Contemporary Italian Cinema 2023: Italy at the dawn of the third Millennium
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 Italian-Australian director Madeleine Martiniello, which nonetheless tells of a self-made man, an Italian immigrant who found success and well-being in Australia.
Palazzo di Cozzo (Madeleine Martiniello, 2021)
Madeleine Martiniello’s portrait of a beloved Melbournian, Franco Cozzo, offers insight into family, the migrant experience, and the mogul’s iconic furniture. A pioneer of low-fi television advertising, Franco’s tri-lingual pitch sparked a cult-of-personality as kitsch as his baroque bedheads. Cozzo’s journey from rural Sicily to the high streets of Melbourne is a tale of tenacity that saw him become a household name. Overflowing with charm and heart, the man’s impact on our city’s history is unexpectedly “megalo! Megalo! megalo!”
Admission $10 (includes one drink)
Booking (essential): www.casulapowerhouse.com
