Soundtrack Geek Goes To The Ischia Global Film & Music Fest!

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The middle of last month, saw the seventh year of a film festival I’m sure you won’t have heard of. Press coverage is minimal, perhaps due in large part, because it all takes place in a remote location, tucked away on the beautiful Island of Ischia in the bay of Naples.

The Ischia Global Film & Music Fest running from July 12^th-19^th, this year recruited another robust lineup of international talent and industry heavyweights for the informal extravaganza on the Italo isle. The “green island” was graced with the presence of a whole host of writer/directors (Paul Haggis, Steven Zaillian, Joel Schumacher, Dito Montiel and Marc Forster) Producers (Harvey Weinstein, Avi Lerner, Mark Canton) and of course movie stars (Rosario Dawson, Terrence Howard, Danny Glover, Gina Gershon and Michael Fassbender to name a few). The emphasis was certainly on informal for all involved.

This is more a holiday for a lot of the stars than a grueling press junket. “Ischia is a mix of business and holiday,” said Nu Image topper Avi Lerner who was there as part of the fest’s Global Production Summit. “It’s a great place to meet producers, directors, actors and develop projects for your next movie in a relaxed setting.” Those in attendance are rarely there as part of the hype machine to plug a project that’s coming out – Danny Glover and Angela Bassett, were there to lead panel discussions regarding the state South African cinema, Rosario Dawson spoke at length about the damaging effects of technology and the internet on today’s youth, and Joel Schumacher’s new film was so far from being finished, they couldn’t even show the half-hour special preview that had been planned.

This festival is presently, much more concerned with ongoing attempts at getting the flailing Italian film industry back in the game, like it was in the ’60s (they spoke often of the glory days of Fellini). It would seem that one way of doing that is star power as a means of raising awareness, and it’s a lot less about the scheduled panels and press conferences than it is about new deals being brooked behind closed doors.

In terms of what events the press could attend during the day, the schedule was haphazard at best. Every day, 11am panel discussions got bumped to 3pm, many of the scheduled stars were a complete no-show (somebody forgot to buzz Michael Fassbender’s room the morning of his junket to talk about Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and he consequently missed his own press conference).

For the most part it was all about the stars kicking back and mingling amongst themselves every evening for another back-slapping, heavy-drinking awards ceremony honoring one of the guests.

Despite this, I was still able to procure interviews with much of the top talent at the festival and over the next few weeks you’ll be privy to my discussions with most of the aforementioned power players, as they talk about their current projects, their careers and of course, film scores!

Check back this Monday for an Interview with one of Hollywood’s most versatile directors!

www.ischiaglobal.com

Other articles of interest:

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• Soundtrack Review: August Rush (2007)
• More Awards: Winners and Nominees
• Score Of The Day 0078: Mysterious Island (1961)
• Soundtrack Review: Star Trek: The Original Series Volume 3 (1992)

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