Avati stings politics: "More for cinema"

"Red code" cinema and the difficulties of small production companies end up on the stage of the David di Donatello. (Re)raising the age-old issue, not without sparks, is the Bolognese director Pupi Avati. During the award ceremony for his career at Cinecittà, he gets a few things off his chest, becoming (for one night) almost the leader of the opposition. In fact, before receiving the award for his career, the filmmaker first teases the undersecretary for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, also from Bologna, sitting in the front row, and then 'calls' the secretary of the Democratic Party: "The best thing would be if Schlein called Meloni and asked to speak to Giorgetti about Italian cinema... that would be desirable, do you agree or not?", he concluded to applause.

An appeal to which Schlein responded the next day: "Dear Pupi, I'm in! We have already presented a bill to save and relaunch Italian cinema, ready to discuss it with the government. And congratulations!", he wrote on social media. A response that comes after Avati's digs at the government and Lega Nord's Borgonzoni: "Cinema Revolution is nice, but we need something more...", was Avati's debut, addressing the undersecretary who had just announced the new dates of June 8 - September 25 for the initiative to reduce the cost of tickets in theaters. "This party is fine, seeing the organization of this David as it is today is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't resemble Italian cinema - was the filmmaker's jab -. Here there is opulence, but in Italian cinema there are above all small and independent companies that are working incredibly hard". Borgonzoni smiles, while the applause rains down in the audience. Avati urges the undersecretary: "Applause, oh...". She is not flustered, but the day after Avati's j'accuse and the Bologna-style 'challenge' with Borgonzoni continue to be discussed. In the wake of what was said at the presentation ceremony by President Sergio Mattarella, who called for finding solutions to support the sector, Elio Germano, awarded as best leading actor for Berlinguer - The great ambition, also spoke out. The artist took aim at Minister Alessandro Giuli. "Concrete measures are needed. The opposite of the Meloni government, which has done nothing concrete but has only filled decision-making positions with friends and party cronies", wrote M5s leader Giuseppe Conte on social media, while the Pentastellati are asking Borgonzoni to step down. Minister Giuli recalled that work is being done to relaunch and protect cinema, underlining that the new interventions on Cinecittà are attracting international stars like Mel Gibson. "The opposition continues its policy of mystification", cuts short the president of the Culture Commission Federico Mollicone.

According to the data, the Cinema Fund amounts to over 696 million euros for 2025, higher than the National Live Entertainment Fund which has an endowment of approximately 446 million for lyric foundations, national theaters, music, dance, clubs... As for Avati, then, there are six works with public subsidies (from 2017 to 2023) of over 8 million euros. The last work, The American Garden, received ministerial funding for 1.925 million.