Tony Tharakan
In yet another setback forthe International Film Festival of India, renownedItalian filmmaker and actress Lena Wertmuller wouldnot be making it to Goa this year. The 77-year-old director, who is being honouredhere with a retrospective, forgot to obtain a visa andhad to return to Rome after being stopped by officialsat Frankfurt airport.
A name to be reckoned with, Wertmuller's absencehas come as a great disappointment to all lovers ofworld cinema at IFFI 2005. "It's a great loss. She is an avant-gardedirector. We were waiting to receive her at theairport when we received the sad news," ItalianEmbassy Cultural Centre Director Patrizia Raveggi told PTI today.
In a telephonic message from Italy, Wertmullerexpressed her disappointment at not being able tovisit India and exhorted Italian representatives hereto "embrace all Indians and share her love" on her behalf.
The screenings of Wertmuller's films as part ofthe retropective will go on as scheduled, Raveggiadded. According to Italian filmmaker Sergio Scapagnini,it is really sad "this stupid world still relies on visas at a time when we are dreaming of a world without passports."
"Lena had been very enthusiastic about her trip toGoa," Scapagnini, who is here for the premiere of hisItalian film 'Fire at my Heart,' said.
Wertmuller's iconoclastic approach to cinema hadearned her a sizeable cult following in the mid-70s. Her 'The Seduction of Mimi,' a comic examinationof sexual role-playing and political manoeuvering, hadgarnered Wertmuller the best director award at the1972 Cannes Film Festival.
Five of the Italian maestro's films - 'A ComplexPlot', 'The End of the World', 'The Lizards', 'SevenBeauties' and 'Swept Away' are being screened as partof a retrospective here.
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