Best of Youth: New Italian Cinema at the BAM Rose Theater

A survey of great recent Italian cinema will be presented at the Bam Rose Theater from April 16—20. Italian cinema has experienced an explosion of young talent over the last ten years and these films, all by up-and-coming Italian filmmakers, affirm this creative resurgence. Curated by Fabio Ferzetti in collaboration with Filmitalia and the Italian Cultural Institute New York. All films in Italian with English subtitles.

Here's the line up:

Salty Air (L’Aria salata) (2006) 87min Wed, Apr 16 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Alessandro Angelini. With Giorgio Pasotti, Giorgio Colangelia. Swift-paced, intensely shot, and superbly acted, this visceral film follows a prison counselor and his new case—counseling his estranged father, who is imprisoned for murder. “Proving again that emotionally riveting movies are made of imagination and not a bulging pocketbook, Alessandro Angelini’s small powerhouse Salty Air may qualify as the Italian debut of the year.”—Variety

Private (2004) 90min Thu, Apr 17 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Saverio Costanzo. With Mohammed Bakri, Lior Miller. This gripping film, winner of the David di Donatello Award for best new director, observes a group of Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian family dealing with Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Raw camerawork and knockout performances give this “superior, suspenseful drama” (Time Out) a jarring immediacy."…distills the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a nightmarish microcosm.”—The New York Times

Three Step Dancing (Ballo a tre passi) (2003) 107min Fri, Apr 18 at 2, 6:50pm. Buy Tickets Directed by Salvatore Mereu. With Yaël Abecassis, Domenica Arba. Four vignettes in contemporary Sardinia: a group of pre-teens voyage to the sea for the first time; a reckless pilot engages a naive shepherd in a lustful afternoon; a nun leaves her convent to attend her sister’s wedding; and a feeble old man prepares dinner for a prostitute. This film has “the pace and patient, nonjudgmental gaze of a Taviani Brothers epic...” (The New York Times)

The Spectator (La Spettatrice) (2004) 100min Fri, Apr 18 at 4:30, 9:15pm. Buy Tickets Directed by Paolo Franchi. With Barbora Bobulova, Andrea Renzi. First-time director Franchi’s tale of urban alienation is worthy of Antonioni. A translator spends nights at the window watching the opposite apartment. Her obsession with this neighbor intensifies until they meet and he becomes obsessed in turn.

Sailing Home (Tornando a casa) (2001) 88min Sat, Apr 19 at 2, 6:50pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Vincenzo Marra. With Aniello Scotto D’Anutono, Salvatore Iaccarino, Giovanni Iaccarino. This “brooding, naturalistic tale” (Time Out) follows fishermen who illegally fish the waters of North Africa, risking their lives and their reputations. This throwback to neorealism boasts beautiful cinematography and well-orchestrated tension.“[T]here’s real tension on and off board and a correctively sympathetic perspective on immigration.”—Time Out London

Maximum Velocity (Velocità massima) (2002) 111min Sat, Apr 19 at 4:30, 9:15pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Daniele Vicari. With Valerio Mastandrea, Cristiano MorroniVicari, winner of the 2003 David di Donatello award for best new director, frames a coming-of-age story within the world of illegal drag racing. Claudio, a boy with a knack for cars, becomes apprentice to local mechanic Stefano who gives him shelter and friendship, but soon betrays his trust.

La Capagira (2000) 71min Sun, Apr 20 at 2, 6:50pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Alessandro PivaWith Dino Abbrescia, Gianna Giannotti, Mino Barbarese. Two small-time crooks zoom through Bari on a vespa in search of a misplaced drug shipment in this madcap comedy. Sharp direction and a side-splitting script earned Alessandro Piva the 2000 David di Donatello Award for best new director.“ A portrait of the various classes of criminal of the Italian heel town of Bari, this bears traces of sub-Jarmusch comedy, as two petty drug mules hang out waiting, not for Godot, but a crack delivery from the Balkans.”—Time Out London

One Man Up (L’uomo in più) (2001) 100min Sun, Apr 20 at 4:30, 9:15pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Paolo Sorrentino. With Toni Servillo, Andrea Renzi. Two men—a honey-voiced crooner whose relationship with a minor ruins his career and a successful footballer whose life deteriorates when he suffers an unexpected injury—lead parallel lives in this compelling drama.

Info:

Telephone: 718.636.4100

Tickets: Click the "Buy Tickets" link on individual films to purchase online.
General Admission: $11.Buy online, by phone at 718.777.FILM (theater ID #545), or at BAM Rose box office.
BAM Cinema Club Members: $7
Seniors, Students & Children: $7.50**Discounts available at BAM Rose box office only. Students: 25 & under w/ valid ID, Mon—Thu, except holidays.

A purveyor of Tuscan Ricotta in Williamsburg

The folks behind Lunetta, a Tuscan restaurant in Boerum Hill, have launched Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta. Betsy Devine, a sous chef at the the restaurant, along with Rachel Mark, studied ricotta making in Tuscany from a cheese maker in the tower-filled town of San Gimignano.

Devine and Mark make their ricotta using local cow's milk mixed with whey (the Tuscan version uses only whey). The milk is heated, curdled, mixed with lemon juice, then drained. The result is a light and creamy cheese, different (and certainly more delectable!) than what you'll find at your local grocers. Try it with some good quality honey and you'll imagine you are in Tuscany. Also try a dollop over some pasta pomodoro or on bruschetta.

You'll find Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta for sale at Blue Apron in Park Slope, Stinky Bklyn on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens, and Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg. Starting in April, it will be sold at Brooklyn Flea, the large outdoor market in Fort Greene (Sundays through early fall starting April 6, at Lafayette and Vanderbilt Avenue. It's also on the menu at Lunetta, 116 Smith Street, between Smith and Dean in Boerum Hill.

Now mangia!