Vincenzo Mollica: A Lifetime of Passionate Storytelling in Entertainment

Vincenzo Mollica will receive a lifetime achievement award, the David di Donatello. Because "for over 40 years he has passionately and soberly, with enthusiasm and expertise, narrated the world of entertainment. His unique style, empathy, and the art of interviewing have been an example for decades for those who have embarked on a career in journalism". This is the motivation of Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Cinema Academy. An Award that Vincenzo Mollica never imagined he could receive. "If I had dreamed it, I would have fallen out of bed!". To Corriere della Sera he describes himself as an "impressionist and impressionable reporter: always ready to narrate a character and his art, making me emotional". The historic Rai journalist will be awarded next Friday at Teatro 5, where the maestro filmed his most important movies. "It's a magical place, so many memories," he tells again to Corriere della Sera "There I saw him filming, thinking, working; it was his second home. I accompanied him to Cinecittà many times, sometimes we came by subway, other times we got lost in the car, he made me turn here and there and we ended up in the suburbs. He had his own intimate, personal geography, made of suggestions, of visions. At night we would go up a hill in Rome and stay to contemplate that bizarre landscape, for him always full of life. He used to say: 'the only true realist is the visionary'." Cannes Film Festival, Venice, the Oscar night. When Vincenzo Mollica opens his suitcase of memories, you just have to listen with awe. One of these memories is about Benigni. "Two days before they handed him the statuette. We had to do an interview on Sunset Boulevard and we had an appointment in front of a big hotel: the extraordinary thing is that he was coming on foot and as they recognized him, cars would throw themselves towards the sidewalk to celebrate him. It was a beautiful moment". For Vincenzo Mollica the best actors are "Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren in all the movies they made together. Giulietta Masina was amazing: Charlot in a skirt, Charlie Chaplin said of her. And then Anna Magnani, with the poetry she carries with her when she appears, it seems like a spell". How is Vincenzo Mollica today? "I go on with Mr Parkinson and Miss Blindness, I try to get along with them. There are darker days and brighter days, peace is never made. I hope they don't accompany me in the afterlife and are stopped before". And if he could see again with his eyes, no doubt: "I would look at my wife Rosemarie and my daughter Caterina, the blessing of my life, the best movie that ever happened to me in life".