The Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis / St. Paul (IFF), the Italian Cultural Center's signature annual event, celebrates the best of contemporary and classic Italian cinema each year. In addition to IFF and the Center's ongoing Cineforum series, IFF also presents special screenings throughout the year in partnership with local theaters and community organizations. Following the wonderful success of our March presentation of Stromboli, we are delighted to continue the series with Giuseppe De Santis's acclaimed classic Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice) on Wednesday, August 26, in partnership with Archives on Screen, Twin Cities, at the historic Heights Theater.
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ABOUT THE FILM
Female rice workers in Northern Italy's Po Valley battle heat, exhaustion, and homicidal lust in this neorealist-ish pulpy melodrama. Jewel thief Francesca (Doris Dowling) escapes the police by hiding out among the rice harvesters, befriending Silvana (Silvana Mangano) until her ex-accomplice Walter (Vittorio Gassman) arrives on the scene. Solidarity between documented and undocumented female workers is needed to fight abusive bosses, manipulative male lovers, and a rice heist that would rob the women of their meager wages. This steamy classic is the perfect screening for late August!
