A biopic of Woody Allen, a right homage at Florence Tribeca Festival

Pubblicato il 12 Giugno 2012 da Beppe

Tribeca Florence, the first edition of the film festival, born from the collaboration between  Tribeca Enterprises and the prestigious Tuscan Sun Festival (see on purpose the post Tribeca Enterprise Movies from Manhattan to Florence on the blog of Tuscany Holiday Rent)  schedules for tomorrow, June the 13th 2012, a biopic on Woody Allen, that is  an official biography of the mythical author of Manhattan, Annie Hall and many other comedies.

“Woody Allen: a documentary” is the impressive work  by the director Robert Weide, who followed for over a year and a half the legendary character, known to be very reserved, to shoot his film. The career of Allen is told through movies, jokes, personal stories, ranging from the most various performances as filmaker, writer, comedian and  musician. Such a stunning character could not be but controversial. The Italian film director Carlo Verdone is extremely critical towards the American colleague’s last work “To Rome with love” shot in Rome last summer with star actors such as Roberto Benigni and Penelope Cruz. On the other side mythical figures such as Sean Penn, Martin Scorzese, Scarlett Johansson and Diane Keaton tell comprehensive life stories underlining his most peculiar intimate  features such as tenderness, wonder, humor and passion.

Charles Joffe, the talent scout  who immediately with the other manager Jack H Rollins, recognized, in the sixties, the potentialities of this bizarre guy likes indulging in  an amusing story about the beginning of Woody’s career. He was so shy that once on the stage of the Bitter End, a trendy hub of folksingers and hipsters of the Village, Woody tied his necktie so tightly that the public was afraid he was going to choking himself. Weide is quite skillful in telling Allen’s life’s details people hardly know. On one side he digs into his childhood  to discover a six year old boy who starts at questioning himself about the great issues of life or  bring forth his difficult school relationships because of his extremely embarassing shyness. On the other,  the director is able to change into a story the autobiography of Allen since the first unstable steps into his career. We are thus shown the  now well- established icon in his first  hardly successful writings  for papers like  New Yorker and New York Times or his disastrous performances at the fashionable Manhattan uptown club Blue Angel and   at the Kaufmann Concert hall with the trio of Bill Evans, the most influential post world war II jazz pianist. Weide’s  declaration of love continues up to Woody’  finally acclaimed triumphs.

Don’t miss the distinctive pleasure in hunting down a biography which is worth getting to explore, on June 13 at 22.45 at the majestic Odeon Cinema, home of the Tribeca Florence, in the original English with Italian subtitles.

Pubblicato in Culture in Tuscany | Lascia un commento

Tuscany: a perfect backdrop for movie productions

Pubblicato il 8 Giugno 2012 da Beppe

Cinema has always been in love  with Tuscany. These days  its landscape is being the set for new movies. The Italian film  director Pietro Marcello, winner of  2009 Torino Festival with la Bocca del Lupo, is shooting here  Bella e Perduta, dealing with an interesting issue: an  aware national  identity.

Many towns are involved,  among the meaningful sites,  let us mention  the shooting,  scheduled on June the 14 and 15, 2012 in Santa Croce,  Florence, a place deeply marked by history,  starting from its  13th architect Arnolfo di Cambio  up to great men Michelangelo, Galilei , Dante Alighieri, who found  here their final resting places, both tombs or cenotaphs.

The Prounen Film for the German ZDF  is producing Country Villas in Tuscany: birth of Europe. The issue is Renaissance Florence and its economic and cultural exchanges  with some  European cities.  One of the main characters is Lorenzo de’ Medici, who becomes here  the guide to most of Tuscan villas and stately homes.

A good opportunity to meet the  glorious past of Tuscan history inside spots  such as Villa Medici Petraia at  Sesto, Florence,  Villa Gamberaia , rich in “giardini all’italiana” in the immediate outskirts of Florence,  Villa Torrigiani and Villa Mansi in Lucca, Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano ,Florence,  Villa Medici at Buti, Pisa,  and last  the Borro , the Ferragamo family home in Siena. This propriety continues to live beyond its historical dimension.  It is  a luxury  accommodation plunged into a timeless dimension.

Even the National Geographic is interested in Tuscany on  preparing its  historical programs called ” Museum Secrets”. They  mainly focus on the symbol of  Florentine  artistic greatness “ the Galleria degli Uffizi”, without forgetting masterworks such as  the Villa Il Gioiello at Arcetri, Florence  and some  other locations at San Giovanni d’Asso,  Siena.

India too casts  a keen eye  on Tuscany with its Bollywood productions.  After shooting here the movie Rajapattai,  it is here back again,  feeling the charms of the place. The coastal area of   Lucca, Viareggio, Lido di Camaiore and Forte dei Marmi, are going to be the sets of a new film “Ajab Gazabb Love”, produced by Pooja Films &Entertainment Ltd and directed by Sanjay Gadhvi.

A romantic and hilarious story set in a magic backdrop.  The plot is simple, though rich in  misunderstandings.  An Indian boy,  son to a tycoon,  professionally trained in Italy,  gets back home.

Here he happens to fall in love with an oddly  rich girl who  seems to  disdain large fortunes.  For love’s sake he and his family have to pretend to be poor people. A comedy of errors is unwinding  through continuous funny situations up to the predictable happy ending.

Finally,  by the end of June,  Ricochet Television, one of Britain’s leading independent  tv production companies,  will shoot  in  Lucca , Pisa  and in the Chianti,  “the Bachelor”, a successful  format,  an entertainment program,  broadcast by major networks both in the UK and USA.  Spencer Matthews , a reality star and  one of the most eligible bachelors,  is searching the woman of his dreams.  Twenty four girls are competing to win his heart. He is going  to whittle down the number of girls and progressively learns  about his final choice of a successful relationship.  The movie is going to be shoot in some of the most glamorous and breathtaking locations in the world among which Tuscany plays a significant role for its  natural and artistic  jewels .

Pubblicato in Culture in Tuscany | Lascia un commento

Tribeca Enterprises movies from Manhattan to Florence

Pubblicato il 5 Giugno 2012 da Beppe

The Tuscan Sun Festival,  moved this year to Florence from Cortona,  lists among the many musical events a film  section by the Tribeca Film Enterprises,  founded in Manhattan in 2002 by Craig Hatkoff,  Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro, the famous American actor.

The seat is the prestigious Florentine Cinema Odeon, an  art nouveau jewel,  unjustly unknown to the great public,  located just in front of the Palazzo Strozzi.  On the same square,  on show  different expressions of American culture.  On one side in the renaissance building,  a  19th century exhibition of American Impressionist painters (see on purpose the post” The Seine and Paris replaced by the Arno  and Florence in The American Impressionists” in Tuscany Holiday Rent  blog)  on the other one,  in the liberty hall,  the showing of Tribeca Enterprises  films for four days,  from June the 13th up to the 17th , 2012.  The manager of the Tribeca Enterprises is Geoffrey  Gillmore,  a  teacher at the UCLA cinema departmen.   His curriculum is noteworthy,  well rooted in this field he has been   manager for 19 years  at the Sundance Festival of the  top star  Robert Redford. Gillmore,  as an expert in indipendent film productions,  supports high quality movies  against the obstacles of marketing system, thus  facing the effort of widening the horizons.  Tribeca Enterprises have been doing that for many years,  opening themselves to many foreign countries. They were in Bejiing,   in Quatar,  in Rome and now it is the turn of Florence.  Geoffrey Gillmore loves the Tuscan town where he is a habitué . He is linked to Florence by  cherished memories,  dating back to 25 years ago when he was first  invited  by the” Festival dei Popoli”.  The choice of the movies at the Odeon is varied, though always respectful of quality  as to  form and content.

Let’s just  remember  Wagner’s Dream,  a documentary of the staging of the Wagnerian Ring at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York  City and  the Biography of Tony Bennett, a  famous American crooner,  able to indulge on jazz as well.

The World before Her, a documentary on Indian women’s condition and Any Day Now, story of a homosexual couple adopting  a handicapped boy  are not to be missed because of  their contemporary issues, conjugated  with high standard  experimentation.

For further information apply to info@tuscanyholidayrent.com

Pubblicato in Culture in Tuscany, Senza categoria | Lascia un commento

A nice event, the Toscanello d’oro, in the Tuscan countryside, at 11kms from Florence

Pubblicato il 1 Giugno 2012 da Beppe

The Toscanello d’oro, the traditional event of wines produced in the area of Pontassieve, Florence , is now 43. A nice  tradition of which the locals, so tied to their glorious past, are very proud.  Now,  the downtown hosts for a four days’  wine festival,  accompanied by cultural events, exhibitions and  readings.  A good opportunity to spend pleasant days,  sipping good wines and listening to good music or  shopping at the stalls of the local  food market,  rich of genuine  produce.  Pontassieve  has infact been since the end of the 19th and 20th centuries  an agricultural center  proving Florence with high quality products.

The Wine Citadel in piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, focus of the event,  will let you discover new horizons  in guided wine  tastings. All that in the joyous atmosphere of the Corteo Storico,  a renaissance parade,  the witness  of  its  strong ties with Florence , just at 11 kms away .

For an escape, though short, in the Tuscan countryside profit   from the accommodations offered by Tuscan Holiday Rent

Pubblicato in Fairs and markets in Tuscany | Lascia un commento

The”wunderkammer” of the Renaissance architect, Bernardo Buontalenti, in Boboli Gardens, Florence

Pubblicato il 28 Maggio 2012 da Beppe

The Grande Grotta, the largest grotto of Boboli’s Gardens, a real spectacular Florentine jewel plunged inside a green background, has been enhanced by the recently- set lighting project, based on a software of a low energy consumption. The light from external direct source ends up in an enchanting final effect over the grotto rooms, adorned with magnificent artworks. Here you can admire Michelangelo’s replica “slaves” , unfinished sculpture for Pope Julius the 2nd’s tomb, whose original can be seen at the Galleria dell’Accademia , together with “Theseus and Arianna” sculpted by Vincenzo de’ Rossi in 1560 and ” Bathing Venus “by Giambologna.

The grotto, planned by Bernardo Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593 on a previous building by Vasari, the great renaissance architect of Cosimo the1st, is divided into three rooms whose decorations remind us of the symbolic universe made up of primeval chaos and invigorating forces of Eros.

Originally characterized by a fountain of spouting water games and by an ante litteram acquarium , the grotto’s story is told in an interesting book by Sergio Risaliti “Bernardo Buontalenti e la Grotta Grande di Boboli” focusing on the place both as a place of refreshment and relief from hot Florentine summers and contemporarily as a functional store of Medicis’ ice supply. The romantic side is not forgotten. The spot was often the foreground of the difficult love story between Francesco de’ Medici and Bianca Capello.

The new lighting has been sponsored by Sammontana, as a homage to Bernardo Buontalenti in a sort of ideal junction between the inventor of” Crema Gelata” for the Medici banquets and one of the most famous leaders of ice cream manufacturers .

See on purpose the article on the blog of Tuscany Holiday Rent “ Florence Ice Cream Festival 2012”

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