The 11th annual Milwaukee Italian Film Festival – which debuted in 2007 at Marquette's Varsity Theater – premieres eight acclaimed Italian films, April 28-30, at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Union Theater, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Admission to the festival, as always, is free.
The films – in Italian with English subtitles – run the gamut from comedy to drama to documentary.
Here is the lineup for this year, with descriptions provided by festival organizers:
"FEATHER" • "PIUMA"
(Director, Roan Johnson, Comedy, 2016, 98 minutes)
Friday, April 28, 7 p.m.
Ferro and Cate have just nine months to prepare themselves, as well as their parents, for the arrival of a baby! Will they be ready?
"THE CONFESSIONS" • "LE CONFESSIONI"
(Director, Roberto Andò, Drama, 2016,100 minutes)
Friday, April 28, 9 p.m.
The director of the International Monetary Fund invites an Italian monk to hear his confession at a G8 meeting. Following a tragic and unexpected incident, the G8 ministers and the monk engage in an intensifying struggle regarding the director’s confession.
"AN ALMOST PERFECT TOWN" • "UN PAESE QUASI PERFETTO"
(Director, Massimo Gaudioso, Comedy, 2015, 92 minutes)
Saturday, April, 29, 5 p.m.
The inhabitants of a remote mountain village on the verge of economic extinction are desperate to save their small town. Will their wacky plan succeed??
"LIKE CRAZY" • "LA PAZZA GIOIA"
(Director, Paolo Virzì, Comedy, 2016, 118 minutes)
Saturday, April 29, 7 p.m.
Beatrice, a self-proclaimed countess, and Donatella, a mysterious tattooed woman, are both patients of a women’s mental institution. Their unpredictable friendship brings them to a hilarious and touching escape and the search for a little happiness in the world of the sane. A modern-day "Thelma and Louise."
"THE LAST WILL BE THE LAST" • "GLI ULTIMI SARANNO ULTIMI"
(Director, Massimiliano Bruno, Drama, 2015, 103 minutes)
Saturday, April 29, 9:15 p.m.
Luciana is leading the quiet life she’s always desired with her husband, Stefano. But shortly after finding out she’s pregnant, Luciana gets fired and her world starts falling apart. Will she find justice?
"THE ROAD TO RECONCILIATION" • "LA VIA DELLA CONCILIAZIONE"
(Directors, Raffaele Brunetti e Piergiorgio Curzi, Documentary, 2016, 52 minutes)
Sunday, April 30, 3:45 p.m.
The Via della Conciliazione leading to St. Peter’s Basilica is one of Rome’s most famous images. Few realize this street has not always been there and, in fact, it was not part of Bernini’s architectural vision.
"DADDY’S BOYS" • "BELLI DI PAPÀ"
(Director, Guido Chiesa, Comedy, 2015, 100 minutes)
Sunday, April 30, 5 p.m.
Vincenzo, a successful entrepreneur, concocts a scheme to bring his three adult children back to the real world from their lives of luxury. They all must do something that they’ve never done before – work!
"THE STUFF OF DREAMS" • "LA STOFFA DEI SOGNI"
(Director, Gianfranco Cabiddu, Drama, 2015, 101 minutes)
Sunday, April 30, 7 p.m.
A boat carrying a small acting company, together with a group of mobsters, wrecks on the shores of an island prison after WWII. An homage to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and De Filippo’s Art of Comedy.
Parking is available in the UWM Union lot, the entrance to which is on Kenwood Boulevard at Prospect Avenue.
Festival sponsors include the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, the Italian Community Center and Dr. David Paris, D.D.S.
