Greenery will bloom again by Ermanno Olmi will lead the Italian selection at the 65. Berlinale. This extraordinary film, invited to the Berlinale Special section, seems to provide a thematic frame for the three debut works that to date will represent Italy in Berlin. In competition, there is Sworn Virgin, the first feature by Laura Bispuri with Alba Rohrwacher, an Italian-Swiss-French-Albanian-Kosovian coproduction. Two Italian films are screening in Generation: Chlorine by Lamberto Sanfelice that will premiere in Sundance in the coming days, and Short Skin by Duccio Chiarini that was presented in Venice at the Biennale College.
Three debut films, three coming-of-age stories, three original takes on the passage from adolescence to adulthood.
Young Italian cinema, recently collecting two European Film Awards for The Art of Happiness and The Mafia only kills in Summer continues to cause a stir in Italy and abroad. This success is an indication also of a new generation of producers able to create international connections for coproductions and to positively involve European institutions such as the MEDIA programs, EFP, Euroimages and others.
In the highly regarded Forum section, Francesco Clerici will present his documentary Hand Gestures, dedicated to contemporary artist Velasco Vitali who in his creative processes draw upon the 5th century BC.
In Culinary Cinema, will premiere Quando l'Italia mangiava in bianco e nero by Andrea Gropplero di Troppenburg, and Otello's secret by Francesco Ranieri Martinotti.
From this edition, the festival will also present tv series in the Berlinale Special section; Italy will be represented by 1992, created by and starring Stefano Accorsi.