Cineforum Italiano: Scialla! (Take it Easy)

At Letelier Theater in Georgetown on June 3rd at 4:00pm Passatempo will be screening a delightful, award-winning comedy from Italy about an unlikely coexistence between a father and his newly-discovered teenage son.  It's an early Father's Day Celebration.

Bruno (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) has lost all zest for life - his career is flagging and his passion for teaching has become an apathetic routine with equally uninterested students, including 15-year-old Luca. One day Luca's mother reveals a secret that turns Bruno's life upside down: Luca is his son. Awkward.

This is classic comedy served up Italian style - warm and funny but never over-sentimental or patronizing. "Scialla" is Roman slang for "take it easy", and this film is pretty much just that. Not loud or vulgar but simple and amusing. Al dente!

Genre: Comedy

Director: Francesco Bruni

Released: 2011

Duration: 95 min.

In Italian with English subtitles.

Event Schedule:

• June 3, 2012 at Letelier Theater in Georgetown. 3251 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC UPPER COURTARD.
• 4:00 pm: Sign in, enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks during the film. 
• 4:15 pm: Program begins with introductions and film 
• 6:15 pm: The film will be followed by small reception which provides an opportunity to socialize and discuss the film.
  

Price:

• $10 for members of Passatempo.  Click here to RSVP.  
• $15 for non-members (cash only, no credit/debit card processing)

Trailer:

Cineforum Italiano: Diciotto anni dopo (18 Years Later)

Happy Mother's Day on May 13th! Get ready for a warmhearted road movie that easily shifts gears between drama and comedy as two brothers drive across the gorgeous Italian countryside.

Brothers Mirko (Leo) and Genziano (Bonini) haven't spoken or seen each other since their mother died in a car accident when they were teenagers. Soon after, Genziano moved to London and became a successful stockbroker while the stuttering, insecure Mirko stayed to work as a mechanic in the family-run garage.

Eighteen years later, Genziano returns to Rome, for 24 hours, for their father's funeral only to discover that the man's dying wish was to have his ashes laid by his wife's grave, in Calabria. Which means his sons must make the trip to southern Italy in the antique Morgan in which their mother died, which he painstakingly and secretly rebuilt over time.

Along the way this charming film provides plenty of adventures, laughs and insights about family relations and settling old scores. The brothers have to cope with a broken down car, strange motels and hitchhiking, as well as years of suppressed anger, jealousy and resentment. Will they make it to Calabria in one piece? And can they bury the past?

Cineforum Italiano sponsored by Passatempo, LLC.

Genre: Comedy

Director: Edoardo Leo

Released: 2010

Duration: 100 min.

In Italian with English subtitles.

Plan for the event:

• May 13, 2012 at Letelier Theater in Georgetown. 3251 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC UPPER COURTARD.
• 4:00 pm: Sign in, enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks during the film.
• 4:15 pm: Program begins with introductions and film
• 6:15 pm: The film will be followed by small reception which provides an opportunity to socialize and discuss the film.
  

Ticket Prices:

• $10 online with your RSVP. Click here.
• $15 at the door (cash only, no credit/debit card processing)

Trailer:

Reviews:

• In Italian.
• In English.
• In English.

Photo Gallery:

http://www.meetup.com/passatempo/photos/7934112/

Getting to Letelier Theater: Street parking is free on Sundays. There's also a parking garage available directly next to the theater on Prospect Street for $4/hr. There are several public transportation options. The theater website describes the options in detail: http://leteliertheater.com/directions/

Cineforum Italiano: The First Assignment (Il primo incarico)

Genre: Drama
Director: Giorgia Cecere
Released: 2010
Duration: 90 min.
In Italian with English subtitles.

Organized by Passatempo, LLC.
Location: Letelier Theater
Date: April 15, 2012
Time: 4:00pm
A hit at the Venice Film Festival, Giorgia Cecere's exquisite drama follows Nena (Isabella Ragonese), a young teacher who is posted to a provincial Puglian town where she struggles to connect with the local children and misses her aristocratic boyfriend. Left in limbo after her boyfriend Francesco (Alberto Boll), who seems to sincerely care for her, has not yet asked for her hand in marriage, Nena is forced to leave her family home to take up her first teaching position in another town. But it is the 1950s and being an unmarried woman, living alone, means that Nena comes under intense scrutiny from her inquisitive and judgmental neighbors.

Isabella Ragonese is a rising star in Italy and she has created a wonderful, memorable character in the headstrong Nena – a woman who thinks that everything is lost, but finds hope, friendship and fulfillment in unexpected places.

4:00 pm: Sign in, enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks during the film.
4:15 pm: Program begins with introductions and film
5:45 pm: The film will be followed by small reception which provides an opportunity to socialize and discuss the film.

Tickets: $8 online with your RSVP at
http://www.meetup.com/passatempo/events/58428952/.

Advance ticket purchase is the only guarantee of a seat. $10 at the door (cash only, no credit/debit card processing)

Trailer:

Cineforum Italiano: Una vita tranquilla (A Quiet Life)

Sunday, March 11, 2012, 4:00 PM

Genre: Drama
Director: Claudio Cupellini
Released: 2010
Duration: 105 min.

In Italian with English subtitles.

A brilliant addition to the new wave of sophisticated Italian crime films that focus more on character than action, A Quiet Life is further complemented by Toni Servillo who delivers a riveting performance as a man hiding a dark secret. This critically acclaimed, slow-burn dramatic thriller from Claudio Cupellini (Lessons in Chocolate) is one of this year's must-see highlights.

Rosario Russo (Toni Servillo) is living near Frankfurt where he runs a restaurant and hotel and has integrated perfectly into the local community with his family. He keeps a low profile, he has changed his name and he speaks German. Life is good, until one day the introverted Diego (Marco D'Amore) and street-smart Edoardo (Francesco Di Leva) turn up at the hotel, looking for a room. Soon their sinister assignment is revealed, dragging Rosario back into the past.

Director Claudio Cupellini has created a tense thriller, moodily shot in grey winter light, edited at a breathless pace with a slick script and sensational soundtrack. But it is the three standout performances, including the ever popular Toni Servillo, that are so compelling in this modern day Greek tragedy.

Event Plan:

• 4:00 pm: Sign in, enjoy complimentary beverages and snacks during the film.
• 4:15 pm: Program begins with introductions and film
• 6:15 pm: The film will be followed by small reception which provides an opportunity to socialize and discuss the film.

Price:

• $8 online with your RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/passatempo/events/51868232/. Advance ticket purchase is the only guarantee of a seat.
• $10 at the door (cash only, no credit/debit card processing)

Letelier Theater in Georgetown3251 Prospect Street NW, Upper Courtyard
Washington, DC 20007
If you have any questions, please call 202-643-1861.

Trailer:

Cineforum Italiano: Lezioni di cioccolato (Lessons in Chocolate)

Genre: Commedy

Director: Claudio Cupellini

Released: 2007

Duration: 98 min.

In Italian with English subtitles

The Washington, DC Italian Language Meetup Group invites you to join an early Valentines Day celebration! On February 12 at 4:00pm at Letelier Theater in Georgetown they will be screening a light, refreshing movie where comedy and life mix in the right proportions: LESSONS IN CHOCOLATE. A movie that can be seen even by the most sensitive, emotional audience. Nobody dies, nobody cries.... just smiles!

Mattia (Luca Argentero), a 32 year old building contractor in Perugia has all the trappings of success; nice suits, a flashy car, a gorgeous girlfriend and is on a promising career path. But behind this facade he is cutting corners with site safety and hiring illegal workers.

He is about to close the biggest deal of his professional life, when one of his illegally hired workers, Kamal (Hassani Shapi), is badly injured when falling off a roof because of lack of scaffolding. Kamal, who came to Italy from his native Egypt to realize his dream of opening his own pastry shop, threatens to sue Mattia unless Mattia takes his place in an advanced chocolate making course at the Perugina factory! Mattia has no choice but to take Kamal’s place in the school and assume his identity.

But there Mattia meets the model student Cecilia (Violante Placido), who ends up falling for the same sort of man she unfortunately always falls for. Among laughs, misunderstandings and mouth-watering recipes, Mattia will discover a way to bring his and Kamal's disparate cultures together while finding love and new meaning to life at the same time.

Tickets are $10.00 at the door (cash only, no credit/debit card processing) or $8.00 if you're a member of The Washington, DC Italian Language Meetup Group and you've purchased in advance on the group's website: http://www.meetup.com/italiano/

Full event details are available on the website for the group: http://www.meetup.com/italiano/