29 July, 2015 – “In sum, this is Italian comedy: dealing with dramatic topics in comic, funny, ironic and humorous terms. This is what distinguishes the Italian comedy from all other comedies,” once explained Mario Monicelli. And today, the kings of Italian comedy are Paolo Genovese, Massimiliano Bruno, Rolando Ravello, Gianni Di Gregorio, Eugenio Cappuccio, and Marco Martani. All Italian directors who in recent years have given new life to the genre. The great box office results clearly underline the rebirth of a genre crucial in the history of Italian cinema. The phenomenon has also led scholars and critics to wonder about new comic forms, both from a linguistic and aesthetic point of view. And now, this revival is bringing the Italian comedy abroad, also in Russia thanks to “Felicità italiana.” The film review kicks off in Moscow on Wednesday, August 19 and will close its doors on August 23. “Felicità italiana” will be hosted at the Illusion Cinema (Kotelnicheskaya nab., 15/1) and Museon (Cinema Krymskij Val) and will feature films like “Il nome del figlio” (2015) by Francesca Archibugi, “Scusate se esisto” (2014) by Riccardo Milani, “Italo Barocco” (2014) by Alessia Scarso, “Ho ucciso Napoleone” (2015) by Giorgia Farina and “Pitza e datteri” (2015) by Fariborz Kamkari, director and screenwriter of Iranian Kurdish origins who lives and works in Italy. The film festival was promoted by CoolConnections in collaboration with Illusion Cinema, Museon Cinema, Nescafe and the Italian Institute of Culture in Moscow. (PO / red)