2019 Edition To Highlight the Role of Women In The Film Industry

Greta Gerwig and Sony Pictures’ anticipated remake of the American coming-of-age drama “Little Women” will have its Italian premiere December 27th as the opening night movie of the 24th edition of Capri, Hollywood – The International Film Festival. It was also revealed that in keeping with this year’s mandate to focus on the extremely important roles that women play in the entertainment industry, Italian film icon Sophia Loren will receive the 2019 ‘Capri Legend Award.’ Lina Wertmüller will present Ms. Loren with her lifetime achievement award on the evening of December 30^th.

 A themed forum on “Women’s Role in the Film Industry” is scheduled to take place during the festival which will be chaired by Italian filmmaker Francesca Archibugi with the Israeli music icon Noa serving as president. The annual cinematic event that will run through January 2, 2020 has become an important stop for films on the road to year-end awards and accolades.

 In making the announcement, Pascal Vicedomini, founder and producer of Capri, Hollywood, said: “In advance of its Christmas day release in the States, the film was recently chosen by both the American Film Institute and Time magazine as one of the year’s top ten films, and it has also received two Golden Globe nominations including Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. We are honored that Sony Pictures has chosen Capri, Hollywood as the site of its Italian premiere.”

“To play forward Lina Wertmüller’s concern about the continued need for diversity when she accepted her Oscar statuette from Sophia Loren at the Academy’s Governors Awards in October we immediately decided that as a result of her brilliant idea this year’s festival will revolve around gender equality by highlighting a number of the outstanding women artists and creative types who will be getting together on Capri over the year-end holidays,” Vicedomini added.

Written and directed by Gerwig, 2019’s “Little Women” is the eighth film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The film, which stars Saorise Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet and Meryl Streep Little explores the lives of the March sisters in 1860s New England in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It is produced by Amy Pascal, Denise Di Novi and Robin Swicord.

One of the most beloved and recognizable figures in the international film world, Sophia Loren is one of the last surviving stars from the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood.’ Her talents as an actress were first recognized with her performance as Cesira in Vittorio De Sica’s “Two Women” (1961) for which she earned the Best Actress Academy Award, making her the first to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance. She holds the record for having earned six David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress. In 1964 Loren was nominated for a second Oscar (“Marriage Italian Style”). She has also won a Grammy, five Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, a BAFTA, Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and an Honorary Academy Award in 1991. In 1999, the AFI named her the 21^st greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema, and she is currently the only living actress on the list.

The festival has previously announced four awards – the Best Ensemble Cast Award to Quentin Tarantino and Sony Pictures’ “Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood,” to Steven Zaillian for his Best Adapted Screenplay of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” to Paul Feig as the winner of the inaugural ‘King of Comedy Award,’ and to Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor,” which has been named the Best International Feature Film of the Year Award as it competes as Italy’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Oscars and  begins its run for the European Film Awards in several main categories. 

Organized by the Capri in the World Institute, this year’s edition of Capri, Hollywood - The International Film Festival will be dedicated to the Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo on the 100th anniversary of his birth. It is presented with the support of Mibact-Dg Cinema and Italy’s Campania Region in collaboration with numerous private sponsors.