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Messina Film Festival returns from 1 to 8 December

With an exclusive edition dedicated to Cinema & Opera

Messina Film Festival returns from 1 to 8 December.

Messina Film Festival returns from 1 to 8 December, after an interruption of 22 years, dedicated to relationship between cinema and opera. The only Italian festival that combines the two art forms was presented yesterday, Monday 20 November, in the Sinopoli room of the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele. The mayor was present at the meeting Federico Basile, the regional councilor for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment took part Elvira Beloved, the Extraordinary Commissioner of the EAR Teatro of Messina Orazio Miloro, and the artistic director Ninni Panzera. The production of the Festival, organized by the La Zattera dell'Arte Association, is supported by the Municipality of Messina, by the EAR Teatro di Messina, by the Regional Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment and has as main sponsor Unioncamere Sicilia.

«The rebirth of this important event in Messina – highlighted the mayor Basile - it demonstrates that the social, cultural and entrepreneurial fabric also serves and must serve in order to see our city reborn. A Messina that has awakened in recent years, thanks to a change of pace and a different way of approaching ourselves; and from this perspective we can do a lot to reactivate it through the involvement of everyone aimed at greater interest in Messina which is already proving to be truly the gateway to Sicily".

The Extraordinary Commissioner Miloro expressed the Teatro di Messina's full sharing of the project in consideration of the particular theme, which is also unique in the national panorama, which combines cinema with the opera productions curated by the organisation. Full support was then reiterated by the councilor Photo Gallery as the event, a point of reference for those who love cinema and opera, falls within the guidelines of the Regional Department for having identified cinema as an important tool for promoting the territory.

The programming of the event will have the Sala Laudamo as its main venue, with free admission, but initiatives are also planned at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele and in other cultural spaces in Messina. On Friday 1 December, the event will open in the restored Foyer of the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, with the inauguration of the exhibition Bellini at the cinema, and December 2, the memory of Maria Callas for the centenary of his birth.

The festival is divided into various non-competitive sections with a contemporary panorama in which films by great filmmakers whose works were set in the world of opera find space: Bernardo Bertolucci, Luchino Visconti, Woody Allen, just to name a few. And then a tribute to Marco Bellocchio, to his passion for opera and to Maria Callas, on the centenary of her birth, her impressive artistic activity seen through the mirror of cinema, with the prestigious collaborations with directors Franco Zeffirelli and Pier Paolo Pasolini. An exhibition and retrospective on the Catanian composer Vincenzo Bellini with six films which, starting from the mid-1930s and for the following twenty years, dominated the box office takings of the Italian and international film scene.

The selection of three silent films taken from as many operas is very suggestive. The films will be accompanied by live music performed by various ensembles. And also a conference organized by representatives of the University of Messina for an in-depth analysis of the importance that opera has had in the world of cinema, a presentation of the books that have investigated this relationship over time and then guests, national and international, who will tell their personal experiences in these two important artistic sectors. A unique Festival on the national and international scene that aims to become a point of reference for the many fans of opera and cinema.

The event also makes use of the collaboration of all the cultural associations that operate in the musical and cinematographic fields in Messina, of the Film Studies Center of Rome and of the Coordination of Film Festivals in Sicily. Finally, contemporary creativity will be measured in a short film competition in which the opera through its characters or arias will find life in the short story. The Messina Film Festival will be a "plural, rigorous and green" event that will look very carefully at environmental sustainability with the adoption of measures in compliance with the guidelines adopted by the Ministry of Culture.

Messina Film Festival

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