When in Roma

The Italian Film Festival returns to Bangkok for its 2016 edition this Tuesday with seven recent productions chosen to offer a picฌture of contemporary Italian society.
    Taking place at Quartier CineArt at the EmQuartier as part of the larger Italian Festival 2016, the event opens with “Antonia”, a 2015 drama about the alltoobrief life of Italian poet Antonia Pozzi, who died at the age of 26. The poet is portrayed by Linda Caridi, who is coming to Bangkok to introduce the movie.
    Alternating pictures by wellknown auteurs with debut features from young filmmakers, the festival presents last year’s hit comedy “Il Nome del Figlio” (“An Italian Name”). Directed by Francesca Archibugi, it looks at the ageold problem of choosing a name for a baby in the face of opposition from the inlaws. It screens on Thursday at 8.30pm, with a repeat on September 16 at 2.30pm.
    Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Giovinezza” (“Youth”) has an international flavour. Part drama, part comedy, it stars Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Laura De Marchi, Paul Dano, Rachel Weisz and Jane Fonda and centres on a retired orchestra conductor (Caine) who is on holiday in the Alps with his daughter and his best friend. He receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip’s birthday. The only title in the festival with an English soundtrack, it shows on September 16 and again on September 18, both days at 8.30pm.
    In “Io e Lei” (“Me, Myself and Her”), showing Thursday at 3.30pm and on September 17 at 6.30, Marina and Federica, who have been together for five years, share the same apartment, bed and face cream, but are still trying to define whether they’re a couple.
“The Repairman”, Paolo Mitton’s debut feature, focuses on Scanio Libertetti, a failed engineer who earns a living repairing coffee machines, attending a speed awareness course in a small provincial town in the hills of Northern Italy. It shows on Wednesday at 3.30 and September 17 at 4.30.
    The last two films in this year’s festival are “Mia Madre” (My Mother’) and “I Racconti dell’Orso” (“The Bear Tales”).
    In “My Mother”, Margherita (Margherita Buy), a film director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother. It shows Wednesday at 8.30 and September 18 at 6.30.
    In the crowdfunded fantasy indie “Bear Tales”, a mechanical monk follows a strange little red man. After crossing forests, dead cities and desolate plains, the two odd characters reach the top of a magic hill. The discovery of a torn teddy bear in bad shape and join forces, in the hope of bringing the inanimate toy to life and escaping the void that surrounds them. It screens on Friday at 7 and on September 18 at 5.
    All films are in Italian with English subtitles except for “Youth” which has an English soundtrack.
    Tickets cost Bt150, Bt170 and Bt300 depending on seat selection.