The film business is a mug's game. Witness any of the Australian films released in cinemas this year, many of which didn't last far beyond a two-week season at the cinemas. You probably couldn't name more than one or two of them and now that the video store is dying as a concept, you probably won't get the chance to rent them either.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The film festival game, however, seems to have a sustainable business model. I feel like I'm writing one of these festival overview articles every week, and this time off the bat it is the Italian Film Festival - the fifthteenth coming to Palace Electric Cinema from 23 September.
If you read the program (italianfilmfestival.com.au), you'll understand what a complex sponsorship exercise the modern-day festival has had to become to remain sustainable. The festival is now named for a brand of coffee. You'll also see the beer sponsor taking care of the entertainment and the airline sponsor, no doubt flying the big name stars in.
The Zeccola family that own the Palace Cinema chain consider this festival their pride and joy and family patriarch Antonio and team, comb film festivals in the old country for films to include.
This year their hunt has turned up fare both interesting and amusing, with titles like The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (Sat 27 Sept 9pm, with repeat screenings 2, 9 and 14 Oct) or A Boss in the Kitchen (Wed 24 Sept 11.30pm, Mon 29 Sept 8.45pm) sounding like the kind of films you expect in your average European film festival – a bit violent, a bit chauvinistic.
The opening night film Marina (opening night Tues 23 Sept 6.30pm, with repeat screenings 27 and 30 Sept, and 3 and 10 Oct) is a big-screen account of the life of singer, songwriter and accordionist, Rocco Granata, whose 1959 hit Marina made him an international star.
What looks most interesting to me in the program are a series of films that respond to the global financial crisis. In A Lonely Hero (Sat 27 Sept 4pm) funny Italian actor, Antonio Albanese, plays something of a sad clown working a range of unskilled jobs without losing his optimism in a film from Stolen Children director Gianni Amelio.
In I Can Quit Whenever I Want (Sat 27 Sept 1.30pm, Fri 10 Oct 8.45pm) Edourado Leo plays an unemployed graduate, who pulls together a team of his equally over-qualified pals to form a drug production and distribution ring to bring in the cash. Meanwhile, the global crash forces the closure of a family textile business in Quiet Bliss (Thurs 2 Oct 8.30pm and Sun 11 Oct 3.45pm), forcing a family to move to the country and rediscover the beauty and hard realities of living simply from the land. It sounds even more romantic that the land in question is gorgeous southern Italy.
Look out too for Sacro GRA (Sun 28 Sept 6.30pm), where documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi looks at life on Rome's outskirts in the first documentary to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
The festival closes in impeccable Italian style with a newly restored version of the Vittorio De Sica classic film Marriage Italian Style released in 1964 (Wed 15 Oct 6.15pm) with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The Italian Film Festival is on from Septeber 23 to October 15 at Palace Electric Cinema. Festival conditions apply for some screenings (18+ only) and some screenings come with elevated ticket prices that include drinks and other entertainment. Visit italianfilmfestival.com.au for more details.
