Chicago European Union Film Festival – There is a Light (Il padre d’Italia)
Chicago premiere!
2017, Fabio Mollo, Italy, 94 min.
With Luca Marinelli, Isabella Ragonese
Fabio Mollo’s second feature, arriving five years after his acclaimed debut SOUTH IS NOTHING, blends an offbeat love story with a freewheeling road movie to examine a generation poised on the brink of adulthood. Paolo (Marinelli)–thirtyish, gay, and morose–has recently broken up with his longtime boyfriend over the issue of raising children, which Paolo believes is unnatural for gay men. He is nursing his sorrow in a Turin nightclub when a woman collapses in his arms. Enter Mia (Ragonese), a six-months-pregnant free spirit living from hand to mouth, who commandeers Paolo to join her in a haphazard search for the child’s father. After “borrowing” his boss’s van, they head south, to Rome, Naples, and Calabria, on a journey that takes them beyond sexual categories, over-prolonged youth, and the weight of their pasts. Citing Xavier Dolan and Gianni Amelio as influences, director Mollo delivers a rich character study built on performances that demonstrate why Marinelli (also seen in RAINBOW and LET YOURSELF GO) and Ragonese are two of Italy’s hottest actors. In Italian with English subtitles. Courtesy of Rai Com. DCP digital.
An audience discussion with the Director will follow the screening, moderated by Professor Chiara Fabbian, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Chicago European Union Film Festival is the largest festival in the nation showcasing films of the European Union, this festival annually presents Chicago premieres of more than 60 new feature films from the 28 EU nations.
For further information and tickets, please visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org
Friends of the Institute can purchase tickets to any of the screenings at this year’s Festival for just $7. Please mention ITALY in person at the box office to take advantage of this discount.