Petrelis Files

Ponti's 'Human Voice' Opens SF's New Italian Cinema Series

(San Francisco Film Society courtesy photo.)

It's always a highlight of my cinematic year catching up with the latest films from Italy, thanks to the programmers at the San Francisco Film Society.

This year's edition of New Italian Cinema opens with two shorts by Edoardo Ponti. The first is a new interpretation of "The Human Voice", a play by Jean Cocteau previously filmed by Roberto Rossellini featuring Anna Magnani. Ponti's version stars his mother beautiful mother, the legendary Sophia Loren, pictured.

The second Ponti featurette is the "The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars" and Natassja Kinski. Ponti will be present tonight for a Q and A with the audience. Only rush tickets are available for this program tonight, so get to the Vogue Theatre early if you hope to get a ticket this show. Let's hope both shorts play again soon in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Film Society reports the following filmmakers are expected to appear at the mini-festival: Rossella De Venuto, director of  "Controra - House of Shadows", Paolo Genovese, director "Blame Freud", and co-writer of "Remember Me", Alessandro Lunardelli, director of  "Up to the World", and Antonio Morabito, director of "The Medicine Seller".

A total of twelve films round out the rest of the series and it continues to November 23. Click here for program notes on each of them, along with information about showtimes and to purchase tickets.