Apr. 9 – In Portugal, the most important and awaited event dedicated to Italian cinema has finally arrived. Lisbon hosts the 7th edition of “8 ½ Festival of Italian Cinema,” organized by the Italian Embassy in Portugal, the Italian Institute of Culture in Lisbon, the Association “Il Sorpasso,” and La Cappella Underground, and under the patronage of Generali and the support of Mibact – Directorate general of Cinema and Cinecittà Luce – FilmItalia. 39 films, mostly premieres in Portugal, will be screened at Cinema São Jorge and the Cinematheque Portuguesa. “Viva la Libertà” by Roberto Andò will open the festival, while the event will close, on April 18 , with “Il Capitale Umano” by Paolo Virzi. Other films in the program include: “Anni felici” by Daniele Luchetti, “Smetto quando voglio” by Sydney Sibilla, “L’intrepido” by Gianni Amelio, “Salvo” by Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia, “Zoran, il mio nipote scemo” by Matteo Oleotto, and “The Special Need” by Carlo Zoratti. The festival will also screen Orson Welles’ ‘lost’ movie, “Too Much Johnson,” presented in Lisbon thanks to a collaboration between 8 ½ and the festival Le Giornate del Cinema Muto/Cinema Zero. The novelty of this year’s edition is the programming dedicated to younger audiences, in collaboration with the Giffoni Film Festival. The Amarcord section, created to rediscover Italian film genres and styles that have influenced our collective imagination, will be held at Cinematheque Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, and will dedicate a retrospective to Mario Bava, “cult” director honored on the occasion of his birth centenary. His son, the writer-director Lamberto Bava, will be present alongside director Daniele Gaglianone (“La Mia Classe”), singer-songwriter Vinicio Capossela (writer and star of the documentary “Indebito”), producer and director Gianluca Arcopinto, and Deputy Director of the Cinematheque Friuli di Gemona, Lorenzo Codelli. Events include a screening of a restored 3D version of “The Last Emperor” by Bernardo Bertolucci.
