Manuale
d'Amore 2

Giovanni Veronesi's delectable sequel to his 2005 hit comedy. Again told in four separate, interlocking parts, Manual of Love 2 further exposes the mysteries of the heart. The hero of “Eros,” a tender paraplegic, falls head over heels for his female physiotherapist. Next up, issues of “Maternity” are brought to light with a young couple’s tragicomic struggle to have a child. In “The Wedding,” a gay male couple heads off to Spain to tie the knot. Finally, a bored, married fifty-year-old dramatizes “Extreme Love” when he is swept away by a much younger woman. Together, the four tales take a light but moving look at the effect of love on the human condition.

Italy, 2007, 120 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Il Panino

It's lunch time on a construction site and Peppino, an Italian-Canadian immigrant, is ready to bite into his panino - a giant home-made sandwich loaded with only the best Italian ingredients.  Sitting next to him, his co-worker, Charlie, takes a small peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of a brown paper bag.  As the two workers catch glimpses of each others very different sandwiches they are both instantly intrigued.  They begin to compare, and soon the conversation turns into an argument over who's sandwich is better.  As Charlie explains the convenience of simple PB&J, Peppino cuts him off and tells the story of how each ingredient in his panino has a special cultural significance in his life as an immigrant.

Writer & Director: Adriano Valentini
Canada, 2008, 10 minutes
English

Anita

Brazil 1839. Aninha Ribeira da Silva, nicknamed Anita, is a lively and passionate 18-year-old, who dreams of leaving her small home town. Her aspirations fade, however, when Manuel, an aged craftsman, proposes marriage and Anita’s mother forces her to accept. As Anita despairs her loss of freedom, a young Italian seaman, who had been sentenced to death by the Genoa martial court, lands in Rio de Janeiro…

Italy, 2007, 90 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Mournful Things: A Modern Day Opera

The camera floats half-way round a winged man. A square, paper-wrapped package changes hands. Music industry execs, with biblical names, in Goth attire, entangle in a fatal dance of death. Hip, stylized, and sly, Joseph Sulpizi’s short film serves up a noir sci-fi fantasy that may, or may not, allegorize the cut-throat world of big-label music.

Canada, 2006, 24 minutes
English

Journal of a Contract Killer

Journal of a Contract Killer tells the shocking, real-life story of Stephanie Komack. To the few people who thought they knew her, the twenty-eight-year-old appeared to live a mundane life: working part-time as a waitress and raising her young daughter in a non-descript London flat. Little did acquaintances suspect that the single mother moonlighted as an international contract killer for the Italian underworld. In Tony Maylam’s stark feature film, Komack’s secret life unfolds before us through the revelation of her journal—in which she coolly details how much money she earns from each hit. Only when her luck runs out, does her contradictory world start to unravel.

England & Italy, 2008, 90 minutes
English & Italian (with English subtitles)

The Birth

A modern-day tale, inspired by an old Indian fable. On a morning like any other, a man hurriedly sets off from home, unaware that the day might be his last. He brushes brusquely by people and things, unconcerned about his surroundings. Meanwhile, a woman, whose senses are open to the world, walks the same path—almost.

Baciami Piccina

It’s the 8th of September, 1943. Mussolini’s rule has collapsed and Italy’s official surrender to the Allies is declared. Precisely on the eve of this historic date, in a little town, a curious threesome board a train bound for Venice: the honest and reliable carabiniere, Umberto; Luisa, his adoring and patient fiancée, who has followed Umberto without his prior consent; and Raoul, a flamboyant, charming con man. Gracefully directed, this is an inspired “road movie” that artfully mixes bitterness and comedy. As the fate of Italy changes its course, so do the personal fates of our three travelers.

Italy, 2006, 111 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Ricordati di Noi

Broadcast every Sunday, from 1964 to 1994, Teledomenica was Montreal’s first and favourite Italian-language television program. More than a decade after the final show aired, past host Giovanni Gargiulo contacts Paul Tana. He tells the renowned Italian Canadian director about a lost treasure: hundred of reels of film discarded in the basement of the program’s old office headquarters. The long-forgotten footage provides a vivid, intimate record of the life of Montreal’s Italian community. Tana’s short film documents how the Cinematique Quebecoise salvages, catalogues, and preserves this cinematic treasure.

Canada, 2006, 26 minutes
French (with English subtitles)

Di Letto In Letto

A black comedy exploring the decadence and dryness of contemporary urban relationships. On the top-floor balcony of a futuristic building, Sara and Marcella meet. She’s an ambitious marketing manager; he’s an esteemed sociologist. Using all of her charms, she unsuccessfully attempts to convince him to take part in her company’s next advertising campaign. Marcello takes leave of Sara and sets off to wander the city streets. And so begins a chain of events through which the destinies of ten leading characters become entwined.

Italy, 2007, 95 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Chronicles of Impeccable Sportsmanship

A little girl; her parents; a ball. Erika Tassini’s short film dramatizes the tensions between two parents as seen through the eyes of their enterprising young daughter. A subversive take on the individual’s struggle for attention and affection within the domestic realm.

Italy & United States, 2005, 7 minutes

I Giorni dellíAbbandono

Olga, a woman just entering middle age, is suddenly abandoned by her husband. The loss throws her into a state of profound depression and dissassociation. With the absence of her husband, Olga’s life seems to her to be nothing but a series of alien, mechanical motions. In her darkest state, she turns on herself, violating her own body by offering herself in a brutal sex act with a passive willing acquaintance. Shot from an interior, subjective point of view, and accompanied by a first person narrative, The Days of Abandonment is a thriller of the soul.

Italy, 2005, 96 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Koras Plaka

Director Renzo Badolisani first visited Placanica, a historic hill town in the province of Reggio Calabria, when he was scouting out locations for his film, Tornare Indietro (2002). He was strongly moved by the spirit of the place. He returned once again during a festival and produced this short, celebratory docudrama that pays homage to the town and its people through its traditional music and dance.

Italy, 2008, 23 minutes

Cardio Fitness

Twenty-seven-year-old Stefania is a restless, aspiring writer. She shares the ups and downs of life with her two close girlfriends, Cecilia and Ilaria. The three often meet at the gym where Ilaria works to pay for her studies. Fifteen-year-old Stephano is a mature-looking high-school student. Seeking physiotherapy for a recent sports injury, he pays a visit to the gym. There, by chance, he encounters Stefania. Despite their 12-year age gap, an irrepressible passion blossoms between them. Can their feelings overcome their own fears and societal pressures? A tender, comic love story about a December-May romance.

Italy, 2007, 82 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

Come le Formiche

A bittersweet family saga. Sveva’s dream is to save her parents’ farm, by producing an award-winning Rubro wine from its old vineyard. Sveva’s French husband, Nicholas, is in debt, however, and tries to convince his father-in-law, Ruggero, to sell the land. Sveva also has a turbulent relationship with her 40-year-old sister, Desideria—who, in turn, is having marital problems of her own. Can both the family farm and the couples’ torn relationships be saved?

Italy, 2007, 85 minutes
Italian (with English subtitles)

The Dukes

George (Chazz Palminteri) and Danny (Robert Davi) are The Dukes: a Doo Wop group that stood on top of the world when the singers were 17. Now, thirty odd years later, they are struggling to survive. Lou, their manager (Peter Bogdanovich), is trying, but failing, to get them work. Finally pushed to the extreme, the singers pull a heist that only fools would attempt. Beneath this comedy is a poignant film that explores how to hold on to your true self—no matter who you are, where you are, or where you’ve been. A marvelous directorial debut for veteran Hollywood tough guy actor, Robert Davi.

U.S.A, 2007, 96 minutes
English

Note: Robert Davi will be at the festival to present the movie and be there for a Q.& A.