We made a weekend trip out to Torino to go to a Chocolate Festival, and ended up discovering a well-hidden (to us, at least) gem in northern Italy. The weather has turned decidedly cold now, and Torino is right up next to the Alps where it's about 8 degrees (Celsius) colder than Rapallo.
My first happy discovery was that we had arrived on Day 1 of the Torino Film Festival. Even though we have our very own annual film festival back in Seattle, the TFF has a bit more cachet (sorry, Seattle). I made a point to grab the festival schedule and schemed to see at least one of the films before our departure.
The Mole Antonelliana and the Cinema Museum inside were a big hit with the family. I probably could have lingered a couple hours longer if I had had the chance. They do a great job of presenting exhibits about the science and history of cinema technology, as well as exhibits on modern film and filmmaking. The whole place is both a museum and a temple dedicated to film and filmmaking. There are lots of hands-on exhibits to entertain children and grown ups alike.
The Mole has a popular elevator that shoots up the center of the museum and lands at a viewing platform that gives one some great views of the city.
I ended up seeing a well-made if somewhat inscrutable Hong Kong film called Love Will Tear Us Apart. I had a grand time mixing with a few hundred other film buffs. Lucky for me, the film had English subtitles. They also had Italian subtitles, but they were projected below the screen and were almost impossible to see through the rows of people in front. In the end the subtitles did little to help me understand the story. Still, it was a hoot and whetted my appetite for more film festival adventures.