Oscar Winning Italian Director Giuseppe Tornatore Heads To India: Exciting Details About His Upcoming Visit

(Image: ANI)

Mumbai: Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore i set to soon visit India.

As per Variety, Tornatore is all set to present a 4K restoration of his Oscar and Cannes-winning "Cinema Paradiso" at a new Italian film festival in Mumbai.

The screening will headline Italian film festival "Cinema Italian Style - Celebrating Tornatore and the Masters Of Italian Cinema."

The cultural extravaganza will be conducted from September 27 - 29, 2024 in Mumbai at Regal Cinema, Mumbai.

Organized by the Film Heritage Foundation in collaboration with Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai, the festival aims to celebrate legends of Italian cinema and exhibit restored classics from past decades.

The 68-year-old cinema legend will present the FHF Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection and will not only helm an interactive masterclass for budding film students but also deliver an exclusive sit-down fireside chat for film aficionados and the Indian film fraternity.

Excited about his India visit, Guiseppe Tornatore stated, "I am so happy to be coming to India for the first time. I have known about the amazing work of Film Heritage Foundation in preserving and restoring India's cinematic heritage and I am so pleased that Film Heritage Foundation is partnering with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai for 'Cinema Italian Style', a festival of Italian film heritage in Mumbai that will include some of my films. I was delighted to hear that my film 'Cinema Paradiso' is known and loved in India and I am honoured that my films will be presented alongside the films of great Italian masters like Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini and Sergei Leone. I have been told that the Film Heritage Foundation will be presenting their second Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection and it would be my pleasure to present the award to the winning projectionist at the opening of the festival in Mumbai."

Sharing more details about the festival, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Filmmaker and Director, Film Heritage Foundation said, "Film Heritage Foundation is delighted to share that a legend of Italian cinema, Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore has agreed to come to Mumbai for his first visit to India in support of the foundation and the cause of film preservation. During his time in Mumbai, he will present the 4 K restoration of his film Cinema Paradiso, one of the most beautiful and universally loved films of all time, a timeless classic that has the power to move you no matter how many times you watch it. The film will open a 3-day film festival during which Mumbai audiences will have the amazing opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty of his films, the music of Ennio Morricone and the greatest of restored Italian classics by Vittorio de Sica, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Sergio Leone. Watching these beautifully restored classics will remind the world that cinema is an art form that must be preserved and restored for future generations to enjoy."

He said, "We are privileged that Giuseppe Tornatore whose film Cinema Paradiso pays tribute to film projectionists has agreed to present the Film Heritage Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection at the opening of the film festival. We would like to thank the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and Axis Bank for partnering with us to make this unique celebration of Italian cinema possible."

The screenings are open to the general public on a first come, first-served basis.