Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2016

The 2016 edition strikes a satisfying balance between emerging talents and esteemed veterans, including four feature debuts—the lyrical coming-of-age tale Arianna by Carlo Lavagna, Adriano Valerio’s poetic Banat, starring I Am Love’s Edoardo Gabriellini, and the heart-felt satire God Willing, winner of the Audience Award at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival and the first feature for first-time director Edoardo Falcone—plus the latest from Gianni Zanasi (The Complexity of Happiness) and Vincenzo Marra (First Light), and the final work from late cult director Claudio Caligari, Don’t Be Bad, Italy’s submission for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Oscar.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Ettore Scola’s brilliant satirical tragedy Ugly, Dirty and Bad, for which he won the Best Director award at Cannes in 1976. Starring the great Nino Manfredi as a patriarch who refuses to share the payout of an insurance policy with his outrageous family, the film will screen in a beautiful new digital restoration at a special anniversary screening.Istituto Luce Cinecittà and the Film Society of Lincoln Center announce the complete lineup for Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, June 2-8. For 16 years, Open Roads has proudly offered North American audiences the most diverse and extensive lineup of contemporary Italian films available. As always, the series includes both commercial and independent fare, ranging from a vérité documentary to a superhero movie, outrageous comedies to gripping dramas, with seven North American premieres and in-person appearances by many of the filmmakers.

Other notable films include Gabriele Mainetti’s gritty superhero anti-blockbuster They Call Me Jeeg, winner of seven David di Donatello Awards (Italy’s top film honors): the witty relationship comedy Solo by writer-director-star Laura Morante (North American premiere); Claudio Cupellini’s torrid love saga The Beginners (North American premiere); the Dardenne Brothers–produced Long Live the Bride by Ascanio Celestini (North American premiere); Maria Sole Tognazzi’s lesbian romantic comedy Me, Myself and Her; Gianluca De Serio & Massimiliano De Serio’s River Memories (North American premiere), a vérité portrait of a Turin shantytown; and revered documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Pannone’s The Smallest Army in the World (North American premiere), paired with the premiere of the short documentary Viva Ingrid!, about Ingrid Bergman’s years in Italy, directed by Alessandro (grandson of Roberto) Rossellini (North American premiere).

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is co-presented by the c. Organized by Dennis Lim and Dan Sullivan, the Film Society of Lincoln Center; and by Carla Cattani, Griselda Guerrasio and Monique Catalino, Istituto Luce Cinecittà.

Single tickets are $14; $11 for students and seniors (62+); and $9 for Film Society members. See more and save with the $99 All Access Pass or the 3+-film discount package. Visit filmlinc.org for more information.