Summer movie theatre (in the moonlight)

 

Prevost projector from the ’50s

Walter staring at the movie poster

Mr Giancarlo Simoncelli, the projectionist, and me

The sign of the parking lot square where the movie festival takes place

Movie posters

Mr Ivan Italiani, the president of Cineclub Shining

Prevost projector from the ’50s

Prevost projector from the ’50s

Prevost projector from the ’50s

Poster of ‘Au bonheur des ogres’

‘Cinema in the moonlight’ – the programme

Mr Giancarlo Simoncelli, the projectionist

The square Agide Fava

Mr Giancarlo

Stairs in the back of the square leading to the old sports stadium

People enjoying the Summer breeze

The square

Building facing the square

Beautiful clouds

Mr Ivan Italiani, the president of Cineclub Shininig

Fiinally, the movie starts…

Who recalls Giuseppe Tornatore’s movie ‘Nuovo Cinema Paradiso’ winning ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ Oscar in 1989, where a filmmaker recalls his childhood and his deep friendship with the theater’s projectionist? Well, Italy would not be Italy without  Summer ‘arene del cinema’ (‘cinema open air theatres’). Thanks to Cineclub Shining, Pesaro has a Summer movie festival called ‘Cinema sotto la luna’ (Movies in the moonlight) taking place from July 7th to August 22nd at the ‘Curvone’ (Big Curve) parking lot.

You may download the program here, bearing in mind that on Sundays projections are devoted to the ‘Beautiful and damned youth’ – ‘Giovani (ri)belli’ (a pun in Italian where ribelli means rebel, and belli means beautiful), on Mondays you get ‘Ritratti di Signore (e signori’) – ‘Portraits of Ladies (and gentlemen)’ (biography movies), on Tuesdays movies are about ‘Perdenti alla riscossa’ (‘The revenge of losers’), on Wedenesdays on ‘Different love stories’ (‘Gli amori diversi’), and on Thursdays you get ‘American stars (and stripes)’ – Past, present and future of the USA, a great country full of shining stars and dark sides.

Cineclub Shining is a cultural association founded in 2004 whose president is Ivan Italiani (in the picture below) aka ‘Wolf’.

Last night Walter and I went to see ‘Au bonheur des ogres’, a French movie by Nicolas Bary, from Daniel Pennac’s novel (I am a fan of Pennac) . I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with Mr Giancarlo Simoncelli, the projectionist. He started working as projectionist at 17 and after 53 years he’s still on the same job! He’s a lover of classical and jazz music and the film projector he used last night was a Prevost from the ’50s, inaugurated at the (unfortunately no more existing) ‘Moderno’ cinema in the heart of Pesaro. Nowadays ‘multiplex’ movie theatres seem to be in fashion but I personally try to avoid them.

Long live ‘cinema open air theatres’ and independent movies!

Special thanks to Ivan, who allowed pictures to be taken and who made a brief inauguration speech before the movie started, and to Giancarlo for the passion he conveyed in the few words we exchanged.