Monday October 14, 2019 | 7:00 PM | The Hiland Theater, 4800 Central Ave SE | Advance tickets $10 at www.holdmyticket.com $12 at the door. Albuquerque is the first stop on director/screenwriter/actor Massimiliano Finazzer Flory’s tour of the Southwest, organized by the Italian Cultural Institute, Los Angeles to commemorate the 500^th year since Leonardo da Vinci’s death with select screenings of his award-winning film.

The tour also celebrates the 19^th annual Italian Language Week in the World.  Finazzer Flory, the film’s writer and director, plays the role of da Vinci in his unique documentary that takes viewers inside the mind of this genius of the High Renaissance.  Finazzer Flory will be present at the film for a Q and A.

The “Being Leonardo” film event in Albuquerque is presented by Italian Festivals of New Mexico (IFNM) and the Italian Cultural Institute, Los Angeles, and is sponsored in part by Courtyard by Marriott Albuquerque.  Proceeds from the Albuquerque event will benefit the children of NDI New Mexico.

The film will also screen in Santa Fe (October 15), Las Vegas (October 17), Los Angeles (October 18) and Orange County (October 20) in collaboration with Tourism and the City of Santa Fe, Casa Italiana Las Vegas, and with UCLA and the Bowers Museum.

Being Leonardo, an impossible interview was produced in 2019 in Italy in collaboration with RAI Cinema, with the patronage of the National Committee for the Celebrations of the 500^th Anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. Released in May, the film has already been awarded Winner Best Indie Filmmaker - New York Film Awards 2019; Winner Best Actor - Los Angeles Actors Awards 2019; Winner Honorable Mention: Narrative Film - Los Angeles Film Awards 2019; Winner Award of Excellence - Vegas Movie Awards 2019; Winner Best Narrative Feature - Los Angeles International Film Festival 2019.

Finazzer Flory, who lives and works in New York and Milan, wrote the original screenplay using original texts by da Vinci.  All sets and works of art in the film are authentic, and all costumes are true to the period.  Finazzer Flory’s remarkable portrayal of da Vinci is definitive.  In the film, two journalists from New York and Milan, unaware of each other, are looking for a scoop for the 500^th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death.  Their research leads them to da Vinci’s final resting place where they meet the genius himself and are granted an interview. (80 minutes; English subtitles)

“We’re very excited to welcome Director Finazzer Flory to Albuquerque to share with us his extraordinary film,” said IFNM President, Maria Arancio Berry.  “It’s a rare opportunity that will add an important new dimension to our knowledge of the Universal Genius,” she said.