Sept. 27 – “Che strano chiamarsi Federico” is the memory / portrait of Federico Fellini, on the twentieth anniversary of his death by Ettore Scola. The film, presented at the 17th Venice Film Festival in the presence of the Head of State Giorgio Napolitano, received commendable reviews from the foreign press. Le Monde called it “a wonderful epilogue of the Show,” while Variety is “a magical journey through the history and the memory.” “Che strano chiamarsi Federico” will premiere in France at the Annecy Italian Film Festival, the most complete overview of the Italian production abroad. “It is a source of great pride to host the premiere of the film by Ettore Scola, a very popular and critically acclaimed filmmaker here in France,” says festival director Jean A. Gili. The story, based on Scola’s personal memories of Fellini, specifically focuses on the early years of the Master’s career. “This movie doesn’t look my other movies and I wanted to do it even though it is neither a feature film nor a documentary – says Scola – I did not want to remember Federico, 20 years after his death, with the usual repertoire collection. Even those who have never seen one of his films know of him, he lives in a world that he always sought to make more livable and beautiful.”
