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Don't miss the 16th edition of N.I.C.E. (New Italian Cinema Events) Film Festival featuring the works of new independent Italian filmmakers! The seven short and seven feature-length films presented by N.I.C.E. offer a broad range of cinematic style and content, from comedies and drama to fact based tales, reminding us that the Italian cinema is alive, well and thriving! Vote for the the best short and the best feature film and enjoy a Q&A with the directors after each screening. Winner will be awarded with the prestigious “Premio Citta` di Firenze” (City of Florence Award). N.I.C.E. Special screening is the U.S . premiere of acclaimed director Giacomo Campiotti's film Mai + Come Prima (Never Again Like Before), a drama based on Italian mountains co-written with Russian writer-director Alexandre Adabachian. 

Click here to enter the 2006 N.I.C.E. Festival Guide and purchase tickets today!


The 16th edition of N.I.C.E. Film Festival, presented in cooperation with the Tribeca Film Festival, Italian Cultural Institute and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo` showcases a selection of 7 shorts and 7 features films by talented and emerging Italian directors as well as the North American Premiere of Giacomo Campiotti`s acclaimed drama Mai + come prima (Never Again as Before). For the first time this year N.I.C.E. Film Festival will take place at the Tribeca Cinemas, Theater 1 located at 54 Varick Street at Laight street, one block south of Canal street, a strategic location in the heart of downtown.

The new cooperation between N.I.C.E. Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival is aimed to further promote the work of independent Italian filmmakers by introducing them to a broader audience. It is also a recognition of the importance N.I.C.E. has assumed throughout the years in the film festival circuit. According to Viviana del Bianco, director of N.I.C.E.,“N.I.C.E. has become a not to be missed appointment in the busy fall months. Moviegoers look out for N.I.C.E. film selection as we manage to present a variety of innovative films that stand out in the Italian panorama”. Peter Scarlet, executive director of Tribeca Film Festival confirms: “We're pleased indeed to welcome this long-running program of discoveries of new Italian filmmakers to Tribeca. Over the past years, N.I.C.E has showcased works by many new talents, including the early films of Francesca Archibugi, Mimmo Calopresti, Antonio Capuano, Cristina Comencini, Matteo Garrone, Aurelio Grimaldi, Mario Martone, Marco Risi, Silvio Soldini, Paolo Virzi and Edoardo Winspeare, to name but a few. We hope you'll join us in the exciting screenings to be taking place at Tribeca Cinemas during this new Fall program.”

SPECIAL EVENT: NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF GIACOMO CAMPIOTTI`S MAI + COME PRIMA
This year special event is dedicated to Giacomo Campiotti, winner of N.I.C.E  Film Festival in 1994 with his first feature film Like Two Crocodiles. Since then, Campiotti has continued on a very personal path with gripping films that touch deep chords in his audiences. His work includes Corsa di primavera,  the three-part feature Il tempo dell’amore and a remake of Doctor Zivago for BBC television. His new coming-of-age film Mai + come prima (Never Again as Before), screened in its North American premier, shows his ability to climb emotional heights while gently leading the viewer to see the profound connections between events. Four boys and two girls, who have just graduated from high school, take a vacation together in the heart-stopping Dolomite Mountains. On a dramatic climbing expedition up a mystic peak, they encounter a tragedy that will change each of them forever. Campiotti wrote this film with noted Russian writer-director Alexander Adabachian.
The screening of Mai + come prima will open the festival on Thursday, November 9th at 7.00pmand 9.00pm . Each screening will be followed by a Q&A with executive producer Gianluca Bianco.

N.I.C.E. FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION
The feature films participating in N.I.C.E. present a broad range of cinematic style and content, from comedies and dramas to fact-based tales, all reflecting the social and political climate of today’s Italy. Over the past sixteen years, the festival has gained the attention of an ever-increasing audience by continuing to present a variety of innovative films with diverse, authentic voices. The 7 shorts and 7 feature films in competition– that must be produced within the past 2 years by directors at their first or second work - were selected by a committee comprised of Linda Blackaby, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Film Festival, journalist Barbara Corsi, Deborah Young, Variety `s film critic, and for the first time this year Peter Scarlet, executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival. Journalist  Anna di Martino curated the short films selection.

Among the movies selected are Giorgio Diritti’s strongly felt first feature, Il vento fa il suo giro (The Wind Blows Round), a story of intolerance taking place in a tiny mountain hamlet; Gian Paolo Cugno`s Salvatore – Questa e` la vita (Salvatore – This is Life) about the friendship that springs up between a boy who's lost his parents and his new elementary school teacher from northern Italy. Cugno`s story takes place in Sicily and features a great cast including Enrico Lo Verso (Il Ladro di bambini, Hannibal),  Gabriele Lavia (Remember Me, My Love; Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean) and critically acclaimed Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties, The Dinner, Life is Beautiful,). Also in competition are Giovanni La Parola … E se domani (…And if Tomorrow), a tragicomic portrait of contemporary Italian society inspired by a true story; Fuoco su di me (Fire at my Heart) by Lamberto Lambertini who demonstrates all his profound love for his native Naples and its history with this romantic and tragic drama featuring a warm and illuminating performance by Omar Sharif. With “Sotto la stessa luna” (Beneath the Same Moon) Carlo Luglio provides a close-up view of the hardships faced by Rom gypsies living on the outskirts of Naples while Paolo Genovese and Luca Miniero`s Nessun messaggio in segreteria (Sorry You Can`t get Through) is a joyous and ironic fast moving story about a retired man who tries to find the man who`s earning  the pension he`s living off. Francesco Amato`s Cosa ci faccio qui!” (What the Hell am I Doing Here!) is the unconventional recount of a young Italian boy’s summer spent on Italy’s southern beaches. Each feature film is preceded by a short and it`s followed by a Q&A with the director.

On Monday, November 13th at 6.00PM, a special panel discussion will take place at Casa Italian Zerilli-Marimo`, (24 West 12th Street,T212 998 3858) at 6pm. The panel on “The Future of Italian Cinema” will be moderated by Deborah Young, film critic, Variety. The discussants includes Peter Scarlet, executive director, Tribeca Film Festival, Viviana del Bianco, director, N.I.C.E. Film Festival, Giovanni La Parola, director …E se domani; Sabrina Impacciatore, actress, …E se domani; Lamberto Lambertini, director, Fuoco su di me; Sergio Scapagnini producer, Fuoco su di me; Paolo Genovese, director, Nessun messaggio in segreteria; Sauro Falchi, producer, Nessun messaggio in segreteria; Francesco Amato, director, Ma che ci faccio qui!; Chiara Boschiero, executive producer, Ma che ci faccio qui!; Luca Liguori, producer, Sotto la stessa luna;
Pilar Tozzi, distributor, Sotto la stessa luna.

About N.I.C.E.  New Italian Cinema Events
N.I.C.E. is a not for profit cultural association founded in 1991. N.I.C.E. was conceived to help foster the talent of a new breed of Italian filmmakers by showcasing a variety of shorts and feature-length films to foreign audiences. The filmmakers featured in N.I.C.E. tell their stories with a unique voice and a fresh point of view that serves as a vivid reminder that the Italian cinematic tradition is alive, well and thriving. N.I.C.E. also affords foreign public the chance to experience alternative cinematic perspectives and a culturally different approach to filmmaking. Currently, the audiences of the New York and San Francisco editions of N.I.C.E. vote for the best feature film and short that are being awarded with the Premio Citta di Firenze. The European editions of N.I.C.E. take place in Amsterdam, Holland from February 27th to March 8th, 2007 and in Moscow and St. Petersburg from March 25th to April 6th, 2007.

N.I.C.E. is one of the most important event among those financed by the Italian Minister of Cultural Activities – Department of Cinema and the Italian Minister of Foreign Affair. It is also in cooperation with Italian Consulate of New York and San Francisco, Italian Cultural Institute of New York and San Francisco, City of Florence, Department of Cultural of the city of Florence,  Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze,  New York University, San Francisco Film Society, Tribeca Film Festival, RAI Corporation, Rai e RaiSAT.

LISTING INFO:
The 16th Annual N.I.C.E. Film Festival (New Italian Cinema Events) will take place for the first time at TRIBECA CINEMAS, Theatre 1, 54 Varick Street (at Laight Street), T. 212.941.4005 from Thursday, November 9th  through Wednesday, November 15th. Tickets are available at the box office and online here. They are priced at: Adults: $10.00, Pass: $60.00; Seniors and Students: $7.00, Pass: $40.00.

PRESS CONTACT:  [email protected] - T. 646-320-1988

Click here to enter the 2006 N.I.C.E. Festival Guide and purchase tickets today!