Programme 2010

Istituto Italiano di Cultura

may - june - july
events in may
5th May, 6.30 p.m. COLPIRE AL CUORE
8th May, 2.00 p.m Blow to the Heart
Multimedia Hall 1982, 105 min. Director: Gianni Amelio
12th May, 6.30 p.m. PORTE APERTE
15th May, 2.00 p.m. Open Doors
Multimedia Hall 1990, 108 min. Director: Gianni Amelio
14th May, 8.00 p.m. Italian Participation in EU Film Festival with the film
Fun Republic Cinemas, CENTOCHIODI
Andheri West, Mumbai One Hundred Nails
2007, 90 min. Director: Ermanno Olmi
19th May, 6.30 p.m. LAMERICA
22nd May, 2.00 p.m. 1994, 116 min. Director: Gianni Amelio
Multimedia Hall
26th May, 6.30 p.m. COSÌ RIDEVANO
29th May, 2.00 p.m. The way they Laughed
Multimedia Hall 1998, 122 min. Director: Gianni Amelio

events in june
2nd June, 6.00 p.m. Italian Participation in EU Film Festival with the film
South Indian Film Chamber CENTOCHIODI
Theatre, Chennai One Hundred Nails
2007, 90 min. Director: Ermanno Olmi

5th June, 2.00 p.m. LE CHIAVI DI CASA

Multimedia Hall The House Keys
2004, 105 min. Director: Gianni Amelio

9th June, 6.30 p.m. LA STELLA CHE NON CÈ

12th June, 2.00 p.m. The Missing Star
Multimedia Hall 2006, 104 min. Director: Gianni Amelio
Italian Participation in EU Film Festival with the 13th June, 4.00 p.m.
film CENTOCHIODI Teen Murti Auditorium,
One Hundred Nails New Delhi
2007, 90 min. Director: Ermanno Olmi

IMPIEGATI 16th June, 6.30 p.m.

Clerks 19th June, 2.00 p.m.
1985, 96 min. Director: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

FESTA DI LAUREA 23rd June, 6.30 p.m.

Graduation Party 26th June, 2.00 p.m.
1985, 94 min. Direction: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

REGALO DI NATALE 30th June, 6.30 p.m.

Christmas Present 3rd July, 2.00 p.m.
1986, 101 min. Director: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

events in july
I CAVALIERI CHE FECERO L’IMPRESA 7th July, 6.30 p.m.
The Knights of the Quest 10th July, 2.00 p.m.
2001, 147 min. Director: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

IL CUORE ALTROVE 14th July, 6.30 p.m.

The Heart is Elsewhere 17th July, 2.00 p.m.
2003, 100 min. Direction: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE 21st July, 6.30 p.m.

The Second Wedding Night 24th July, 2.00 p.m.
2005, 103 min. Director: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

IL PAPÀ DI GIOVANNA 28th July, 6.30 p.m.

Giovanna’s Father 31st July, 2.00 p.m.
2008, 100 min. Director: Pupi Avati Multimedia Hall

All events take place in the Cultural Centre unless otherwise mentioned.
Programme subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please refer to the
website www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it or contact the Reception for up to date details.
cinema Retrospective : gianni amelio

When Gianni Amelio is about

to make a film one of his main
ambitions is to narrate a story
made up of persons and not of
personalities.

Born in Calabria, GIANNI AMELIO spent

his childhood and adolescence with his
mother and grandmother since his father
had moved to Argentina for work soon
after his birth. The absence of a paternal
figure went on to influence his cinema to
a great extent.

He launched his career in films as assistant

director to the celebrated Liliana Cavani
and Vittorio De Sica, among others. At the
same time he also worked for television
and made Film Sperimentali per la TV
and La Fine del Gioco. He gained repute
with a documentary on the making of
Novecento by Bernardo Bertolucci titled
Bertolucci Secondo il Cinema. His first
important work was a 1973 film for
television La Citta’ del Sole, a researched
work on Tommaso Campanella, which
was awarded at the Festival of Thonon.
His directorial venture of 1978 La Morte al
Lavoro won awards at Locarno and Hyères
film festivals.
His debut feature film in 1982 Colpire
al Cuore (Blow to the Heart) on Italian
terrorism was shown at the Venice Film
Festival. In 1987 he made the film I Ragazzi
di Panisperna based on the lives of the
famous Italian physicists of the thirties
Enrico Fermi and Edoardo Amaldi. But it was
his 1989 film Porte Aperte (Open Doors)
that catapulted him into a widely acclaimed
international figure with nomination for the
Best Foreign Film at the Oscars in 1991. The
film also won three Golden Globes along
with four Felix, two Silver Ribbon and four
David di Donatello Awards.

His subsequent works like Ladro di Bambini

(The Stolen Children) of 1992, LAmerica
of 1994, Così Ridevano (The Way they
Laughed) and Le Chavi di Casa (The House
Keys) all won him awards at international
film festivals.

Gianni Amelio was member of the jury at

Cannes Film Festival in 1995 and since 2009
has been Director of the Turin Film Festival.
cinema

Retrospective: Gianni Amelio

5th & 8th May

COLPIRE AL CUORE
Blow to the Heart
1982, 105 min.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Fausto Rossi,
Laura Morante

A morally complex study of a father-and-

son relationship, set against the backdrop
of political terrorism. The film stars
Jean-Louis Trintignant, a leftist university
professor, whose half-hearted flirtation
with Red Brigade guerillas brings him into
dangerous conflict with his 15-year-old
son Emilio. The film displays all the social
consciousness, trenchant humanism and
visual perfectionism.
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

12th & 15th May

PORTE APERTE
Open Doors
1990, 108 min.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Gian Maria Volonté, Ennio Fantastichini,
Renato, Carpentieri, Tuccio Musumeci, Silve-
rio Blasi, Andrea Vitalba

On 10 March 1937, in Palermo, the clerk

Tommaso Scalia, made a scapegoat in an
embezzlement in the Confederation Building,
commits a series of murders and then goes
to trial expecting to receive capital punish-
ment. But the judge Vito Di Francesco, who
is against death penalty, finds evidences that
his crimes had a passionate motive.
cinema

Retrospective: Gianni Amelio

19th & 22nd May

LAMERICA
1994, 116 min.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Enrico Lo Verso, Michele Placido,
Carmelo Di Mazzarelli

Fiore, a seasoned racketeer from Italy, arrives

to Albania with Gino, his young apprentice,
to set up a shoe factory that will never open.
They appoint Spiro, a confused old man, as
chairman of the board. While Fiore returns
to Italy to get funds from the government
for the project, Gino tries to track down
the deranged Spiro who keeps running off.
Soon he finds himself in the midst of a tide
of penniless, homeless Albanians who are on
their way to the port where they hope to get
a ship to Italy, the Promised Land.
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

26th & 29th May

COSÌ RIDEVANO
The way they laughed
1998, 122 min.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast:Francesco Giuffrida, Enrico Lo Verso,
Rosaria Danzè

Winner of the prestigious Golden Lion award

at the 1998 Venice Film Festival, the film
is a richly layered drama. A tragic tale of
brotherhood in the lives of an illiterate Sicilian
named Giovanni and his younger, enigmatic
brother Pietro as they seek a new life in the
class-divided city of Turin. The film evolves
into a mysterious study of dysfunctional
loyalty, charting the growth of postwar Italy
as it charts the love and sacrifice that will
change the brothers’ lives forever.
cinema

Retrospective: Gianni Amelio

5th June

LE CHIAVI DI CASA
The House Keys
2004, 105 min.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Kim Rossi Stuart, Charlotte Rampling,
Andrea Rossi

Based on an autobiography of Giuseppe

Pontiggia, the film tells of the first-ever
encounter of Gianni with his 15-year-old
disabled son Paolo, whom he abandoned
at birth when the mother died. The film is
not about disability, but about “normal”
people’s reaction to it
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

9th & 12th June

LA STELLA CHE NON C’È

The Missing Star
2006, 104 min.
Director:Gianni Amelio
Cast: Sergio Castellitto, Tai Ling

The film draws inspiration from the Ermanno

Rea’s novel “The dismissal” which speaks
about the dismay and despair of many
Napolitans following the closure of the
factory after sale of its machinery to the
Chinese. Vincenzo, a maintenance technician,
realizes that one of the blast furnaces has
a design flaw liable to cause serious injury.
After finding the solution Vincenzo travels
to Shanghai at his own expense to deliver a
new hydraulic power pack, only to discover
that the furnace has already been sold on to
a third party. Vincenzo thus embarks on an
epic journey across a foreign land, together
with a twenty-year-old local girl who studies
Italian and agrees to act as his guide.
CINEMA Retrospective : Pupi Avati
Almost forty films in a forty-
year career span and still
PUPI AVATI is never short of
material for film-making. The
best is hidden at home in the
trunks along with old stuff, in
the memories at the bar…

Born in Bologna, PUPI AVATI studied

Political Science at the Bologna University,
was an amateur Jazz musician, but
eventually graduated to cinema, his real
passion.

Be it any genre, from drama to period

films from mystery to horror films, from
romance to comedy, he has handled
all themes effortlessly. His success
with horrors (La casa dale finestre che
ridono, Zeder, L’arcano incantatore, Il
Nascondiglio), with medieval period
pieces (Magnificat, I Cavalieri che fecero
l’impresa), with dramas (Regalo di Natale,
Festival, Fratelli e Sorelle, La Rivincita di
Natale), with romantic comedies (Il Cuore
Altrove), with jazz comedies (Jazz band,
Ma Quando Arrivano le Ragazze?) and
even a jazz biopic (Bix) and with buddy
comedies (Gli amici del Bar Margherita)
along with many more define him as one
of the most versatile directors in the Italian
film industry.
Some of his most successful films have
been Impiegati (1985), Regalo di Natale
(1986), Ultimo Minuto (1987) and Il Cuore
Altrove (2003). True to his polyhydric style
Avati injects heavy doses of struggle and
suffering into his stories and then leaves
it to his characters to decide what to
do with them: either use them to grow
stronger and ‘come of age’, like the young
clerk of Impiegati, or turn the tables in
a last, angry, stubborn comeback, like
the aging football general manager of
Ultimo Minuto, or just be defeated and
blown away by them. Through his camera
Pupi Avati captures the secret of human
reaction to adversities rather than preach
high values. Perhaps it is in this plethora
of prejudiced, ‘ideological’ moviemaking
resides the secret of his ease in shaping
one different move after the other.
cinema

Retrospective: Pupi Avati

16th & 19th June

IMPIEGATI
Clerks
1985, 96 min.
Director : Pupi Avati
Cast: Elena Sofia Ricci, Luca Barbareschi, Nick
Novecento

The story is narrated through Luigi, just out

of college and working in a bank as a new
recruit. Luigi is shy enough to seem aloof at
the beginning, but he quickly gets into the
rhythm of office politics and gets introduced
to the small and often corrupt and profligate
society around him. A tragedy is also
waiting to happen, leaving Luigi with a lot
of experiences of life in a very brief period
of time.
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

23rd & 26th June

FESTA DI LAUREA
Graduation Party
1985, 94 min.
Direction : Pupi Avati
Cast : Carlo Delle Piane, Aurore Clement,
Nick Novecento

It’s a film about times of change at the end

of World War II. A middle aged working class
man has agreed to prepare a completely
run down beach house with an overgrown
garden for a graduation party. Together
with three youngsters the man does the
impossible and prepares for the party,
working on an extremely tight schedule. The
story builds up to a surprise ending that is at
the same time nasty and strangely consoling.
Some very beautiful, perfectly preserved
Italian vintage cars of the fifties drive up at
various moments.
cinema

Retrospective: Pupi Avati

30th June & 3rd July

REGALO DI NATALE
Christmas Present
1986, 101 min.
Director: Pupi Avati
Cast: Diego Abbatantuono, Gianni Cavina,
Carlo Delle Piane

The relationships between five men who play

cards far into the night on Christmas eve
are the focus of this psychological drama.
Four of the players are out to skin the fifth,
industrial tycoon Santelia, but the four are
not exactly a united front. Theater-owner
Franco is nearly bankrupt and harbors a deep
and well-founded resentment against Ugo, a
wacky television host. Film critic Lele has his
own insecurities, and Stefano is simply trying
to keep the game and the men together. As
flashbacks reveal past loves and peccadilloes,
antagonisms and alliances, the relationships
at the card game are turned around into
something completely different by the time
Saint Nick has finished his rounds.
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

7th & 10th July

I CAVALIERI CHE FECERO L’IMPRESA

The Knights of the Quest
2001, 147 min.
Director : Pupi Avati
Cast : F. Murray Abraham, Edward Furlong,
Raoul Bova

This almost monumental film, a pseudo-

historical movie about the medieval age,
convincingly depicting the possible conditions
of living at that time and a very interesting
take on the age-old legend of Jesus Christ’s
shroud. The few battles graphically depict
how atrocious violence is and what effects it
has on the victims.
cinema

Retrospective: Pupi Avati

14th & 17th July

IL CUORE ALTROVE
The Heart is Elsewhere
2003, 100 min.
Direction : Pupi Avati
Cast : Neri Marcoré, Giancarlo Giannini,
Vanessa Incontrada

A romantic drama centering on Nello, a

college Humanities teacher, whose parents
are well-to-do tailors who work for the Pope
and they don’t approve Nello’s field of work.
At their insistence, Nello moves to Bologna
where he meets and falls in love with
Angela, a local blind girl played by Vanessa
Incontrada. But their relationship isn’t a
simple one.
Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

21st & 24th July

LA SECONDA NOTTE DI NOZZE

The Second Wedding Night
2005, 103 min.
Director: Pupi Avati
Cast: Antonio Albanese, Neri Marcorè,
Katia Ricciarelli, Angela Luce, Marisa Merlini

The film is set in Italy immediately after the

World War II. A robust but child-like man,
whose mental development was retarded in
his teens by severe shock treatments, invites
his widowed sister-in-law and her son to
move from Bologna to Puglia. Once arrived
the sly nephew schemes to leave with a
good portion of his uncle’s money, while
his mother, whom Giordano loved when he
was very young, cannot decide whether to
stay or go, despite her previous life of misery
and degradation. Somehow Giordano, with
his simple code of doing things right and
loving his family, offers himself, and his love,
unreservedly…
CINEMA

Retrospective: Pupi Avati

Cineclub Screenings Multimedia Hall

28th & 31st July

IL PAPÀ DI GIOVANNA
Giovanna’s Father
2008, 100 min.
Director: Pupi Avati
Cast: Silvio Orlando, Francesca Neri, Ezio
Greggio, Alba Rohrwacher, Serena Grandi,
Manuela Morabito, Gianfranco Jannuzzo,
Paolo Graziosi, Valeria Bilello, Sandro Dori

Bologna 1938. Michele Casali has a serious

problem. His teenage daughter, Giovanna,
has just killed her best friend in a jealous
frenzy. The girl is declared to be incompetent
and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. While
inside, she spends her time in almost total
isolation. The only person who comes to see
her is her father. His visits strengthen the
already strong father-daughter relationship
from which Delia, the girl’s mother, has
always been excluded. In the winter of 1953,
Delia and Giovanna’s eyes cross paths in a
small cinema in Bologna….
Italian Participation in EU Film Festival

14th May, 8.00 p.m.

Fun Republic Cinemas, Andheri West, Mumbai
2nd June, 6.00 p.m.,
South Indian Film Chamber Theatre, Chennai
13th June, 4.00 p.m.,
Teen Murti Auditorium, New Delhi

CENTOCHIODI
One Hundred Nails
2007, 90 min.
Director: Ermanno Olmi
Cast: Raz Degan, Luna Bendandi, Amina
Syed, Michele Zattara, Damiano Scaini

An unknown intruder desecrates the library

by pulling one hundred books from the
shelves, opening them, and nailing them to
the floor of a research library with the type of
heavy spikes used to nail Christ to the cross
in biblical literature. At first the identity of the
perpetrator is a mystery and the policemen
are called to investigate. It is soon apparent
that the guilty party is the professor who has
renounced his identity and left his BMW near
a bridge while feigning suicide by throwing
his car keys and wallet into the water.
language
courses
italian

The aim of our Cultural Centre is to develop

the knowledge of the Italian language
for social, educational, vocational and
recreational purposes. Sessions start in
January and August. Conversation classes
start in March and October.

Our courses offer the possibility to focus on

different needs:
General language courses
Following the most recent methodology
techniques in Language Teaching as L2, the
courses offer the opportunity to achieve
different standards of language in the
four skills (hearing, speaking, reading,
writing). Much emphasis is given to the
communicative approach, but grammar
W l’italiano! knowledge is also a strong point in order to
ensure the student’s accuracy.
The courses provide the linguistic skills for
efficient communication in:
- everyday activities (level A1);
- everyday, personal and basic job-related
topics (level A2);
- contexts where is needed a deeper
understanding of the language, so that
the learner can express his/her opinions,
evaluations, critics on a wider range of topics,
from social events to job situations (level B1);
- topics related to contemporary life, personal
issues, where is needed an advanced
knowledge of different shades of meaning
of complex texts and the ability to express
thoroughly one’s point of view even in
delicate arguments (level B2).
Each course is offered for 90 hours per
session, both during the week (Monday to
Thursday) and on weekends. Conversation
and Italian for Specific purposes courses are
offered for 44 hours per session.

Conversation courses
To promote communicative skills, with
emphasis on oral production. They are
organized at different levels, starting from
level A2.
CILS certification of knowledge of the Italian
language
Starting from June 2010, this Cultural Centre
will be the Examination Centre for students
who wish to certify their level of Italian with
University of Siena Certificazione di Italiano
come Lingua Straniera, from level A2 (PRE-
CILS) to C2 (CILS 4).

Please refer to our website for further

information:
www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it
languagecourses.iicnewdelhi@esteri.it
studying
in italy

higher education

Many Universities in Italy today offer courses

from Masters level onwards in English
medium and scholarships are also granted to
meritorious students. The Italian Government
offers scholarships to Indian Nationals
through the Government of India. The
Italian Universities permit online enrollments
followed by regular documentation to be
duly forwarded through the Italian diplomatic
missions abroad.

Detailed information may please be obtained

from the following websites:
http://www.study-in-italy.it
http://www.miur.it/guida/guide.htm
http://www.postgradinitaly.esteri.it
http://www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it/IIC_NewDelhi/
Menu/Opportunità/Studiare_in_Italia/
http://www.ambnewdelhi.esteri.it
http://www.education.nic.in/scholarship/Schol-
es.asp (for scholarships only)

For further information please write to :

scholarships.iicnewdelhi@esteri.it
cultural

services
centre

library

The library of the Italian Embassy Cultural

Centre has a collection of 9000 volumes,
mainly in Italian but also in English, French,
Hindi and Punjabi, along with several
magazines and periodicals. The multi-media
section includes about 1500 items of audio-
visual material. Students and members of the
Centre can borrow books and periodicals for
two weeks. DVDs can be viewed only inside
the premises of the Cultural Centre.

The Library provides a constantly updated on-

line catalogue available for consultation on
the website www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it
For further information please write to:
library.iicnewdelhi@esteri.it

timings
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday:
9.30 am–1.30 pm; 2.30 pm–5.30 pm
Wednesday: 2.30 pm–5.30 pm
Friday: Closed
Saturday: 12.30 pm–1.30 pm
cultural

services
centre

Reading Room

Newspapers, periodicals and multimedia

material are available in the reading
room on the ground floor. The room is
equipped with two computer terminals
with access to internet and to soft copies
of Italian newspapers “Il Corriere della
Sera” and “La Repubblica”. A TV set with
headphones is located in the entrance hall.
Italian TV Channels RAI 1, RAI 2, RAI 3 and
RAI International can be viewed during
office hours.

Image courtesy Emanuele Luzzati

Opening hours:
Monday to Thursday
8.00 a.m to 8.00 p.m
Friday and Saturday
8.00 a.m to 1.00 p.m
cafe @ icc

The Cultural Centre promotes food also

as part of Italian Culture. Its Cafeteria,
located in the quiet lawns and managed
by the popular Diva Restaurant uses the
finest ingredients and serves authentic
Italian dishes.

Opening hours
Monday to Saturday
9.30 a.m. to 11.00 p.m
Sunday
9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m
Tel:24674575
cultural

services
centre

membership
Facilities offered
. Invitations to cultural activities organized
by the Cultural Centre;
. Reading Room services; DVD Player,
Internet, newspapers and magazines;
. Access to the Cafeteria;
. Facility to borrow books and periodicals
from the Library

To apply for membership please submit

photocopy of a valid identity document
like Passport, Driving Licence, Voters
Identity Card or Government or Diplomatic
Identity Card along with the application
form.

For further details please visit the website:

www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it or
contact the Reception at 26871901/03/04
Programme 2010
may - june - july

Italian Embassy Cultural Centre

50-E Chandragupta Marg
Entry from Nyaya Marg
Chanakyapuri
New Delhi - 110021
T : +91-11-26871901
F : +91-11-26871902
E : iicnewdelhi@esteri.it
www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it