Starting at Cinema Astra, kicking off "Venice in Naples. Cinema extended"

French director Caroline Deruas Peano ("Stereo Girls," 5 p.m., free admission) and Iranian Amir Azizi ("Inside Amir") are the first international guests, Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Cinema Astra on Via Mezzocannone, of"Venice in Naples. Cinema Extended."

Now in its 15th edition, the film festival conceived and directed by Antonella Di Nocera and carried out in dialogue with the Venice Biennale and the 82nd Venice International Film Festival will offer, until Nov. 9 on the big screen of 12 theaters in Naples and Campania, 25 films (for a total of 37 screenings and almost all premieres) among the works presented at the Lido (both in the official competition and in the Orizzonti, Giornate degli Autori and Settimana Internazionale della Critica sections).

The program opens and closes with music narrated through two original documentaries: the first "Francesco De Gregori.Nevergreen" by Stefano Pistolini (Tuesday, 4, 9:30 p.m. at Pierrot Cinema in Ponticelli) and the second "One to One: John & Yoko" by Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, closing event, Sunday, 9, 9 p.m. at Vittoria in Naples.

Promoted by Parallel 41 Productions, with the support of Regione Campania and Film Commission Regione Campania and under the patronage of the City of Naples, the festival combines screenings with multiple moments of in-depth analysis, through meetings that welcome directors and authors to the theater, as well as screenings reserved for students.

This is the case of the section "The Restored Classics for Schools" with four free matinees for high schools made in collaboration with CSC - Cineteca Nazionale and the Campania Regional School Office, and the section "The Mornings of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples," which offers a dedicated cycle of screenings, meetings with guests and masterclasses at the Modernissimo between November 5 and 7.

There are many Italian and international guests at the festival: on Wednesday 5, in an all-female day, director Anna Negri presents "Toni, mio padre" (at 5 p.m. at the Modernissimo) together with Gaia Furrer (director of Venice Days) and again Ana Cristina Barragán (with "Hiedra") and Laura Samani (with "Un anno di scuola") both at the Astra cinema, where, at 9 p.m., they will receive the Valentina Pedicini Award, named after the director who passed away at just 42 years old in 2020.

Preview after Venice also for the film "Memory," which director Vladlena Sandu will present on Thursday 6 at the Modernissimo (in the morning for students and in the afternoon, at 5:15 p.m. for the public). Replica always with the director in theaters on Friday 7 at the Ricciardi in Capua.

Friday 7 double date in town, at the Modernissimo in the morning and at the French Institute in the afternoon, with Russian-born author Nastia Korkia, who won the Lugi De Laurentis Prize for best first feature with "Short Summer." Also present at Grenoble in the evening were the authors of the two documentaries in the selection: Italians Massimiliano Battistella ("Dom") and Loris Giuseppe Nese ("Una cosa vicina").

At "Venice in Naples. Extended Cinema" also expected two exceptional exponents of auteur filmmaking from our area and particularly beloved: Antonio Capuano with "L'isola di Andrea" meets the audience at La Perla cinema (Thursday 6) while on Saturday 8 Leonardo Di Costanzo will present his film "Elisa" at the Ricciardi in Capua.

Werner Herzog 's "Ghost Elephants , " a theatrical premiere after its presentation in Venice, and films from different countries are also in the review, testifying to the fact that this small festival has always had the ambition to bring to Naples the knowledge of a different cinema by experimenting with the vision of new languages on a global level. For this edition, works from Lebanon ("A sad and beautiful world" by Cyril Aris), China ("The sun rises on us all" by Cai Shangjun), Slovakia ("Father - Otec" by Tereza Nvotová), UK ("Straight Circle" by Oscar Hudson), Taiwan ("Back Home - Hui Jia" by master filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang), Lithuania ("Laguna" by Sharunas Bartas), Mexico ("Vainilla" by Mayra Hermosillo).

The heart of the festival remains the audience and the network of theaters inside and outside the city that welcome the films. In Naples between Academy Astra, Institut Français, La Perla, Multicinema Modernissimo, Pierrot, Sala Assoli and Cinema Vittoria. Beyond Naples: between Teatro Ricciardi in Capua, Magic Vision in Casalnuovo, Partenio in Avellino, Cinema Paradiso in Anacapri and Vittoria in Aversa.

www.veneziaanapoli.it