Set to spark a fervent interest in contemporary Italian cinema among Hong Kong moviegoers, “Cine Italiano! – Italian Film Week in Hong Kong”, a one-week showcase of eight finely selected Italian films, will run from 21 to 26 September 2012 at The Grand Cinema. Curated by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) and Zetema Progetto Cultura, and presented by City of Rome, Rai Cinema, CineCittà Luce, the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong, this inaugural edition will open with documaker Andre SEGRE’s feature debut Shun Li and the Poet, a meditative and poignant story about Shun Li, a Chinese immigrant woman who works as a bartender in a small coastal town outside Venice, and later gets drawn into a tender but difficult romance with an older fisherman.

The film’s leading actress ZHAO Tao (JIA Zhang-ke's muse in Platform and The World) won Best Actress at the 2012 David di Donatello Awards, also known as the Italian Oscars, for her subtle and moving performance, becoming the first Chinese actress to win the honour. She will attend the Opening Ceremony and meet the audience at the screening on 21 September.

“We are very excited by our first-time collaboration with the HKIFFS,” said Francesco MARCOLINI, President of Zetema Progetto Cultura. “We believe that with its cosmopolitan outlook and dynamic art scene, Hong Kong is the perfect place in Asia to promote contemporary Italian cinema and culture.”

“For us,” adds Paolo DEL BROCCO, CEO of Rai Cinema, “the Italian Film Week is one of the most important steps of our project to develop relations with Asian countries, especially in China and Hong Kong, as a public company leader in the production and distribution of Italian films.”

Shun Li and the Poet will kick off an eclectic programme that is at once entertaining and inspirational, featuring light-hearted comedies to works by celebrated masters, including: Ferzan OZPETEK’s wry and insightful comedy Magnificent Presence, which earned him the 2012 Italy’s Golden Globe Award for Best Director; renowned screenwriter Ivan COTRONEO's directorial debut Kryptonite!, a refreshing and whimsical portrait of ‘70s Naples in its hippie heyday; and The Cardboard Village, the latest feature from Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or and Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Ermanno OLMI.

“The focus programme ‘Italian Landscape 2008’, held during the 33rd Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2009, was very well received. Our audiences have always loved Italian films and filmmakers so this new collaboration is a logical step," commented Roger GARCIA, Executive Director of the HKIFFS. “With Cine Italiano! we hope to continue the HKIFFS’s tradition of introducing local audiences to rarely seen but outstanding and fascinating works of world cinema.”

“Cinema enjoys a long history in Italy, and Cine Italiano! provides a unique opportunity for new Italian films to receive unprecedented exposure in Asia,” said Matteo FAZZI, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong. “It has been a pleasure collaborating with the HKIFFS, whose curatorship made possible this exchange of cultures. The Institute looks forward to presenting a diversity of events in Hong Kong in the future, covering all aspects of Italian culture, from film and theatre to music and visual arts.”

The full programme can be viewed at www.cine-italiano.hk. Synopses of the films are enclosed in the Appendix. Tickets are now available at www.thegrandcinema.com.hk and the box office of The Grand Cinema.