Italy’s Rising Female Filmmakers Being Celebrated by ‘The Wave’ in London
Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe rising clutch of women directors breaking the glass ceiling in Italy’s male dominated film industry is being celebrated by a curated screenings’ series titled The Wave playing this week in London and set to open with Chiara Bellosi’s Berlin Panorama coming-of-age drama “Swing Ride.”Running June 15-19 at London’s Ciné Lumière, Kensington, after a previous run in Berlin, The Wave has been assembled by Cinecittà’s promotional arm to draw international notice to what chief Carla Cattani says is “a unique time” for female filmmakers in Italy where they are “no longer isolated cases.”Indeed, as Cattani notes in her introduction to The Wave’s program notes, prior to 2010 it was very rare to find more than two Italian films directed by females within the same year. In fact in 2010, out of 122 Italian films released theatrically only two titles were directed by women.