November 18th, 2015 – Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, is the capital of cinema for three days. Author, screenwriter and director Francesco 2Cinquemani is the protagonist of the initiative promoted by the Italian Embassy in Sudan, an exhibition dedicated to his shorts. In addition, he held a workshop directed to young Sudanese, aspiring filmmakers. Cinquemani became a director after a long career as a journalist and newspaper editor, and he overall he wrote, produced and directed more than 70 shorts that participated in numerous Italian and International festivals. His latest work is “Andron,” a science fiction movie to be released in the coming days and starring Alec Baldwin, Michelle Ryan, Jon Kortajarena, and Gale Harold. The initiative in Sudan was “successful beyond all expectations, part of the events organized for the 15th week of the Italian Language in the world – reads a note from the Embassy of Italy in Khartoum – a full house for three days and an enthusiastic public is the great result. During the early evening, the ‘House of Italy’ Residence presented ‘Offstage, lontano dal palco,’ a documentary about the theatrical company of Rebibbia prison.” Offstage is the first long documentary by Cinquemani that narrates the story of prisoners with life or long sentences. “The second evening – explains the Embassy – was devoted to comedy with ‘I will kill you’, a parody on the world of cinema, filmmakers with little talent and ‘starlets’. The three-day event concluded with a thriller, “The Place,” which, according to the interpretation of the Italian Ambassador to Sudan Fabrizio Lobasso “is the symbolism of human loneliness, the anguished search for a way out, ‘ignoring’ the existence of inner prisons.” The last two screenings were held at the “Leonardo da Vinci Italian Library and Reading Room,” a reference point for lovers of Italian culture in the Sudanese capital. (Gil)
