Bob Cornwell reports on The Noir in Festival, Courmayeur, Italy...
'Giallo', 'gialli' in the Italian plural, 'noir' in France and across the world; it is interesting, is it not, that these terms, applied widely to both crime film and literature, in fact mostly derive from literary sources. 'Noir', of course, is strongly associated with 'Série Noire', the iconic French crime imprint created by Marcel Duhamel in 1945. 'Gialli', even earlier, originates with key Italian publisher Mondadori, who in 1929 under editor Alberto Tedeschi first established the 'Il Libri Gialli" crime imprint, published weekly and recognised by their distinctive yellow ('giallo') covers.
It is somehow fitting that these two traditions (in both film and literature) should meet on an annual basis at the Noir in Festival based in Courmayeur, the Italian Alpine town (and ski resort!), just south of the Mont Blanc tunnel that connects France and Italy.
Perhaps best known as a film festival (show-biz weekly Variety has it listed amongst the Top Ten of the world's film festivals), the Noir in Festival does, by all accounts, pull off a wildly successful blend of both crime screen and crime writing. It is a blend that over the years has particularly impressed two of its most ardent UK supporters, Film London's Adrian Wootton and MaxCrime's Maxim Jakubowski. For it is not merely coincidental that both were key instigators in two events that bear traces of that Italian influence, Nottingham's Shots in the Dark (from 1993), and London's Crime Scene.
A key event of the opening day (December 7th) was the presentation by director Daniel Barber and Michael Caine (the latter sadly only on film) of Harry Brown, Caine's new film showing publicly for the first time in Italy. The succeeding six days have seen another 28 new films, both fiction and documentary, all premières like Harry Brown, along with new episodes from six TV series that include CSI: Las Vegas, and two episodes from Crimini 2, the second series to be co-ordinated by Giancarlo de Cataldo and featuring contributions from not only de Cataldo but also Carlo Lucarelli, Giampiero Rigosi, Massimo Carlotto, Gianrico Carofiglio and Giorgio Faletti. Other screen events include a short retrospective of Spanish police dramas made during the Franco-dominated 1950s.
This year the peerless James Sallis, following in the distinguished footsteps of such as Krzysztof Kieslowski, Gillo Pontecorvo, Jules Dassin, Donald Westlake and Dario Argento, was the president of the international jury that would finally determine the winners of the five key film awards made at Sunday's closing events. Sallis, of course, had his own events, including one at which he talked about the much anticipated movie by highly-rated UK director Neil Marshall of Drive, Sallis's 2006 novel. Perhaps a screening at next year's festival?
Other literary events featured another 29 writers including representatives of many crime- or noir-writing nations. Germany's Sebastian Fitzek , for instance, Spain's Juan Madrid, the UK's Matt Haig and Tarquin Hall, along with (amongst many other Italian writers) Marcello Fois and a panel representing noir fiction from Sardinia. Adrian Wootton's presentation on Raymond Chandler, Maxim tells me, was well received.
It is also fitting that three of Italy's foremost crime fiction prizes should be presented at the festival. All five finalists (Elisabetta Bucciarelli, Marco Vichi, Donato Carrisi, Ugo Barbàra, Maurizio de Giovanni) competing for the 2009 Giorgio Scerbanenco prize for the best Italian crime novel of the year were present at the festival. The prize is named after a key figure in the development of Italian crime-writing, perhaps best-known for his series featuring Duca Lamberti.
The selection process is also fascinating. Gian Franco Orsi, himself a past director of Il Mondadori Giallo, is a regular on the Scerbanenco jury (amongst others and alongside, interestingly, Giorgio's daughter Cecilia, one of Italy's most prominent translators). 68 books were nominated by Italian publishers from which the jury chose twenty. Those titles are then voted on by visitors to the website of the Noir in Festival (see below). The top five then go forward to the Festival for the jury to make its final choice. Recipients of the prize since 1993 (to name only the small minority that have managed translation into English) have included Carlo Lucarelli , Marcello Fois, Massimo Carlotto and Giancarlo de Cataldo.
The Alberto Tedeschi Prize, awarded since 1980, not always at Courmayeur, and appropriately sponsored by Mondadori, goes to the best unpublished Italian novel of the year – and the prize is publication by Il Gialli Mondadori, the celebrated imprint, renamed in 1946 and currently published monthly. Again only two of the many authors recognised by this prize have appeared in English: Carlo Lucarelli and Giulio Leoni.
Finally the Raymond Chandler Award, chosen by the festival organisers themselves, recognises (normally) a body of work from a celebrated crime writer. Recipients (usually in person) have included Americans Donald Westlake, Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos and Scott Turow. Italian writers recognised in this way include Leonardo Sciascia, and the writing duo of Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini. Brits include Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, P.D.James, John le Carré and Ian Rankin.
For Maxim Jakubowski, the Noir in Festival is "an annual highlight", with many memorable moments (many of them alcoholic): moving for instance from restaurant cellar (Courmayeur is a gourmet town) to restaurant cellar in the company of Peter 'Robocop' Weller and others, sampling ever more distinguished wines; the viewing platform near the summit of Mont Blanc where the mobile phones of both Maxim and Arnaldur Indridason rang simultaneously, only to find a welcome message from T-Mobile Italy awaiting them; the delegation of eight British crime writers including Stella Duffy, which ended with Duffy arm-wrestling guest of honour James Crumley – and winning! Not to mention sessions with Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino...
How friendly is the festival to the non-Italian speaking visitor, I ask. Very much so, says Maxim. Film are subtitled, interpreters are on hand for most sessions, all events are easily accessible to the public. Good films, great writers, authentic Alpine wine and cuisine (from the Valle d'Aosta region), magnificent scenery... What's stopping you?
Many thanks to Gian Franco Orsi and Maxim Jakubowski for their assistance in this article. Gian Franco has also put together the upcoming Crime Scene Italy to appear on this site in the New Year. BC
THE PRIZE WINNERS 2009
Giorgio Scerbanenco Prize
– Morte in Firenze (Death in Florence), the latest in a series featuring Comissario Bordelli by Marco Vichi, novelist, writer of short stories, screenwriter and journalist. The jury praised Vichi's "large-scale story" and his creation of characters of both "depth and human complexity."
– Also highly commended was Io ti perdono, Kowalski (I forgive you, Kowalski) by Elisabetta Bucciarelli for its "originality of writing and its psychological insight".
Alberto Tedeschi Prize
– Legame di Sangue (Blood Ties) by Roberto Riccardi. Riccardi is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Carabiniere and the publisher of its monthly magazine The Policeman, which first appeared in1872.
Raymond Chandler Award
– Leonardo Padura (Cuba). The award recognises a distinguished contribution to fiction over many years. Padura is now published in 10 countries.
Film awards included
Il Leone Nero (The Black Lion)
– Vengeance from Hong Kong director Johnny To
Il Premio Speciale della Guiria (Special Jury Prize)
– Black Dynamite, a satirical look at the blaxploitation genre from director Scott Sanders (USA)
Il Premio per la Migliore Interpretazione (Best performance). Shared between
– French actress Florence Loiret-Caille for her performance in La dame de Trèfle (The Queen of Clubs, Jérôme Bonnell, France). Loiret-Caille has appeared in Spiral, and in films by Claire Denis and Michael Haneke etc.
– the performance of director Emir Kusturica (but as an actor!) in L'Affaire Farewell (Farewell, Cristian Carion, France)
Il Premio del Pubblico (People's Choice Award)
– Harry Brown from director Daniel Barber (UK)
LINKS
Find the Festival website here
http://www.noirfest.com/movie.html
All Festival prize-winners are listed on this site. Further detail can be found as follows...
Giorgio Scerbanenco Prize
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premio_Scerbanenco
Alberto Tedeschi Prize
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premio_Tedeschi
