Italy selects “Don’t Be Bad” as candidate for foreign OscarSeptember 29, 2015 - 15:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Italy has selected recently deceased helmer Claudio Caligari’s “Non Essere Cattivo” (“Don’t Be Bad”), a Pasolini-esque look at contempo low life on Rome’s outskirts, as its candidate film for the foreign-language Academy Award, Variety reports. The gritty drama set during the 1990’s in Ostia, on the outskirts of Rome, in the world of synthetic drugs, cocaine, fast cars and nightclubs, bowed in Venice recently as a special event. Shepherded as a passion project by Italo actor Valerio Mastandrea, pic is produced by Kimerafilm, TaoDue Film, Rai Cinema, and Andrea Leone Films. “Bad” has been on release since its Venice launch via Good Films in Italy where it has not performed that well, having grossed under $300,000 in three weeks, albeit on just a few screens. It features an ensemble cast comprising Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Silvia D’Amico, Roberta Mattei. Rai Com is handling international sales. Caligari is a cult helmer whose three features also include heroin dependancy drama “Amore Tossico” (1983) and crimer “The Scent of the Night,” starring Mastandrea, which premiered in 1998 in Venice. Caligari died of cancer in May aged 67. The selection committee appointed by Italo motion picture association Anica chose “Bad” over several other titles which unlike Caligari’s film already have U.S. distribution in place, such as Nanni Moretti’s “My Mother,” and Laura Bispuri’s “Sworn Virgin.” Italy’s more high-profile pics from Cannes this year, Paolo Sorrentino’s “Youth” and Matteo Garrone’s “The Tale of Tales” were automatically excluded because they are in English. After the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approves this year’s proposed foreign-language Oscar contenders, a select committee will whittle the submissions down to a short list of nine titles. Another committee then selects the five nominations which will be announced January 14. The 2016 Oscars will be held Feb. 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Photo: Venice Film Festival Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |