Mr Volare: The Story of Domenico Modugno

[Volare: La grande storia di Domenico Modugno]

Country: Italy Year: 2013 Duration: 2 x 100 mins (with 15 min intermission) Language: Italian with English subtitles Genre Drama Director: Riccardo Milani Cast: Giuseppe Fiorello, Kasia Smutniak Classification Exemption: 15+

A man, a legend. Domenico Modugno (played by Giuseppe Fiorello) charmed the world with his serenading voice, his songs becoming the symbol of the Italian grandeur in the 60s. Modugno had a multi-faceted and prolific career. From a very young age he was driven to perform. Together with Johnny Dorelli, Modugno launched his career with the timeless song “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (better known as “Volare”), a song that received two Grammy Awards with sales above 22 million copies, and represented Italy in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest. Other songs “Piove” (also known as “Ciao, ciao bambina”), and “Dio, come ti amo” followed, while his hit song “Io” was sung by Elvis Presley in English under the title “Ask Me.”

In addition to his music, Modugno’s foray into the screen world resulted in 44 films and, in 1986, Modugno entered the political arena.

This tribute to the late, great Domenico Modugno charts the incredible artistic and human journey of a boy from the south of Italy who produced some of the world’s most recognisable songs. Screening in two parts of 100 minutes with a short intermission, this is a unique musical and filmic event not to be missed.

Australian Premiere
All non-English language films will screen in the festival with English subtitles.