In the picturesque setting of the Baia del Silenzio, in Sestri Levante, the Riviera International Film Festival was held again this year from 9 to 14 May. It is a committed cinema with educational and informative purposes for society.
The Ligurian town is the cradle of the kermis featuring the so-called rebel cinema filmed worldwide by emerging young directors under 35. Documentaries, short films, and more than 30 films that go beyond the ordinary with a diligent focus on the social and environmental issues of most significant concern. Meetings with directors, actors from Italy and international cinema, crowned by an exclusive final awards evening.
La caccia (The hunt) is among the out-of-competition projections, followed by an interview with director Bocci. After A Tor Bella Monaca non piove mai, Marco Bocci plays the director role for the second time. It is a challenging step that denotes a certain maturity in his career, but one that has been a long time coming. Bocci is not a casual entrant into the film industry and television. The talented actor, a well-known face on the big screen and TV, has a respectable career behind him.
Marco Bocci theatre, cinema and TV actor
He grew up, trained and graduated in Acting at the Conservatorio Teatrale d’Arte Drammatica in Rome, La Scaletta. His work ground is the theatre, where he experiments and gains experience, acquiring the awareness of a complete artist capable of playing any role. He made his debut in his early twenties in Pupi Avati’sI cavalieri che fecero l’impresa. His real success came with the Spanish soap opera Los Borgia in 2006 and, in the same year, with the Italian mini-series Lo zio d’America 2. The year 2006, a particularly fruitful year for Marco Bocci, allowed him to join the cast of the fiction Caterina e le sue figlie 2.
He became even more popular with the TV series Romanzo Criminale in 2008. Then it was the turn of the series Ho sposato uno sbirro, in which he was engaged between 2008 and 2010, and he later launched himself into the world of cinema with the brilliant comedy C’è chi dice no. And again, La bella società (2010), Scusate se esisto! (2014), Italo (2015), Solo (2016) and Bastardo a mano armata (2021).
Marco Bocci from actor to director
A Tor Bella Monaca non piove mai
After a long and promising professional career, he took his first steps as a director. Directing the 2019 film A Tor Bella Monaca non piove mai, he ventures into the actual birth of a movie. From the paper to the film product, from the setting to the interpretation of the actors, the framing, the narration, and the direction of the filming arriving at the editing is no easy feat.
Nevertheless, Bocci has masterfully created a delicate, complex film that delves into the human soul. The setting in the Roman suburbs, which embody the emblem of social troubles, is a choice that undoubtedly calls for a more significant commitment to portraying the vivid colours and feelings of a neighbourhood in Rome far removed from the times and stories of Fellini’s La dolce vita. It is a profound analysis and a keen eye on the problems of a borderline world where illegality is just around the corner to make ends meet.
La caccia
Only four years later, the success of 2023 is his second directorial performance in La Caccia (namely The hunt), a film not to be missed. Bocci returns to the theme of complicated family relationships and the inadequacy of an anaffective father who expresses his strict personality through his passion for hunting. He directs, scripts and subjects a drama in which, like an alchemist, he succeeds in centring and balancing the scenic presences of the characters without anyone standing out above the others.
Four brothers still bearing a heavy burden, a childhood that clipped their wings. They have the ever-present sword of Damocles and the spectre of a father who imprisoned them in their insecurities and weaknesses. The hunt is a metaphor for the search for stability in an inadequacy that marks this family. Ultimately, it is a cross-section of our society, which, amidst precariousness and uncertainties, is constantly travailing and surviving in an eternal struggle.
It is a meticulous study, where Bocci is attentive to the smallest detail and capable of exploring the human soul and mind like a few. We are dealing with a structured project by a sensitive person, even before being a good and experienced director, of an artist who has reached a remarkable level in human and professional terms.
