Gian Luigi Rondi

Giulio Cesare: Class Mates

The history of a great school is the history of a great nation. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Liceo Giulio Cesare - the historical school of Rome - the journalist and director Antonello Sarno reconstructs its history with a documentary.

Alberto il grande

Docu-film directed by Carlo and Luca Verdone realized on 2013 in occasion of the tenth anniversary from the actor’s death happened on 24th February 2003. Through this documentary Verdone’s brothers with deep respect towards the Roman actor trace an affectionate and sincere portrait not only about an Artist but, above all, about a man with his habits, his ideas, his tics, his vices and his virtues. And for the first time Mrs Aurelia – Alberto Sordi’s sister who is dedicated the documentary – opens the doors of the beautiful house of Via Druso where the actor has lived since 1958. In this way we are led by Carlo Verdone (a sort of Virgilio whose Dante Alighieri wrote about but we are not in the Hell but in the Seven Heaven where there is the source of the Italian Cinema) and on the tips and staying in silence we can go into the rooms of this wonderful house which reveals the true, authentic character of Alberto Sordi.

Festival

The annual film festival in Venice is, of course, an ideal place to make a film (how come no-one has thought of it before). Everything is there in Pupi Avati's Festival: the famous hotels Des Bain and Excelsior on the Lido, the shimmering sandy beach which captivated Visconti. The film was made last spring and exploits the presence of passing film stars such as Jack Nicholson. We see the hysterical press conferences, where journalists and experts ask intelligent questions-without listening to the answers.