Contemporary Italian Cinema 2023: Italy at the dawn of the third Millenium
With the forthcoming one, in 2023, the series of collaborations between the Italian Cultural Institute and the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre is extended to nine. Nine editions during which the Institute and the cultural hub of the Liverpool City Council has offered the Western area of Sydney a wide and qualitative choice of feature films starting with the masterpieces of Neorealism and continuing with the retrospectives dedicated to Mastroianni and Fellini, and with the screening of the most recent works by many Italian directors, thus offering the ever-large audience a cross-section of contemporary Italy.
This year, the series is entitled Italy at the dawn of the third millennium with a clear reference to the now consolidated choice of proposing a series of films by directors, women and men, whose cameras scrutinize the events, including private ones, of Italians of today, recounting today’s events of a true, lively, sometimes contradictory and yet modern Italy. With one exception: this year we wanted to include an Australian production, that Palazzo di Cozzo by the Italian-Australian director Madeleine Martiniello, which nonetheless tells of a self-made man, an Italian immigrant who found success and well-being in Australia.
Perfetti sconosciuti (Perfect strangers) (by Paolo Genovese, 2016)
On the evening of a total eclipse of the moon, seven close friends gather for a dinner party. Early in the meal, one of the friends, a relationship therapist named Eva, says that she is convinced that many couples would separate if they saw the messages on each other’s phones. As the friends debate this contention, they agree—some of them reluctantly—to play a game. They will each place their phone on the table and they will share their messages and calls with the rest of the group.
The film was a critical and commercial success, winning the David di Donatello in the Best Film Category and grossing more than €16 million in Italy. It has been remade in more than 20 countries.
Admission $10 (including one drink)
Booking (essential): https://www.casulapowerhouse.com/
