From Naples to Hollywood: the third edition of the Italian Comedy Festival kicks off, Tuesday, March 26 at 11:30 AM with the world premiere at Suor Orsola Benincasa. This will be followed by the screening of a short film tribute to Totò and Charlie Chaplin. From Naples to Hollywood. «This year we have chosen Naples which is currently the real capital of Italian cinema to kick off our Festival which for the first time will start from Italy». This is how Gianfranco Terrin, director of the Italian Comedy Festival, announces the first stage of a Festival that this year has been designed as an itinerant event between Italy and the United States for its third edition.
The Festival's first meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 26 at 11:30 AM in the Pagliara Library of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples. This will be the occasion to present the great novelty of the new edition of the Italian Comedy Festival which is the collaboration with the Master in Cinema and Television of Suor Orsola directed by the producer Nicola Giuliano. A collaboration that has also led to a new section of the Festival's awards: the «Young Jury Award». A jury composed entirely of students from the Master's program who on Tuesday at Suor Orsola will announce the nominations of the finalist projects that will represent Italy in Hollywood.
At the Neapolitan world premiere of the Italian Comedy Festival, the rector of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Lucio d'Alessandro, the director of the ICF, Gianfranco Terrin, the scientific coordinator of the Master in Cinema and Television (Mct) of Suor Orsola, Arturo Lando, the festival's production director Federica Baruffaldi, lecturer in Development and Production of Format at the Mct Unisob and lecturer and the television author Massimo Cinque, director of the Television Writing Workshop of the Mct Unisob.
During the Neapolitan day of the Icf, a short film tribute to Chaplin and Totò produced by students of the Master in Cinema and Television, the result of a surprising research and editing work, under the supervision of the lecturer Pietro Paolo Centomani.
«In “Totò & Chaplin: Follow the Smile”, the Italian comic genius Totò and the silent film icon Charlie Chaplin meet on screen with the aim of showing the international audience that the two artists are really very similar and that only language barriers have prevented Totò from gaining international recognition». Thus, the students of the Mct of Suor Orsola present their work. «The short highlights the similarities and differences in the comedy styles of Totò and Chaplin, showing how both have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema. While Totò wins over the audience with his straightforwardness and his irresistible Neapolitan charm, Chaplin enchants with his mastery in transforming the most mundane situations into moments of pure entertainment. Through this celebration of their work, Totò & Chaplin: Follow the Smile offers a compelling and amusing overview of Italian and international comedy, introducing Totò to the global audience in an unforgettable way».
After the Neapolitan premiere, the Italian Comedy Festival will make a stop first at the Casa del Cinema in Rome on April 14 for the presentation of the finalists of all sections of the Festival and then on April 30 in Los Angeles for the grand finale of the third edition.