by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
Over the next four days, doctors, nurses and researchers will become movie ushers.
The Italian Film Festival, which runs through Sunday, will benefit UNM's Children's Hospital. Twelve Italian films will play at four theaters throughout Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.
Hospital development director Hazel Tull-Leach said that many of the festival's volunteers are hospital employees.
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"Our employees are awesome," she said. "They will give up their time because they feel fortunate to work to be able to improve health care."
Tull-Leach said the proceeds will be used for hospital equipment.
"We see 41,000 kids each year, and we are the academic medical center," she said. "So, we want our residents to actually be full circle with their care. They are learning, and we want to make sure the patients get the highest quality care. Every dollar makes a difference. So, anything that we raise is more than we had yesterday."
Festival director Ronaldo Patrizio-Steiner said he came up with the idea about a year ago.
"I love movies and go to film festivals," he said. "It just occurred to me that Italians have a great rich history in filmmaking with great directors like (Federico) Fellini and (Vittorio) De Sica, and great actors like
(Al) Pacino, (Marcello) Mastroianni, Sophia Loren - people like that. Great Italian music is played, and so I decided that it would be nice to have an Italian film festival sometime."
Patrizio-Steiner said he chose films he was familiar with.
"They span 60 years of filmmaking to demonstrate that point about the rich history," he said. "They were films that are, for the most part, well-known and would resonate with people when they saw they were on the list. Eight of the 12 are in Italian with subtitles, and four of them are in English."
Patrizio-Steiner said festival sponsors such as Borders, Whole Foods Market and Scalo Northern Italian Bar and Grill will offer specials on food and merchandise to participants.
"The tickets are valuable," he said. "They are only $7. You get to see the movie and probably get most of it back just by going to a restaurant to eat."
The festival's opening night presentation Thursday will take place at Kimo Theater and will honor Italian-American families who came to Albuquerque between 1880 and 1992.
"The Kimo was built by the Bachechi family," he said. "It was an Italian family that's been here since about the turn of the century, and they were into the construction business. They designed and built that theater as a tribute to the Pueblo Indians. So, there is some historical link with the theater itself, and a lot of those families are going to be honored."
If the festival is a success, it will become an annual event, Patrizio-Steiner said.
"Nothing is more important to our future than children," he said. "I had a little granddaughter that was born almost two years ago in Oregon. She was born with a heart defect and taken to the children's hospital up there, and they virtually saved her life by re-plumbing her heart. If they hadn't had such a wonderful facility, she wouldn't be alive. So, I hope New Mexico would have that kind of facility they can take kids to."
The Italian Film Festival
Through Feb. 11
$7 per movie
$50 festival pass
For full schedule, visit ItalianFilmFest.org
Here are six movies in the festival from throughout the decades:
"La Strada" 1954
Directed by Federico Fellini
Giulietta Masina plays Gelsomina, a poor girl who is sold by her family to a traveling entertainer named Zampano. Zampano, played by Anthony Quinn, abuses Gelsomina by beating her and forcing her to steal from a convent, yet she remains stoic. She begins to question her relationship with Zampano after meeting a tight-rope walker named Il Matto, or the Fool, played by Richard Basehart.
"La Dolce Vita" 1960
Directed by Federico Fellini
Marcello Rubini, a young Roman journalist played by Marcello Mastroianni, discovers his girlfriend poisoned herself because of his habitual partying and casual affairs. Later, Rubini meets Sylvia, a famous actress played by Anita Ekberg. The two spend a few days together as Rubini begins to question his life of frivolity.
"The Godfather" 1972
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, returns home after World War II. His father Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, is head of a New York mafia family. Michael does not want to follow in his father's footsteps. Rather, he wishes to live a normal life. When his father is shot by a drug dealer after refusing to give him mafia protection, Michael is left to decide what kind of path he will take.
"Moonstruck" 1984
Directed by Norman Jewison
Loretta Castorini, a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper played by Cher, decides she wants to remarry. Castorini admits to her mother that she will marry her fiancÇ, though she is not in love with him. When she meets his brother Ronny, played by Nicolas Cage, Castorini has second thoughts.
"Il Postino" 1994
Directed by Michael Radford
Famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, played by Philippe Noiret, is exiled to a small island. A son of a poor fisherman, played by Massimo Troisi, gets a job as a postman and delivers mail to Neruda. The postman, who is poorly educated, learns to love poetry and seeks Neruda's help when he falls in love with a woman named Beatrice, played by Maria Cucinotta.
"Big Night" 1996
Directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci
"Big Night" is about two Italian brothers who immigrated to America to open a restaurant. Primo, played by Tony Shalhoub, is the chef. Secondo, played by Stanley Tucci, is the restaurant's frontman who struggles to keep the business going. With just a few regulars, including a poor artist who buys his meals with paintings, the brothers attempt to save the business with a night of jazz and a feast prepared by Primo.
