Pasquale Squitieri appointed to run Rome Film Festival

There’s an article in the Independent today about a number of Italian cultural stars who are worried about new Roman mayor Gianni Alemanno, who’s essentially seen as being a bit of a pleb.  Apparently one of his first moves has been to appoint veteran director Pasquale Squitieri – of numerous crime films and westerns – as head of the Rome Film Festival.  This has made people worried… quoting Squitieri:

“In Italy we have more film awards than films, we should support [the film festival of] Venice and use the money to put good actors to work, to recreate the necessary structures. Look at France: in Paris they had a film festival but it was no good to anyone because they already had Cannes. [on the festival’s extravagance] They can’t pay for 18 hotel rooms for Nicole Kidman’s bodyguards, and then another 20 for Di Caprio’s. The fact that the left did this is incredible… The film festival is all business, it wouldn’t be surprising if monarchists were behind it, or Fascists, but to find the young Communists behind it is paradoxical.”

Have to say, I kind of agree with his sentiment… all these festivals don’t really do a great deal for the film industry, and they seem to be more concerned with attracting American stars.  I’d rather see more Italian films than Film Festivals.

About Matt Blake 890 Articles
The WildEye is a blog dedicated to the wild world of Italian cinema (and, ok, sometimes I digress into discussing films from other countries as well). Peplums, comedies, dramas, spaghetti westerns... they're all covered here.

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