Cine Italia at UPFI

Cine Italia

The UP Film Institute presents an Italian cinema showcase of vintage and instant classics courtesy of the Philippine-Italian Association.

Schedule of screenings all for free at the UPFI Videotheque is as follows:


Mar 16 Fri

5 p.m. Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) by Vittorio de Sica
7 p.m. Roma, citta’ aperta ( Rome , Open City) by Roberto Rossellini



Mar 17 Sat

2 p.m. Francesco, giullare di Dio (Francis, God’s Jester) by Roberto Rossellini
5 p.m. Viaggio in Italia (Journey to Italy ) by Roberto Rossellini
7 p.m. La Corsa dell’ innocente (Flight of the Innocent) by Carlo Carlei



Mar 23 Fri

5 p.m. Paisa’ (Paisan) by Roberto Rossellini
7 p.m. Il Postino (The Postman) by Michael Radford



Mar 24 Sat

2 p.m. Germania Anno Zero ( Germany Year Zero) by Roberto Rossellini
5 p.m. I Vitelloni (The Young and the Passionate) by Federico Fellini
7 p.m. La Notte di S. Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani



Please refer to the following for notes and descriptions:

Roma, citta’ aperta ( Rome , Open City)
1946, 100 minutes, War
Director : Roberto Rossellini
Starring : Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero

One of the greatest foreign language films ever made, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome , Open City was filmed in the direct aftermath of World War II on the war-ravaged streets of Italy . Shunning Hollywood gloss and glamour, this frank tale is set against the backdrop of extreme conditions– natural lighting, handheld camerawork and a cast composed largely of non-actors. Based on real events that took place on Nazi-occupied Italy in 1944, it examines the choices that people are forced to make in wartime.



Il Postino (The Postman)
1994, 115 minutes, Drama/Romance
Director : Michael Radford
Starring : Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret and Maria Grazia Cucinotta

The touching relationship between the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, exiled in a little island near Naples , and a shy and uncultured postman who possessed the heart of a poet. It was the first international success for Troisi, a popular star in Italy , who died the day after filming was completed.



Germania Anno Zero (Germany Year Zero)
1947, 78 minutes, Neorealism
Director : Roberto Rossellini
Starring : Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Barbara Hintz, Franz Graer,
Hingetrad Hinzf, Eric Guhne

After the devastation of World War II, Berlin has become a wasteland of citizens fighting for survival and trying to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. This is the world of twelve-year old Edmund, a child who has known only upheaval and violence. Yet he goes on from day to day, trying to help his family by finding money or food on the streets. One day he meets his former school teacher, who now profits from Nazi propaganda, which sets in motion a shocking new chain of violence.



La Notte di S. Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars)
1982, 116 minutes, War/Drama
Directors : Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
Starring : Omero Antonutti, Margherita Lozano

Six year-old Cecilia is fascinated by the world and everything in it. And when her family and neighbors flee their village to escape the Nazis, it’s the most exciting moment of her life! But the excitement turns to terror when the enemy begins to close in. Little Cecilia prays for rescue, on this, the Night of the Shooting Stars an evening during which, it is said, all wishes are granted. Can Cecilia’s wish be granted…? Or will this be her eternal night?



Paisa’ (Paisan)
1946, 90 minutes, Neorealism
Director : Roberto Rossellini
Starring : Carmela Sazio, Robert Van Loon, Dots Johnson, Alfonsino Pasca, Maria Michi

Paisan consists of six episodes depicting the resistance struggle and Allied liberation of Italy at the close of World War II. Using a cast of largely non-professional actors, the stories center mostly on small encounters between the Italian people and their liberators: a Sicilian woman is murdered for warning an American patrol of nearby Germans; a drunken GI has his shoes stolen and stumbles upon the children on Naples living in squalor; a girl from Rome, innocent at the time of liberation, becomes a prostitute.



La Corsa dell’ innocente (Flight of the Innocent)
1992, 115 minutes, Thriller
Director : Carlo Carlei
Starring : Manuel Colao, Francesca Neri, Jacques Perrin, Federico Pacifici, Lucio Zagaria

The gentle son of a brutal kidnapper, ten-year-old Vito (Manuel Colao) witnesses the massacre of his family by rival gang and narrowly escapes into the Italian countryside. Relentlessly pursued by the killers and the police, he begins a terrifying life on the run, determined to outwit his followers, find a new, honorable and caring family for himself and end his family’s lineage of crime.



Viaggio in Italia (Journey to Italy )
1953, 80 minutes, Drama
Director : Roberto Rossellini
Starring : Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders

Widely misunderstood and shamefully denigrated at the time of its original release, but now recognized as not simply on of Rossellini’s greatest films but as one of the key works of modern cinema, Journey to Italy is a deceptively simple piece. There is a little plot to speak of: a marriage is breaking up under the strains of a trip to Italy and we watch. But in its deliberate rejection of many aspects of ‘classic’ Hollywood narrative and its stubborn pursuit of a quite different aesthetic, its meandering story line creates space for ideas and time for reflection.



Francesco, giullare di Dio (Francis, God’s Jester)
1950, 75 minutes, Religion / Biography
Director : Roberto Rossellini
Starring : Nazario Gerardi, Aldo Fabrizi, Arabella Lemaitre

Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly render the very spirit of Franciscan teaching in this extraordinarily fresh and simple film – largely unappreciated at the time of its release, but now regarded as one of his greatest. Shot in a neorealist manner with non-professional actors (including thirteen actual Franciscan monks) it avoids the pious clichés of haloed movie saints with an economy of expression and a touching, human quality.



I Vitelloni (The Young and the Passionate)
1953, 103 minutes Drama
Director : Federico Fellini
Starring : Franco Interlenghi, Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Leopoldo Trieste,
Riccardo Fellini, Carlo Romano, Enrico Viarisio, Paola Borboni

I Vitelloni (literally "fatted veal calves") is largely a lighthearted autobiographical story of a 4 idle young men who live in a small seaside town, and their hopes antics, miseries and aspirations. I Vitelloni was Oscar nominated in 1958 and won at Venice Film Festival.



Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief)
1949, 90 minutes, Drama / Neorealism
Director : Vittorio De Sica
Starring : Lamberto Maggiorani, Roberto Staiola, Lionella Carrell

An excellent example of Italian neorealism, the Bicycle Thief depicts the extreme living conditions in Italy after World War II. Impoverished and desperate for work, Ricci is finally called to a well-paying job in the city, the only condition is that he needs a bicycle-which he has just pawned. The relationship between individuals and the masses is emphasized and Director de Sica chooses amateurs to portray many of the characters.

The film is noted as the Most Outstanding Foreign Film in the U.S. in 1949, and the Golden Globe Winner for Best Foreign Film in 1950



To always get screening alerts, join UP Film Institute e-group: upfilminstitute@ yahoogroups. com



University of the Philippines Film Institute
(Member, CILECT/Internationa l Association of Film and Television Schools )
Plaridel Hall, Ylanan Road , UP Diliman, Quezon City
Tel: 9818500 (UP Trunkline) local 2669, 2670; 9206863 (Telefax)
Cine Adarna, Magsaysay and Osmeña Avenues, UP Diliman, Quezon City
Tel: 9818500 (UP Trunkline) local 4286, 4289; 9262722 (Telefax)