The 49th year of The Times BFI London International Film Festival (October 19th – November 3rd 2005 - National Film Theatre) presents a programme of more than 300 titles from all over the world. Over the years, the festival which because of its size and non competitive format seems to cite Toronto’s International Film Festival, has become one of the most important cinematography events in all of Europe. The numbers which mark Italy’s presence are more than satisfactory : six contemporary, four co-productions, two classics and one short.
The section Cinema Europa features Marco Tullio Giordana with Once You’re Born , Cristina Comencini with The Beast in the Heart ( Coppa Volpi for Best Actress - Giovanna Mezzogiorno), Ferzan Ozpetek with Sacred Heart , Gabriele Salvatores with Quo vadis baby?, Antonio Capuano with Mario's War and The Wind Blows Round by Giorgio Diritti. The short La Scarpa by Alessandro Ravetta was selected for the section Short Cuts and Animations. Italy is also present with prestigious Italy/France co-productions such as, Hidden by Michael Haneke (Best Director, Cannes 2005), Regular Lovers by Philippe Garrel (Silver Lion for Best Director at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival) and L'Enfer by Danis Tanovic.
Also worth noting in the section Treasures from the Archives, is Michelangelo Antonioni’ s The Passenger and The Great Silence by Sergio Corbucci.
Furthermore, the Italy/Usa co-production, Rabbit Pix directed by James Herbert, selected for the section Experimenta.