentary Franco Zeffirelli – Conformista Ribelle recounts the decisive moments, turning points and rollercoaster ride of a brilliant, eventful international career and the extraordinary life of a great Italian artist. From his origins as an illegitimate child with no name to the attainment of great international fame as a film director, art director, painter and stager of theatrical and operatic productions. Through original and archive interviews with some of the most acclaimed stars who have known, admired and loved him and with his closest relatives, friends and collaborators, this gripping account paints a picture of the person and the artist—and not just “the master”—Franco Zeffirelli in all his many and even conflicting facets. This many-sided character found expression in his vast artistic production, as well as in his political choices, his spirituality and his love of mystery, in his friendships and in his legendary disputes with antagonistic critics. This is a well-rounded portrait of an artist who for many decades promoted and brought honor to Italian culture, both highbrow and popular, in the great capitals of the world.
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Aldo Signoretti is Italy’s most awarded and acclaimed Hair and Wigs Designer. Throughout his remarkable career, he collaborated with some of the world’s greatest film directors. His career started in the early 70s, learning the trade in a wig lab in Rome. During those years he was exposed to the splendour of Italian Cinema meeting and collaborating, among the many, with directors such as Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini. In the 1980s he moved to the United States and pursued an international career and worked with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, David Cronenberg, Baz Luhrmann and Ridley Scott. His career has been rich of recognition; not only in his own country, where he won six David di Donatello out of his eight nominations. Aldo has also been nominated four times for an Academy Award for his work on Moulin Rouge! (2001), Apocalypto (2006), Il Divo (2009) and Elvis (2023) and won three Emmy Awards (two for the TV series Rome (2006 and 2007) and one for The Josephine Baker Story (1992) and has two BAFTA nominations for Gangs of New York (2002) and Moulin Rouge! (2001). Aldo Signoretti’s career and talent has built his reputation as one of the most esteemed and recognized profiles of the industry. His most recent works include Ferrari by Micheal Mann, Without Blood by Angelina Jolie and Desert Warrior by Rupert Wyatt.
Alice Rohrwacher Writer and Director of Le Pupille was born in Fiesole, in the Tuscany region. She graduated with a degree in classic literature from Torino University, wrote for theater, and worked as a musician before approaching filmmaking, initially as a documentary editor. Her first feature, “Corpo Celeste,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2011 and was then selected for Sundance and several more festivals around the world. Rohrwacher’s second feature, “The Wonders,” won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film. In 2015, she directed “De Djess,” a short film commissioned by Prada as part of Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series that premiered during New York Fashion Week and was also presented at the Venice Film Festival. In 2016, she directed her first opera, a new version of “La Traviata” for Teatri di Reggio Emilia. “Happy as Lazzaro,” her third feature film, won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. She is now working on her fourth feature, “The Chimera,” with Josh O’Connor, Isabella Rossellini and Alba Rorhwacher.
Chiara Tilesi is an Italian Social Impact Producer and Director based in Los Angeles. Her work has always focused on creating social change in the world through film, media, and art. She is the Founder of We Do It Together (WDIT), a nonprofit film production company dedicated to the empowerment of women and minorities. In 2018 she founded Frequency Production, a film production company producing media focused on creating positive impact.
Chiara Tilesi is the music video producer of the Tell It Like A Woman theme song, “Applause”, 2023 Academy Award® nominee for Best Original Song, written by Diane Warren and performed by Sofia Carson.
For her first feature film, All the Invisible Children, that was produced for UNICEF and the World Food Programme, she produced the music video of “Teach Me Again”, with Tina Turner and Elisa, the title song in “All The Invisible Children.”
Because of her passion for women empowerment, Chiara directed and produced the series “One Of Us” (Seasons 1 and 2), dedicated to extraordinary Italian women who built their dreams in the United States. The project was realized in collaboration with The Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington D.C, and the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles. “One Of Us” features the motivating stories of Isabella Rossellini, Giada De laurentiis, Mariangela Zappia, Cristina Cassetti, Elisa Sednaoui Dellal, and Gabriella Pession, just to mention a few.
Francesca Scorcucchi Journalist and television producer, she has worked for 20 years between Italy and the United States of America in the fields of film and television journalism. She has collaborated and still collaborates with newspapers such as Il Corriere della Sera, Ansa, Vanity Fair Italia, Ciak, Best Movie, Di Repubblica, Sette, La Stampa, Il Secolo XIX, Il Messaggero, Il Mattino Napoli, Yahoo.it. Founder of the press and photo agency KIKA PRESS and of the American production company The Spotlight Company, Inc., of which she is CEO. Founder of the cultural association Good Girls Planet that organized the first edition of ITTV, a festival of Italian television in Los Angeles. In the past she has been the news director of the regional Ligurian broadcaster Tele Nord. She graduated in Political Science with a thesis in History of Journalism, entitled ‘La difficile fascistizzazione de Il Secolo XIX’, reported to the competition established by the Order of Journalists of Lombardy. Since 2018 she is Ambassador of Genoa in the World.