It’s back again – the now annual “50 days of International films” in Florence, Italy. It happens to be one of my favorite events of the year. They always do a really good job with this festival and often the films have both Italian and English subtitles. Plus the idyllic setting of the Odeon cinehall is the perfect place to watch movies so if you haven’t yet been this is your chance to go! The movies are a variety of feature films, shorts and documentaries hosted in the beautiful Odeon along with a few other venues. This year the festival itself is composed of nine different film festivals that celebrate the fall season of International cinema in 2012.

This year’s edition starts on October 25th and lasts until December 15th, 2012

Program:

• October 25th- 31. Florence Queer Festival. The 10th edition celebrating the LGBT community. Highlights include the premier of  Out Loud with Samer Daboul set in contemporary Lebanon where the new generation battles taboos and cultural limitations, all in the name of equality. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake 3D will feature an all-male dance troup. Jobriath A.D – a documentary by Kieran Turner showcases “The American Bowie,”  who was known as the first openly gay rock star. There will also be a selection of cult-films in the queer world and a photography exhibit at the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. 

• November 1-4. France Odeon. The 4th edition of French films in Florence with this year’s edition boasting 12 premiers along with a variety of different film personalities, film styles and genres. Some of the winners from Cannes will be present along with selected directors, producers to ‘meet and greet’ at the Odeon. Keep a look out for a special tribute to  Claude Mille – namely the premier of his latest film Thérèse Desqueyroux starring Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier.

• November 10-17th. Festival dei Popili – International festival of documentary films. This special film festival is in its 53rd (yes I did not stutter) edition in Italy, and will present documentaries from all over the boot. Founded in 1959 by a group of scholars in the humanities, anthropology, sociology, ethnology and mass-media studies – the Festival dei Popoli, a not-for-profit organization, has been active for over fifty years in the promotion and study of social documentary cinema (link). Check out My MOVIES LIVE to stream selected documentaries during the festival.

• November 18-19th. Images and Sounds of the World. Etnomusicale Film Festival. This year will be its 5th turn at the festival. You want to watch out for the amazing animated film Chico & Rita by Fernando Trueba, a work of passion in which the pace of events is marked by amazing music, composed by the legendary Bebo Vald. This film was chosen as the opening film of the prestigious Festival d’Annecy, after winning at the European Film Awards and the Goya for Best Animated Film –  now it is in the running for an Oscar. The festival will also host an extraordinary event: an evening dedicated to the music of Tibet, with the screening of the documentary Tibet in Song by the musicologist and political dissident – Ngawang Choephel. The guest speaker will be the singer Yunghchen Tibetan Lhamo, who has been a leader in the battle for the rights of the Tibetan people. I certainly won’t be missing this!

• November 21 – 25th. Lo Schermo dell’Arte Film Festival – International films about contemporary art. In its 5th edition, there will be wide program of film artists, art documentaries and meetings with authors. For updates about the program – check back on October 24th at their official website. What to watch out for :  Jardin en el mardi by Thomas Riedelsheimer (Germany / Mexico 2011), which describes the fascinating project of the Mexican artist Cristina Iglesias to build a concrete garden nestled in the beautiful waters of Baha California. http://www.schermodellarte.org/ENG/FilmFestival/festival2011/edizione11.html

• November 26-29th. Balkan Florence Express. The newest addition to the festival – and one that I am really excited because it’s a chance to explore an area of Europe that I know not much about. The festival will show films from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, ranging from fiction to documentaries that explore Western Balkan societies today, a geographic area that is making its slow but inexorable path towards the European Union. Keep an eye out for Nikola Lezaic a young talent in the film arena, who has brought to public attention the troubled teenagers in a small town in Serbia during a deep economic crises. More info can be found here.

• November 30th – December 5th. Festival Internazionale di Cinema & Donne (the International Festival of Cinema and Women). For Love or Money is the theme of this year’s 34th Festival of Cinema and Women. Featured in Italy, the films will hail from Turkey, Argentina, Jordan, Morocco, Poland, Mexico, Italy, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain.

• December 7-13th. River to River Florence Indian Film Festival. One of my other favorites at the film festival, celebrating films from India, right on! This is an important year for Indian cinema so this will be one exciting week. a 100 years ago, n April 21, 1913 – at the Olympia Theatre in Bombay the first Indian film was shown ( to great success), Raja Harishchandra by Dadasaheb Phalke in celebration of this make sure to look out for this projection which marked the beginning of Indian cinema. Rumor has it a very famous Bollywood star will be celebrated at this year’s festival so keep your eyes and ears out! ( I have no idea who). More info about this festival is here.

• December 14th – New Italian Cinema Events. N.I.C.E. City of Florence Prize. The winner of the Audience Award NICE USA 2012 will officially receive the award NICE City of Florence 2012 in a gala event at the end of the 50 Days of International Cinema in Florence.

Related articles

• Events this October in Florence & Tuscany (ggnitaly84.wordpress.com)