Italian Contemporary Film Festival launches 2016 program

TorontoSun.com
June 9, 2016

The 5th Annual Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) has announced its lineup of 70 features, shorts and documentaries, of which 42 are premieres.

The annual festival celebrates the best in contemporary Italian cinema from around the world.

Over the 11 days of the Festival from (June 9-June 19), the films will show audiences in Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, the Niagara Region, Montreal and Québec City, a wide range of perspectives connected by Italian culture.

”We feel that once again the ICFF is bringing an exciting, relevant program to an ever discerning national Canadian audience,” said Paul Golini, President of ICFF’s Board of Directors and executive vice-president and co-founder of Empire Communities.

“Top tier artists, actors, and directors combined with a compelling Industry Day, make this year’s edition of the ICFF a tangible opportunity to engage both film enthusiasts as well as those looking to explore prospects in the business of film.”

Empire is a key corporate sponsor of the event and is “committed to cultural programming that promotes and encourages job growth in local community-based industries, and this film festival accomplishes exactly this idea on an international stage.”

This year, the Industry Day, which provides the opportunity to exhibit and explore the new screen technologies, will be held Thursday, June 16 and will focus on virtual reality and 360 filming.

ICFF’s opening film is the international premiere of the comedy Quo Vado?, an immensely popular film in Italy that is the highest-grossing Italian film in box office history. Screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the Italian comedian and star of the film, Checco Zalone, as well as director Gennaro Nunziante.

The festival opened on Thursday, June 9 with a gala at Roy Thomson Hall and will close with the feature film The Correspondence starring Jeremy Irons.

The film will be screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on June 17 at 6:30 p.m. and followed by the ICFF closing gala at 9:30 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Other films featured at this year’s festival include the award-winner Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot (Jeeg Robot), L’Abbiamo Fatta Grossa (with Carlo Verdone and Antonio Albanese), Chiamatemi Francesco and La Stoffa dei Sogni (The Stuff of Dreams with Sergio Rubini).

Tickets for this year’s Festival are now on sale. For full details and schedules, visit www.icff.ca.