The Viennale is delighted to announce another star guest: John C. Reilly!
The actor will present his new film TESTA O CROCE? together with directors Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi. All three will be present at the screenings on October 18 and 19 and will be available for a Q&A session afterwards!
TESTA O CROCE?
Saturday, October 18, 3.30 pm: GARTENBAUKINO (OV w/engl subtitles)
Sunday, October 19 8 pm: STADTKINO IM KÜNSTLERHAUS (OV w/engl subtitles)
The films of Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis are born of a rough magic: informed by folk tales and the timeless beauty of the Italian countryside, the duo craft bold, melancholy stories brimming with half-fulfilled dreams and a yearning for distant lands. TESTA O CROCE? is inspired by a true event—a rodeo challenge between Buffalo Bill Cody (a flamboyant John C. Reilly) and his cowboys, who toured Italy at the turn of the 20th century with their Wild West show, and a group of local butteri. From this starting point, the directors craft an unconventional Western, upending clichés of the genre to craft an astonishingly witty, song-filled adventure, where greed and the thirst for power clash with political dissent. At its heart is a couple seeking only freedom and happiness, their fate left to a coin toss. The true protagonist isn’t Santino, the reluctant buttero hero, but rather Rosa, a young woman brave enough to stand up to every man who tries to dominate or manipulate her—be it her husband, Buffalo Bill himself or even the ghost of her lost lover. Bathed in a raw celluloid glow, Rosa doesn’t just survive—she rides off into the sunset, proud and free, a true symbol of feminine empowerment. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)
In the presence of John C. Reilly, Matteo Zoppis und Alessio Rigo de Righi.