‘Gorgeous Losers’ among the best: Tour de France kicks off in Italy | Culture

“Aspettando il Tour” was dedicated to the best films about cycling and parallel events on this theme: exhibitions, book launches, readings of poetry and even anecdotes.

Arūnas Matelis’ film “The Amazing Losers. Another Planet” was selected among the top 5 films of all time and was the only documentary in this group, alongside 3 feature films and 1 animated film.

France Odeon festival photo/Festival director Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, producer Algimantė Matelienė, director Arūnas Matelis, journalist Manlio Pisu

The director of the festival and the organizer of the program, Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, famous Italian director, producer, winner of the Italian “Oscar” – Donatello, co-founder of the prestigious Giornate degli Autori (Authors’ Days) program of the Venice Film Festival, head of the Italian Association of Screenwriters, said when presenting the film to the audience: “The Amazing Losers is a very powerful film with an unreal soundtrack. It’s an honor to have him in our program.”

The film was screened in Florence’s Piazza Ognissanti (All Saints’ Square), centered around the Chiesa di Ognissanti (All Saints’) church, famous for the masterpieces of Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli.

The film was presented and questions were answered by director Arūnas Matelis, film producer Algimantė Matelienė, legendary cyclist Edita Pučinskaitė, and the audience was greeted by Lithuanian Honorary Consul in Florence Enrico Palasciano. The conversation was moderated by Francesco Ranieri Martinotti together with journalist and writer Manlio Pis.

As A. Matelis said: “It is a great honor to be among the five best films of all time, and “Losers” is here as a great-great-grandson, compared to 1948. feature film “Totò al Giro d’Italia”. Everything created an unreal impression: the legendary square and the open-air movie in it, the sound of the ambulances from the movie interspersed with real sirens and church bells echoing in the city, the atmosphere created in the city by an unparalleled number of cycling fans.”

The presentation of the film and the authors’ participation in the festival were supported by the Lithuanian Film Center together with the French Cultural Institute in Florence.