FIFTH EDITION OF THE MASTROIANNIMARCELLOPRIZE

Famous for his charm, his beauty and his skill, Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri on September 28, 1924 and died in Paris on December 19, 1996. He began making films as a child, appearing in some film scenes shot by Vittorio De Sica in the 1930s. If the handsome Marcello has acquired a certain notoriety in Italy, he will conquer it worldwide in 1960 as the main actor of Fellini’s masterpiece “La dolce vita”, and three years later with “Otto e mezzo” again with the same director with the who had a very deep working relationship and friendship. During the following decade and in the 1980s, Mastroianni’s skill traveled hand in hand with that of other monsters of Italian cinema such as Sordi, Gassman, Tognazzi and Manfredi. A tireless actor, Mastroianni was nominated for an Oscar as best actor three times, he won 2 Golden Globes, 8 David di Donatello, 8 Silver Ribbons, 5 Golden Globes, 1 Gold Ciack. To this must be added the conquest of the Volpi Cup twice and in 1990 a Golden Lion for his career.

“... It is necessary that all the intellectual forces that count in the area wake up and assume responsibilities for the youth ... With the common sense and the collaboration of all, every difficulty can be overcome ... My great sacrifices and the disappearance of Marcello led me to evaluate my feelings once again. Even our Marcello will end up in the shadows, because no one will think to take into account that he was one of the architects of the rebirth of our land ”. This is the heartfelt appeal of Umberto Mastroianni, Marcello’s uncle and internationally renowned sculptor, who gave the input for the birth of the “Marcello Mastroianni Research and Documentation Study Center” which keeps the actor’s memory alive and celebrates the unforgotten divo, in collaboration with Roma Film Festival, organizing the “Fontana Liri Prize for Marcello Mastroianni”.

Barbara Bouchet

Barbara Bouchet, pseudonym of Bärbel Gutscher, is a Germanborn Italian actress who boasts collaborations with directors such as Jack Arnold, Jack Lee Thompson, Otto Preminger, Bob Fosse and Martin Scorsese. Together with Marcello Mastroianni, in 1975 she starred in the film “For the ancient stairs” directed by Mauro Bolognini, playing the role of Carla, Mastroianni’s lover, in the role of Professor Bonaccorsi, head of a provincial asylum, who alternates scientific studies , aimed at the search for the causative agent of madness, at casual love affairs.

I’M Italian took part in the fifth edition of the award which was held on the 24th anniversary of the actor’s death by interviewing for readers Barbara Bouchet, an icon of Italian comedy between the Seventies and Eighties, who this year received the prize, and Adriano Pintaldi, the artistic director of the prize.