How does a free trip to Italy sound? Italy is coming to campus: specifically, it’s coming to the UW-Milwaukee Union Theater from April 28 to May 1.

The Italian Film Festival USA of Milwaukee is known for showcasing and premiering critically acclaimed Italian films (with English subtitles).

The festival has successfully expanded to 10 cities and is currently in its seventh year of production. This year’s edition brings eight top contemporary Italian films from esteemed directors and talented newcomers chosen by a local film committee.

The UWM Post interviewed president of the festival Barbara Klein about the history of the event, its impact, and what to look forward to the most.

UWM Post: First, give us some information about yourself. What exactly is your role in planning the film series?

Barbara Klein: As president of the Italian Film Festival USA, I select a short list of films (this year 14) and negotiate with the distributors. Then the local committee – in Milwaukee that is Bobby Tanzilo and Paul Salsini – select the films from the short list that are to be shown locally (this year they picked eight).

Post: How long has the Italian film series been running?

Klein: The Italian Film Festival USA started in St. Louis in 2005, and expanded to Milwaukee in 2007.

Post: What are some of the more significant films on this year’s docket?

Klein: The lineup includes the latest film by Academy Award-winner Gabriele Salvatores, Happy Family. In addition, 18 Anni Dopo (18 Years Later), the director Edoardo Leo was just nominated on April 7 for the David Donatello Award as best new director. [The David Donatello Awards are the Italian equivalent of the Oscars.] And Basilicata Coast to Coast [which was nominated for eight David Donatello Awards] was a hit comedy last summer in Italy.

Post: What are some of the thematic preoccupations of this year’s lineup of films?

Klein: We try to bring the best of recent publicly and critically acclaimed Italian films (we don’t have a theme) and present the local premiere.

Post: The Italian Film Series only plays in certain “mainstream” or big cities. Why is that?

Klein: The Italian Film Festival USA is held in 10 cities: St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland, Memphis, Minneapolis, Denver, Chicago and Boulder. The purpose of the festival is to bring recent Italian films to cities where few Italian films are shown during the rest of the year, despite there being many Italians, Italian-Americans or cinephiles who enjoy seeing Italian films.

Post: What do you feel people would gain from watching these films, and do you feel the Italian language (even though English subtitles are provided) contribute to the film? I ask the aforementioned because certain meanings get lost in translation.

Klein: I believe it is a more enjoyable cinematic experience when you can hear the film’s original language, rather than it being dubbed in English. And Italian is a very beautiful language to hear!

We hope that the audience can not only enjoy hearing Italian, but also seeing the various regions of Italy that we have represented in our film selection and learn something new about Italy.

European films, such as Italian films, are often very different than American films … and we think that our audiences will be thinking about our films and their messages well after they’ve left the theater!

Post: Could it be said that the films will enrich viewers’ perspectives, and if so, how?

Klein: Yes, many of the films have a story where the characters discover something about themselves (such as Basilicata Coast to Coast), grow emotionally,
or are about family dynamics (18 Anni Dopo).

The film Rosso Come Il Cielo is the all-time audience favorite in St. Louis at our festival. It is a very moving story, and a true story of Mirco Mencacci who, even though he is blind, became of one of the most renowned sound editors in Italian cinema.