John Turturro: Voyages to Italy

John Turturro has performed in more than seventy films, ranging from studio releases (including the "Transformers" films and You Don't Mess With the Zohan) to more adventurous independent fare, most notably several features made for both the Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, and Barton Fink, for which he won Best Actor at Cannes) and Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, and Mo' Better Blues). His work on stage and television has won him an Obie and an Emmy. Turturro's first film directorial effort, Mac, won the Camera D'Or at Cannes, and his subsequent features, Illuminata and Romance and Cigarettes, launched respectively at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals.

Recently, the Brooklyn-based, Italian-American actor has been exploring and conquering Italy. His production, Italian Folk Tales, freely adapted from fables collected by Italo Calvino, concluded a sold-out tour of Turin, Naples, and Milan this past spring.

In the New York Times article, "With Turturro, Italy Knows No Bounds," Frank Lidz wrote:

He loves Italy with a passion that perhaps only the children of immigrants are capable of. “Many great Italian authors have never even been translated into English,” he lamented. “In the United States being of Italian descent is not a broadening experience. It’s narrowing, in that you’re rarely exposed to the depth and diversity of Italian culture. American culture is so flattened. I’m not so interested in being made into a pancake anymore.”

In the past two years, Turturro produced two personal, informative, and joyous documentaries on the vitality of Italian culture, both of which we are pleased to present in this year's festival. The first is Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy, co-written by and starring Turturro, and directed by the acclaimed puppeteer and theater director Roman Paska. Rehearsal follows Turturro as he goes on a journey to his grandmother's home in Aragona and prepares to make a film about the island's unique history of puppet theater.

In September, Turturro premiered his latest film, Passione, in the Venice and Toronto film festivals. Turning from Sicily to Naples, which he calls the "jukebox of the world," Turturro directs a non-stop explosion of Neapolitan music and dance. He blends archival footage with present-day performances captured in the streets of Naples. He appears on screen as narrator and, when the spirit moves him, dancer.

My goal is to have made a film that will speak to an Italian audience, and travel beyond, throughout the world, like the music did in the past. A musical adventure that comes out of the people, the walls that surround them, and the land they inhabit. The performers, some from Napoli and some from abroad, are not just singers in the film, but storytellers. The talent I encountered was surprising, inspiring, generous, and moving.... I hope we have caught something unique... Now it's up to you to decide.