XXV edition
8/13 December 2015
1991-2015: 25 Shades of Noir
The Noir in Festival that kicks off on December 8 (and runs through Sunday, December 13), under artistic directors Giorgio Gosetti and Marina Fabbri, is shaping up to be a collector’s edition: the oldest and most prestigious film and literary showcase devoted to all those shades of noir, ranging from mystery to fantasy, turns 25 this year.
For its "silver anniversary", therefore, alongside the festival’s traditional film competition (seven films in the running for the Black Lion, 10 national and international premieres) and its Italian literature lineup (5 novels in the shortlist for the Giorgio Scerbanenco-La Stampa Award), this year Noir goes the extra mile with a look at classic and trending TV series, as well as a backward glance at the event, with a series of friends and guests who have made those 25 years so memorable.
It all gets underway with a spectacular opening night themed tribute to the two auteur TV series that changed the face of modern television forever: Twin Peaks by David Lynch, 25 years young this year, just like Noir in Festival; and The X-Files by Chris Carter (Special Chandler Prize in 1996), with the festival the perfect showcase for its hotly anticipated revival and imminent new season.
The Noir lineup, in fact, is packed with premieres of the hottest series going, courtesy of Fox Crime, Giallo and RAI: the second season of How to Get Away with Murder, starring Emmy® winner Viola Davis; the top French series this year, Cherif, and the comeback of the Manetti brothers’ popular Inspector Coliandro.
The star of the show for our anniversary edition is none other than the American writer Joe R. Lansdale, who will be receiving the 2015 Raymond Chandler Award, just as his new novel Honky Tonk Samurai (Einaudi) hits Italian bookstores. This astonishing, sophisticated author, full of surprises, adored by the big screen (and Noir’s own homage will be Jim Mickle’s Cold in July), also a screenwriter (Hap & Leonard), will be holding a special masterclass on Chandler, the noir genre, film, novels and Texas - all in Courmayeur.
On the film front, the lineup kicks off with the premiere of the new film by J. C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year, and the American indie film Traffickers by Sean Roberts. Other hot titles: Alex de la Iglesia’s latest, My Big Night; the spy comedy Spy Time by Javier Ruiz Caldera (the new Almodovar); British sci-fi from Simon Pummell, with Brand New-U, starring Downtown Abbey’s Lachlan Nieboer; Into the Forest by Patricia Rozema, starring Ellen Page, People’s Choice Award at Toronto; The Ardennes by Belgian filmmaker Robin Pront; and a little gem not to be missed: Rob Letterman’s Goosebumps for young viewers. As well as two spectacular surprises to be announced on the eve of the festival.
Our lineup of literary guests also reveals intriguing associations between film and TV, starting with Maurizio De Giovanni and his I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone trilogy, soon to be a series on Raiuno starring Alessandro Gassmann; cameras start to roll on November 26. The duo Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo, fresh from the cinematic and literary triumph of Suburra (TV series in the works), present their new book La notte di Roma, while Teresa De Sio adds music to the reading of her novel L’attentissima. Carlo Lucarelli brings three titles to Courmayeur: Il tempo delle iene (Einaudi), Thomas e le gemelle and PPP. Pasolini, un segreto italiano, (Rizzoli), the last of which will be the focus of a debate featuring other writers, "Italy’s long night: 40 years of crime and politics, from the murder of Pasolini to Mafia Capitale." One speaker is David Grieco, who delved into Pasolini’s fate in his book and film La macchinazione, and treats Noir to a few sneak peaks of the latter. Italian readers are in for another revelation with the Flemish author Pieter Aspe, hailed by critics as the new Simenon, with his book The Dreyse Incident.
The talks will be held at the Maserati Winter Lounge - Chalet del Jardin de l’Ange.
And in this anniversary year, the festival pays tribute - thanks to its cultural partner Istituto Luce - Cinecittà - to three major film centenaries regarding artists with personal and professional ties to the noir genre and Italy itself: Anthony Quinn, Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles. Luce’s historic archives will be "adorning" the 2015 program with rare footage of the storied Italy-noir connection.
Comic book fans are eagerly awaiting Noir’s signature image this year, linked to the new character from Bonelli Editore. The former owner of an arthouse theater, the tormented, sleepless detective Morgan Lost was created by one of the fathers of Dylan Dog, Claudio Chiaverotti, and drawn especially for Noir by Fabrizio De Tommaso.
