Two guys from Italy, and more

IT’S time to say “Buon giorno, Italia!” as the American Cinematheque’s Cinema Italian Style IV series goes into full swing this weekend.

Among the highlights is “The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio,” tonight at the Egyptian. Director Agostino Ferrente’s award-winning 2006 documentary is about the creation of a multiethnic orchestra composed of musicians from various cultures who live in Rome. The orchestra will perform after the film.

Screening Friday at the Aero are two dramas released in Italy this year: “Flying Lessons,” a buddy picture about two friends who fail high school and travel to India, the birthplace of one of the boys; and “One Out of Two,” a drama with humor about an attorney (Fabio Volo) who learns he could have a brain tumor.

Three films are scheduled for Saturday at the Aero: 2007’s “Napoleon and Me,” an 1814 period comedy starring France’s Daniel Auteuil, followed by “Salty Air,” also from 2007, a drama about abandonment and remorse, and 2006’s “Our Country,” a drama about a well-known banker in Milan who is involved in illegal activities.

And award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro will introduce the 2007 epic “Caravaggio,” a biographical drama about the life of the 17th century Italian painter starring Alessio Boni, Sunday evening at the Aero.

The Egyptian is also hosting Larger Than Life, a 70-millimeter festival featuring three films in their original widescreen format. It starts with Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 western “The Wild Bunch,” which changed the face of the genre, on Friday, and continues with Alan Parker’s audacious 1982 “Pink Floyd: The Wall” on Saturday. On Sunday is “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior,” George Miller’s slam-bam sequel to “Mad Max,” which was released in the U.S. in 1982 as “The Road Warrior.” Mel Gibson stars.

The seventh annual Hungarian Film Festival rolls into Los Angeles tonight for an eight-day stay at the Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills. The festival starts tonight with the North American premiere of “56 Drops of Blood,” a musical about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Other films include “Taxidermia,” a horror satire that is the country’s entry for the best foreign-language film Oscar, and Robert Koltai’s “Train Keeps a Rollin’.” Six of the films in the festival have been directed by women, three of which are debut features.

The Fine Arts Theatre is hosting the La Femme Film Festival, which kicks off tonight and continues through Sunday. The festival focuses on female filmmakers “who want to have an equal opportunity in commercial entertainment desiring to change, enhance or become leaders in the industry as a director, writer, producer or director of photography.” The 2007 honorees of the festival include director Martha Coolidge, director-actress Rosanna Arquette and actress Lea Thompson.

Elsewhere: The Skirball’s Cinema Z series presents a screening Saturday afternoon of Murray Lerner’s acclaimed documentary “Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue,” which features Miles Davis performing his renowned “Bitches Brew” album at the 1970 Isle of Wight Music Festival.

susan.king@latimes.com

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Screenings

Cinema Italian Style IV

7:30 tonight, Egyptian Theatre; continues at Aero Theatre, www.americancinematheque.com

Larger Than Life

7:30 p.m. Friday, runs through Sunday, Egyptian Theatre, www.americancinematheque.com

Hungarian Film Festival

7:15 tonight, runs through next Thursday, Music Hall Theater, www.hungarianfilmfestivalla.com

La Femme Film Festival

Today through Sunday, Fine Arts Theatre, www.lafemme.org

Cinema Z series

2:30 p.m. Saturday, Skirball Cultural Center, www.skirball.org