Fashion Entertainment

(ANSA) - Paris, October 30 - An Italian publishing company wants to put Premier Silvio Berlusconi into the Italian version of a new French book on the world's greatest-ever outlaws, a French weekly reported Friday.

The centre-right leader and media magnate would join the ranks of Robin Hood, Calamity Jane and French underworld icon Jacques Mesrine, l'Express said.

According to the report, the unidentified publisher is eager to make an Italian edition of Laurent Marechaux's 'Hors La Loi' provided the author adds a chapter on Berlusconi.

(ANSA) - New York, October 30 - More than 40 landmarks in Italian neorealist cinema from Rossellini, De Sica and Visconti to Fellini and Pasolini are set to be be shown in New York in the biggest-ever spotlight on Italy's famous postwar film movement.

The October 30-November 25 showcase at the Walter Reade Theater, set up by Cinecitta' Luce and Italy's National Film Archives with the help of the Lincoln Center's Film Society, is entitled Italian Neorealism And The Birth of Modern Cinema.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 28 - American director Sidney Lumet will be the recipient of this year's Fellini Prize, a lifetime achievement award given by Italy's prestigious Federico Fellini Foundation.

The prize - a gold-leaf statue bearing a dream-like drawing by the Italian maestro - will be awarded on November 7 at the end of two days of events organised in Rimini by the foundation in the memory of the Oscar-winning Italian director.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 27 - Giorgio Armani may not be retiring yet, but he has begun laying the groundwork for his successors, the fashion mogul said on Tuesday.

In Moscow for a show celebrating a banner year for the newly opened Emporio Armani on Red Square, the 75-year-old designer snapped at reporters who asked if he was mulling retirement.

''That's an impertinent question,'' he said, before joking ''look at me, I don't look so bad''.

(ANSA) - Paris, October 22 - The French capital is paying tribute to Italian cinema legend Federico Fellini with a series of initiatives marking the 50th anniversary of 'La Dolce Vita'.

Three months of events are planned, including exhibitions, conferences, debates, a DVD collection and a film fair.

The centrepiece of the celebrations is an exhibition entitled 'Fellini: La Grande Parade' at the Jeu de Paume which brings together over 400 items.

Film reel, photographs, set stills, posters, magazine covers, sketches and caricatures commemorate the life and work of the director.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 21 - US actress Meryl Streep arrived in Rome on Wednesday to present her culinary smash Julie & Julia at the city's International Film Festival.

Streep, who turned 60 in June, was seen at the airport donning her trademark scarf and glasses and stopped to bid her fans ''buongiorno''.

In addition to the out-of-competition screening of her new film, the two-time Academy award winner will be picking up a Marc'Aurelio lifetime achievement award for her more than 30 years on the silver screen

(Corrects Staller's age, 2nd 'graf).

(ANSA) - Rome, October 20 - Ex-porn star Ilona Staller is suing Sky Italia for breach of copyright in allegedly using her memoirs in its new TV film on the late porno diva Moana Pozzi.

Staller's lawyer and companion Luca Di Carlo claimed Tuesday Sky had used details from two autobiographical books by the Hungarian-born Staller, 57.

''What's more, they never contacted us to verify the parts of the film involving Cicciolina,'' Di Carlo said.

The suit also argues that Staller's stage name and 'cuddly doll' persona is protected by copyright at the Italian patents office.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 20 - Ex-porn star Ilona Staller is suing Sky Italia for breach of copyright in allegedly using her memoirs in its new TV film on the late porno diva Moana Pozzi.

Staller's lawyer and companion Luca Di Carlo claimed Tuesday Sky had used details from two autobiographical books by the Hungarian-born Staller, 47.

''What's more, they never contacted us to verify the parts of the film involving Cicciolina,'' Di Carlo said.

(ANSA) - Lecco, October 20 - Charity fundraisers in northern Italy have asked Hollywood superstar George Clooney for his wedding tie if he marries Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, the group said Tuesday.

The Polisportiva di Monte Marenzo, a sports club in the Lake Como town of Lecco, active in raising money for Italy's charity Telethon said they want to auction the tie to raise money for genetic disease research.

A letter addressed to Clooney's villa, which neighbors the town on the shores of Lake Como, asked for ''an object or item of clothing, preferably a tie, worn during the wedding that we can auction during this year's telethon in December''.

(ANSA) - Lecco, October 20 - Charity fundraisers in northern Italy have asked Hollywood superstar George Clooney for his wedding tie if and when he marries Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, the group said Tuesday.

The Polisportiva di Monte Marenzo, a sports club in the Lake Como town of Lecco, active in raising money for Italy's charity Telethon said they want to auction the tie to raise money for genetic disease research.

(ANSA) - Modena, October 20 - Maserati and jeweler Damiani have teamed up to produce a line of jewelry ''inspired by the world and elegance'' of the iconic Italian sports car.

Damiani will design, produce and market the line of jewelry which will be sold through the jeweler's commercial net work and by Maserati dealers around the world.

The licensing deal will initially run through 2011.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 14 - The following 14 films are up for the Marcus Aurelius best film prize at this year's Rome Film Festival.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 14 - The Coen brothers' darkly comic take on the financial crisis, Stefania Sandrelli's directing debut and the late Heath Ledger's first steps behind the camera are among the treats in store at the Rome Film Festival, opening here Thursday.

Ledger was taking a course in directing shortly before he died in January last year and his unseen first efforts will be on show alongside snippets of the Terry Gilliam film he was working on when he died, Parnassus.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 14 - A major exhibition exploring the dazzling life of Grace Kelly, from Hollywood star to European princess, opens in Rome this week.

Hundreds of personal items will go on display at Palazzo Ruspoli in a show entitled 'The Grace Kelly Years', which has already enjoyed a hugely popular run in Monaco.

''Princess Grace has bequeathed us an image of immutable elegance,'' commented French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand, who curated the exhibition.

(ANSA) - Tokyo, October 7 - Italian fashion powerhouse Versace will complete the shutdown of its operations in Japan by the end of the month, a company statement said on Wednesday.

Versace decided to withdraw from Japan earlier this year due to tumbling sales and in May closed down its central offices as well as its four boutiques.

All that remained were the fashion house's public relations office and other administrative departments.