Festival Schedule:

April 5, 2024

7:00 p.m: La Chimera

By Alice Rohrwacher

Everyone chases their chimera without ever managing to grasp it. For some it is the dream of easy money, for others the search for an ideal love...

Returning to a small town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Arthur finds his unfortunate band of grave robbers, thieves of Etruscan grave goods and archaeological wonders. Arthur has a gift that he puts at the service of the gang: he feels emptiness. The emptiness of the earth in which the vestiges of a past world are found. The same void that the memory of his lost love, Beniamina, left in him. In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between woods and cities, between parties and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera.

Location: Lawrence Hall 120, University of Pittsburgh

April 6, 2024

7:00 p.m: Kidnapped

By Marco Bellocchio

In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope's soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they came to get Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. According to a maid’s statement, she had believed the then six-month old child to be on the verge of death and had secretly baptized him. The papal law is unquestionable: he is Catholic and must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo's parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortara’s battle soon took on a political dimension. But the Pope did not agree to return the child. While Edgardo grew up in the Catholic faith, the temporal power of the Church was declining.

Based on the book Il caso Mortara by Daniele Scalise.

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

April 11, 2024

7:00 p.m: The De Filippo Siblings

By Sergio Rubini

It is the beginning of the twentieth century, the three siblings Peppino, Titina and Eduardo, live with their beautiful young mother, Luisa De Filippo. There is no father in the family, or rather he hides in the role of "uncle" Eduardo Scarpetta, the most famous, richest and acclaimed actor and playwright of his time. Scarpetta, although not recognizing his three natural children, introduced them to the world of theater from an early age. Upon the death of the great actor, his legitimate children divide his inheritance, while Titina, Eduardo and Peppino receive nothing. To the three young people, however, "uncle" Scarpetta passed on a special gift, his great talent, which however did not fall to his legitimate son Vincenzo, also an actor and playwright, who became the owner of his father's company. The redemption from the painful family history passes through the formation of the De Filippo trio, a dream cherished for years by Eduardo and his brothers and finally realized, overcoming difficulties and conflicts. The De Filippo story is that of a family wound that is transformed into art. And of three young people, who, by joining forces, give life to a completely new way of telling reality with a gaze that reaches into the future.

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

April 12, 2024

7:00 p.m: A Hundred Sundays

By Antonio Albanese

Antonio, a former shipyard worker, leads a meek and quiet life: he plays bocce with friends, takes care of his elderly mother, has an ex-wife with whom he is on excellent terms and Emilia, his only and beloved daughter. When one day Emilia announces to him that she has decided to get married, Antonio is filled with joy, he can finally make her dream come true by giving her the reception they have always dreamed of together while being able to count on his life savings.
However, the bank of which he has always been a customer seems to be hiding something: the employees are suddenly elusive and the director is inexplicably constantly changing.The task of paying for his daughter's wedding will prove increasingly difficult and Antonio will discover, despite himself, that those who guard our treasures do not always also guard our dreams.

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

April 13, 2024

7:00 p.m: Winter Lemons

By Caterina Carone

Thanks to the proximity of their respective terraces, two strangers struggling with their gardening activities begin to weave a profound dialogue, which helps them alleviate the pain of something serious, a secret, which each of the two tries to hide from themselves and from others. In that sort of limbo suspended between earth and sky, far from the speed of the city, Pietro and Eleonora teach each other to follow their hearts, to still believe in the "possibility of being happy".

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

April 19, 2024

7:00 p.m: Romeo is Juliet

By Giovanni Veronesi

Young actress Vittoria is humiliated by a director during an audition for the role of Juliet and decides to try again under a false identity: she becomes Fabio and performs as Romeo.

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

April 20, 2024

7:00 p.m: A Brighter Tomorrow

By Nanni Moretti

Giovanni, an Italian director in trouble with a wife undergoing analysis and a producer on the verge of bankruptcy, has stopped believing in the future. In the image of his protagonist, the leading figure of Unità and the communist section of the Quarticciolo, he wants to 'put an end’ to the world that is moving in the wrong direction: his wife has decided to invest in a young de-genre director, his daughter to marry a man much older than her, and then there's Netflix which produces canned cinema.

Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh

Fest Date: April 5 - 20, 2024

Locations:
University of Pittsburgh Lawrence Hall 120, 3942 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Frick Fine Arts and Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh, 650 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

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