Palazzo di Cozzo screening

Length: 90 minutes

Booking link: https://events.humanitix.com/palazzo-di-cozzo

Screening at the SLEEPLESS Hub exclusively for the festival is this cinematic portrayal of an undeniable icon of Footscray History:

Madeleine Martiniello’s portrait of a beloved Melbournian, Franco Cozzo, offers insight into family, the migrant experience, and the mogul’s iconic furniture. A pioneer of low-fi television advertising, Franco's tri-lingual pitch sparked a cult-of-personality as kitsch as his baroque bedheads. Cozzo’s journey from rural Sicily to the high streets of Melbourne is a tale of tenacity that saw him become a household name. Overflowing with charm and heart, the man’s impact on our city’s history is unexpectedly “megalo, megalo, megalo!”

Aging patriarch, Franco Cozzo, holds court over an iconic furniture empire. A pioneer of low-fi television advertising, Franco’s tri-lingual
catchphrase sparked a cult-of-personality as kitsch as his baroque bedheads. But his character is more than caricature. Franco’s journey from rural Sicily to the high streets of Melbourne is marked by fame, fortune and family drama. With ten children and a cult status to maintain, he’s a busy octogenarian. Meanwhile, his furniture tells its own story about Australia’s immigration history, gracing the homes of an evolving aspirational migrant class throughout the post-war era. But what will Franco do when the world, and his clientele, begin to move on without him?