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An ambitious project, originated from producer Cristiano Bortone’s Bridging the Dragon association, has adapted Alberto Simone’s novel “Un Amore a Roma” into “The Italian Recipe”, a film co-produced by Italy and China, and developed for the Chinese market. Very aptly, the movie will open with its World Premiere Screening, the 24th edition of the Udine Far East Film Festival, following by its release in thousands of Chinese cinemas.

“The Italian Recipe” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival

Two very different young Chinese citizens are struggling to understand their life path in two very far apart corners of the world. Peng (Liu Xun), in Beijing, is an emerging popstar, completely englobed in the stardom system machine, guided by his agent Pete (Wu Yingzhe) and dependent on social media analytics. He is good but not good enough to surpass some of his peers that seem to have a...

On Friday 22 April the awaited world premiere of “The Italian Recipe”, directed by director Hou Zuxin and shot in Rome, will officially open the Far East Film Festival 24th edition. An irresistible Chinese romantic comedy that, after the Feff, will be released at home in thousands of cinemas, bringing with it a lot of Italy: the locations, the crew and, the co-production. In fact, alongside China we find Cristiano Bortone’s Orisa Produzioni and Roberta Manfredi and Alberto Simone’s Dauphine Film Company, with Rai Cinema and with the support of the Lazio Region, Fondo Lazio Cinema International and the support of Roma Lazio Film Commission (and Lightburst Pictures in Berlin). Liu Xun and Huang Yao (applauded at Feff 19 for “The Crossing”) give life to a brilliant pair game and give us a very contemporary variation on the theme of Roman Holidays!

The chosen title for the Closing Night on...

The film, produced by Cristiano Bortone for Orisa Produzioni, is a romantic comedy directed by Chinese filmmaker Zuxin Hou and is also being co-produced by Germany. The shoot has got under way in Rome for The Italian Recipe, the second official co-production between Italy and China, following Coffee (see the news), produced by Cristiano Bortone (of Orisa Produzioni) together with Dauphine Film Company, Rai Cinema, Beijing-based Wd Pictures, Lightburst Pictures (Berlin) and Fun Age Kaixin Mahua, one of the main distributors of comedy flicks in China. In the film, which will unfold over the course of a single night, the city of Rome serves as a backdrop for the love story between a famous Chinese pop singer who has sold out to the glitz and glamour of showbusiness and a Cinderella type who secretly dreams of becoming a successful chef. The director of The Italian Recipe...

All week our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Click here for a complete list of our essays. When I picked this year, it was under the mistaken assumption that we were writing on the best film of a year, and not the best film year in general. But having realized the mistake, I stand by my choice. 1995 is still the best! Straight up: 1995 wins, because Todd Haynes’s “[Safe]" is still my favorite film to have come out since, Idk, I’ve been alive. It’s deeply self-conscious about genre, while still managing to not really resemble anything I’ve ever seen. It’s the perfect film about L.A.; about how space is mobilized in cinema; about the environment; about Gothic horror; about white femininity; about film bodies; about falling in love in the movies. It’s Todd Motherf*#@$^ Haynes’s best film.