DEADLINE: May 2, 2018

Description:

In the age of social media and selfies that can be taken and shared in an instant, the ICFF team is creating a chronicle of emotions, feelings and thoughts from Italians or those who have visited or experienced Italy.

OUR ITALY will be a collective documentary by which the narrative material (the photos and the ideas) will be produced by anyone that has the desire to share their personal experiences.

The ICFF team encourages you to send us your videos that tell us your personal life experiences.

The top videos received will be selected to create a documentary that will be promoted and presented at the 7th edition of the ICFF.

Rules:

1. All the submissions need to be filmed in Italy.
2. You can only submit one video.
3. We do not accept promotional videos (ex. Tourism videos and charitable events).
4. Videos submitted must not have a resolution lower than 1080p (1920x1080pixels), and must not go beyond 7 minutes and 2 gigabytes. The acceptable formats are: mp4/mov – H246 codec.
5. All participants must fill out and sign the following release form.

Application process:

All submissions must be sent through the website https://wetransfer.com inserting the email address submission@icff.ca in the senders box.

SCADENZA: 2 Maggio 2018

Descrizione:

Nell’epoca della condivisione istantanea e dello strapotere delle immagini il team dell’ICFF si propone di realizzare un diario delle emozioni e dei pensieri degli italiani o di tutte le persone che, per un motivo o per l’altro, hanno soggiornato in Italia.

OUR ITALY sarà un documentario collettivo, dove il materiale narrativo (le immagini e i pensieri) verrà fornito da chiunque abbia voglia di condividere la propria personale esperienza.
Il team dell’ICFF vi esorta dunque ad inviare video che raccontino le vostre personali esperienze di vita.
I migliori video ricevuti verranno selezionati per creare un documentario che verrà promosso e presentato alla settima edizione dell’ICFF.

Regolamento:

1. Tutti i lavori devono essere prodotti in Italia.
2. Si può partecipare con un solo video.
3. Non accettati video promozionali (es. promozioni turistiche o di eventi caritatevoli).
4. Il video inviato non dovrà avere una risoluzione inferiore ai 1080p (1920x1080pixels), non dovrà superare i 7 minuti di lunghezza e i 2 gigabyte di dimensione. I formati accettati sono mpeg4/mov – H264 codec.
5. Tutti i partecipanti dovranno compilare la seguente liberatoria:

Modalità d’inscrizione:

Tutti i lavori devono essere inviati attraverso il sito https://wetransfer.com , inserendo come des
inserendo come destinatario l’indirizzo submission@icff.ca .

We’re so proud and excited to watch so many of the films screened at #ICFF2017 win major prizes in this busy award season in Italy. Films with the most nominations and awards include Edoardo De Angelis’s Indivisibili (Indivisible) and Paolo Virzì’s La Pazza Gioia (Like Crazy), but almost all of the films in our 2017 program were recognized in one way or another.

The Davids, Best Picture, La Pazza Gioia

The David di Donatello Awards are the Italian equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscars, and this year’s big winners were Indivisibili, Veloce Come Il Vento (Italian Race), and La Pazza Gioia.

Matteo Roveres’s Veloce Come Il Vento won 6 Awards: Best Actor (Stefano Accorsi), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Digital Effects.

Edoardo De Angelis’s Indivisibili went home with 6 as well; Best Supporting Actress (Antonia Truppo, SO deserved), Best Screenplay, Best Producer, Best Musical Score, Best Original Song, and Best Costume Design.

Antonia Truppo, Indivisibili

Paolo Virzì’s La Pazza Gioia (Like Crazy) earned five and it got the big ones: Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actress (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), Best Production Design, and Best Hair.

We’re very happy for Best Supporting Actor Valerio Mastandrea (Fiore) and Pierfrancesco Diliberto (Pif) for his Young David Award (In Guerra Per Amore), the winner of our Audience Choice Award.

In Guerra Per Amore

The Nastri d’Argento Awards (Silver Ribbons) are the oldest film awards in Europe and given by the Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani. The 2017 Comedy of the Year was L’Ora Legale (The Legal Hour). Indivisibili was awarded Best Story and Best Musical Score.

Ficarra e Picone in L’Ora Legale

The Globi d’Oro Awards are Italy’s version of the Golden Globes. This year, Isabella Ragonese was named Best Actress for her role in Fabio Mollo’s Il padre d’Italia (There Is A Light).

Isabella Ragonese (Il Padre d’Italia)

Ciak Magazine’s Film Awards are reader generated, and so a little extra special. This year, we the people voted La Pazza Gioia Best Film, and Micaela Ramazzotti best actress for her role in it.

Claudio Giovanessi’s Fiore won the Ciak Youth Award, and actress Daphne Scoccia, who played Daphne in the film won the Revelation of the Year award.

Indivisibili was recognized for Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay, and actresses Angela and Marianna Fontana won the Colpo di Fulmine Award, for best newcomers.

A very special congratulation to Indivisibili’s Enzo Avitabile for having won the award for Best Music from all four film award presenters.

Angela and Marianna Fontana with Enzo Avitabile, Indivisibili

If you missed #ICFF17 you have the opportunity to watch 2 popular films at our Cinema Under The Stars movie night.

 JULY 21, 2017
“IN GUERRA PER AMORE”
“AT WAR FOR LOVE”
8:30 pm Refreshment
9:30 pm Screening
5300 Dundas St. W.

AUGUST 18, 2017
“LA PAZZA GIOIA”
“LIKE CRAZY”
8:30 pm Refreshment
9:30 pm Screening
5300 Dundas St. W.

The screenings Free are free, with the option to purchase refreshments for $12. For L’Altra Italia members the refreshment is free of charge and includes: Slice of Pizza, popcorn, bottle of water, beer and Ferrero Rocher.

For more information please Click here: 

Toronto, June 21, 2017

The ICFF 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Chris-tian De Sica, IC Savings Award for Outstanding Career presented to Alan Barillaro in closing the sixth edition of the ICFF in Canada.

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival People’s Choice Award won by At War for Love, The Neighborhood’s Giancarlo Giannini, Franco Nero, Danny Aiello bringing home the Trilogy Award, Paola Cortellesi e Leo Gullotta rounding out the trophy winners for 2017.

Toronto – The King of Italian comedy Christian De Sica, was awarded the ICFF 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, which in the past Festival editions went to highly ac-claimed cinema stars such as Claudia Cardinale and Al Pacino at The Ritz-Carlton during the closing gala attended by 400 hundred guests.

When given his prestigious award by the organization, De Sica said, “I was enthralled by the warmth and affection that I felt during the festival from all the Italians I encountered in Canada and their energy.”

The actor proceeded to underline the fact that if this affection and enthusiasm was the same in Italy, the additional warmth and passion would lead to better things for the coun-try.

The ICFF 2017 Trilogy Award went to Giancarlo Giannini, Franco Nero and Dan-ny Aiello. The trio enthusiastically accepted this award, with Giannini giving personal in-sight about his career, Aiello giving a brilliant singing performance and Nero entertaining in true fashion with a humorous joke.

The three iconic actors were praised from the patrons of the gala, all starring in the film The Neighborhood that was presented at the Festival as a World Premiere and gained such popularity; another screening was added before the closing evening.

Alan Barillaro, in addition to winning an Oscar this year for Best Animated Short Film for his short Piper, received the IC Savings Award for Outstanding Career. Moved by win-ning this new prestigious award, Barillaro – who is also a director, animator and writer of many other successful titles designed by Pixar Studios – dedicated this award to his three children, “the message that Piper wants to give, especially to those that are young, is to never lose the faith and hope when confronted with the first real adversities of life,” said Barillaro.

The film by Pierfrancesco Diliberto, In guerra per amore/At War For Love won the Peo-ple’s Choice Award, by all the patrons that voted at the end of each film screening throughout the 9-days of the festival in the 6 participating cities.

Paola Cortellesi was awarded with the Special Achievement Award for Best Actress in her roles in the films that she presented in Canada, Qualcosa di nuovo/Something New by Cristina Comencini and Mamma o Papà?/Mum or Dad? directed by her husband Ric-cardo Milani.

“I never expected to feel such a large and warm feeling from the audiences, not only from Italian-Canadians but also from those that weren’t Italian – I think that this is beautiful and something I wouldn’t have thought,” said Cortellesi.

This 2017 edition was a festival record Festival: 180 screenings in six Canadian cities – Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Québec City, Vaughan and Hamilton – with more than 30, 000 spectators. A kermis dedicated to the best in Italian contemporary film but also includ-ing two retrospective as aspects: one dedicated to Vittorio De Sica (Marriage Italian Style and Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow) and the other dedicated to Dario Argento (Suspiria and The Bird with The Crystal Plumage).

“A remarkable festival that grows in prestige every year – balancing and weighing this sixth edition,” ICFF Artistic Director Cristiano de Florentiis continued to say, “that is a manifestation which plays a pivotal role in the promotion and key elemental aspects of Italian cinema and moreover, for our culture here in North America.”

As part of our From Bello to Beautiful special program, Tony Nardi won the Special Achievement Award for Best Actor in the film La Sarrasine/The Saracen Woman, di-rected by Paul Tana in Montreal, focused on cultural issues within society.

Acclaimed critic Jim Slotek presented the Film Critics Award in memory of Angela Baldassarre to Fiore/Flower, by Claudio Giovannesi.

Leo Gullotta won the Excellence Award for L’Ora Legale/It’s the Law, and was pleased to see the audience engaged and excited to host him here in Toronto, “I’ve noted and I’m delighted that Canadians are engaged in Italian films and it’s a pleasure to play a part in this,” said Gullotta.

The ICFF 2017 Best Short Award went to Office Kingdom, produced by Salvatore Cen-toducati, Eleonora Bertolucci, Ruben Pirito, and Giulio De Toma – a team of four young promising Italian artists, and graduates of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinemato-grafia di Torino.

Ruth Borgobello, director of The Space Between won the Award of Excellence, and was extremely excited that her film was so well received in Toronto, especially by the Friuli region, and in partnership with the Famee Furlane, the screening was a complete sell out.

“It’s amazing that there’s so much support in this city, from the Friulis as well as Toronto and Vaughan – it’s all so exciting and I look forward to the possibility of coming back with my next film,” said Borgobello.

The ICFF Junior Award was won by Come diventare grandi nonostanti i genitori/How to Grow up Despite your Parents by Luca Lucini. This aspect of the ICFF is dedicated to the youth audiences in Toronto, and occurs during the month of May.

The sixth edition of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival took place from June 8th until June 16th, during Italian Heritage Month, a month dedicated to the Italian cul-ture, and this year celebrating Canada and Ontario’s 150th anniversary.
For more information on the Festival please visit the website www.icff.ca.

About ICFF

The ICFF promotes discovery, appreciation, and pride in the diverse and ever-evolving Italian heritage in Canada. Inaugurated as a grassroots non-profit film festival in 2012, the ICFF has grown to be the largest Italian film festival outside of Italy.

Since its first edition, the ICFF has screened a collection of hundreds of feature films, documentaries and shorts from more than 30 countries. Every year it attracts an audience of more than 30 thousand attendees in Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, Montréal, Québec City and Vancouver, to screenings, workshops, industry events and galas.

The ICFF is proudly Canadian and showcases international films defying conventional perspectives on complex and challenging issues facing both the Italian and global communities.

About the 2017 Festival Sponsors

As Presenting Sponsor of the ICFF, IC Savings is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of filmmaking, bringing business and energy to Canada and offering festival patrons the opportunity to enjoy the best in storytelling through film.

ICFF is generously supported by The Ritz-Carlton Toronto, Empire Communities, Cityzen, Two Sisters Vineyard, and the official airline sponsor Delta Air Lines. It is also supported by leading partners, TIFF and Cineplex, and major partners Cinémathèque Quebecoise, Casa d’Italia-UNITAS, Cinéma Cartier, the City of Vaughan, the Italian Embassy, the Consulates General of Italy in Toronto and Montreal, the Italian Cultural Institutes in Toronto and Montreal, the Italian Trade Commission, the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, Rio Theatre and L’Altra Italia.

Media Partners: CTV, RAI Italia, CHIN Radio
Media Supporters: Panorama, ItalNews, and MyEtvMedia, Lo Specchio, Corriere Canadese
ICFF partners are: Ryerson University, Centro Scuola e Cultura, TCDSB, YCDSB, TFCA, ICCO, and CIBPA.

Ecco la lista dei vincitori dell’ICFF 2017

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Premio alla Carriera
Christian de Sica

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – Premio del Pubblico
In Guerra per Amore di Pierfrancesco Diliberto (PIF)

TRILOGY AWARD
Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Giannini, Franco Nero
per The Neighborhood di Frank D’Angelo

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Best actress – migliore attrice
Paola Cortellesi per Qualcosa di Nuovo e Mamma o Papà

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Best actor – miglior attore
Tony Nardi per La Sarrasine

FILM CRITICS AWARD – Premio della Critica
In memory of Angela Baldassarre
Fiore di Claudio Giovannesi

IC SAVINGS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CAREER
Alan Barillaro per Piper

ICFF JUNIOR AWARD
Come diventare grandi nonostante i genitori di Luca Lucini

BEST SHORT FILM AWARD – Premio al miglior Corto
Office Kingdom di Salvatore Centoducati, Eleonora Bertolucci, Ruben Pirito, Giulio De Toma

EXCELLENCE AWARD – Premio Eccellenza
Leo Gullotta per L’Ora Legale

EXCELLENCE AWARD – Premio Eccellenza
Ruth Borgobello per The Space Between

Media Contacts:

Giorgio Mitolo – ICFF Media Relations – gmitolo@icff.ca

Mia Foley – ICFF Communications – mfoley@icff.ca

On Popular Demand, We Have Added An Additional Screening Of :- The Neighborhood

WORLD PREMIERE

Directed by: Frank D’Angelo

Produced by: In your Ear Productions

Canada | 2017 | Action – Drama | English | World Premiere

Cast: Frank D’Angelo, Giancarlo Giannini, Danny Aiello, Franco Nero, Armand Assante

In Attendance: Frank D’Angelo (Director & Actor), Giancarlo Giannini (Actor), Danny Aiello (Actor)

Sponsored by

More Information

We are SO excited to have Paola Cortellesi join us for this year’s Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF)! Paola’s films Mamma o Papà? and Qualcosa di Nuovo – both appearing at ICFF – have her credited as both an actor and writer. Paola will be joining us for the screening of Qualcosa di Nuovo (our Opening Film) and for our Opening Night Party on June 8th, as well as the screening of Qualcosa di Nuovo and Mamma o Papà? in Vaughan on June 9th.She is gorgeous, talented, and beloved by fans, but it’s hard to imagine a more gracious, unassuming, unpretentious superstar than Italian actress Paola Cortellesi. She’s #13 on Ciak Magazine’s 2016 Power List, the star of dozens of crowd-pleasing and award-winning films and described as “one of the best Italian voices”!

Paola Cortellesi

Paola began as a singer at age 13 and went on to become a popular comic actress on television, where she showcased her particular talent for impersonations.

Paola as Italian politician Daniela Santanchè.

Since 2000 she’s starred in some of Italy’s funniest and most successful movies, early on in the title role of Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo’s Tu La Conosci Claudia? (Do You Know Claudia?) As Claudia, she’s adorably hilarious playing the girl that literally everyone in the movie loves and wants.

Tu La Conosci Claudia (Do You Know Claudia?)

Lately Paola’s career has been on fire, starring in two successful films that we’ll be screening at the ICFF, her husband Riccardo Milani’s Mamma o Papà?, and Cristina Comencini’s Qualcosa Di Nuovo.
In Mamma o Papà, she stars with Antonio Albanesi as a divorcing couple in the middle of a custody battle; the twist? In this custody battle, neither parent wants custody.

Mumma O Papa

In Qualcosa Di Nuovo, Paola stars with Micaela Ramazzotti and plays Lucia, a middle-aged woman who has shut herself off to the possibility of love after a big heartbreak, and has a fling with a handsome 19-year-old guy.

This year ICFF movie goers will have the unbelievable opportunity to get up close and personal with this Italian Cinema super star at the festival’s June 8 Opening Party as well as the film screenings.

Meet Paola Cortellesi

*The Istituto Italiano di Cultura will host a press conference with ICFF guest of honour Paola Cortellesi.
*Guest star in attendance. Subject to change at the actors discretion.

He’s Vittorio De Sica’s son,Carlo Verdone’s brother-in-law, and he’s the reigning King of Cinepanettone.

We are so excited to have Christian De Sica as a guest star this year at ICFF! Christian is an amazing Italian singer, actor and director who has taken on many different roles since his television debut in 1971. His father was celebrated Italian film director Vittorio De Sica, and Christian is helping us celebrate our Bello to Beautiful program which is bridging the gap between Italian classics, like the ones his father directed, and modern films.

Vittorio De Sica with his son, actor Christian De Sica

If you’ve ever seen one of the movies that are affectionately dubbed Cinepanettone, the slightly bawdy Christmas films that don’t have A LOT to do with Christmas, you know Christian De Sica. He’s starred in all of the big ones like Natale in Sudafrica (Christmas in South Africa), Natale a Beverly Hills, and Natale in Crociera (Christmas on a Cruise), delighting holiday audiences with the tantalizing stuff we used to think of as “bedroom farce”.

ICFF is proud to have Christian De Sica will be joining us in Toronto for the 6^th edition of our festival. One of the most famous actors in Italy thanks to his professional career, his true multi-faceted talent, and the popularity and box office success of virtually all his films, TV series and theatrical performances.

“I’m a street acrobat; I feel like an actor. I feel like a showman. A comedian. Someone who sings, acts, dances. A person in this profession should know how to do everything. […] To a certain extent, that’s how my father was, too, that was the school. Then, of course, some people do it better and others do it worse”.

Sabrina Ferilli with Christian De Sica in Natale a New York

Christian De Sica Fun Facts!

• His father, Vittorio De Sica, was one of the most important Neorealist directors.
• He’s married to Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo Verdone.
• Roberto Rossellini was his early mentor.
• He named his son, Brando, after Marlon Brando.
• He’s won 3 David Di Donatello Awards for acting.
• He starred with Johnny Depp in the English language hit, The Tourist.

Meet Christian De Sica

Presenter: Liam Lacey

Liam Lacey was the film critic for The Globe and Mail for more than twenty years, as well as contributing to various broadcast outlets and publications. He is currently a freelance writer, principally for the new film review site, original-cin.ca

Comedic and dramatic actor, loved by fans and critics alike, Gullotta won the prestigious David di Donatello in 1987 for the best supporting actor in the film Il Camorrista, and subsequently in 1989 he won the David di Donatello, likewise as best supporting actor for the film Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, which won an Oscar for the best foreign film that year. Gullotta has also won two Nastro d’Argento awards for best supporting actor for the film Mi manda Picone and for the film Vajont.

Meet Leo Gullotta

*Guest star in attendance. Subject to change at the guest discretion.

La Pazza Gioia (Like Crazy)

ICFF Festival-goers are going to GO CRAZY for this award-winning Italian comedy of the year.

Nominated for 16 David Di Donatello Awards, and winning 5, we cannot wait to screen La Pazza Gioia at this year’s ICFF! Paolo Virzì, indisputably one of Italy’s top directors, created a “Thelma and Louise” all’Italiana with two of Italy’s finest actresses; Virzì’s wife Micaela Ramazzotti. Ramazzotti and co-star Valeria Bruni Tedeschi show off what they know how to do best, each in her own special way.

In La Pazza Gioia (Like Crazy), Bruni Tedeschi (who has perfected the role of the over-wound and unstable woman) plays the institutionalized Beatrice; Ramazzotti plays her roommate Donatella.
Valeria sticks with the personification we expect from her but has never done it with this amount of explosive authority. The character of “Beatrice” is the product of everyone working on the movie doing his or her job really well. Virzì and fellow scriptwriter (director) Francesca Archibugi nail the dialogue in a way that tops what either of these accomplished screenwriters have achieved to date.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

In The Forefront, Micaela Ramazzotti

Ramazzotti, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of type-cast as the deeply depressed, tattooed and anorexic Donatella and any idea that she’s riding her husband’s coat tails has been long disproved. Her performance is award-winningly intense; she’s dug down so deep into herself to achieve this level of authentic bleakness that I can imagine it was impossible to completely crawl back out at the end of the work day.

Director of photography Vladan Radovic captures Beatrice’s true essence, the delicate flower /emotional train wreck that never stops moving, never stops buzzing, and couldn’t if she wanted to (and hence, the mental institution that is her home.)

Micaela Ramazzotti And Valeria Bruni Tedesch, La Pazza Gioia

“I fell in love right away with the film as soon as I read the script,” Radovic told us. “The cinematography follows characters and their constant mood changes throughout the film, but also through the scenes, and ultimately even in a single shot. There was one time that I invisibly changed the light during the shot because the character changed emotions while walking. I changed the light from warm to cold to follow his state of mind.”

He went on, “There are several scenes in the film where Paolo wanted to shoot in light that’s particularly special because it doesn’t last very long, for example, the scenes at sunrise and also the really long scene at sunset. For me it was a cool challenge and I planned my work to accommodate this requirement of direction that brought a special atmosphere to the film. We liked so many of the scenes we shot at dawn so much that we switched them with a lot of the daytime scenes and we did it knowing that we’d be facing practical problems for the implementation.”

To be clear, this is not a Thelma and Louise remake. The two mental hospital roommates break out and hit the road so yes, it’s #roadtripmovie and it’s #buddymovie and it’s #chickflick, but it’s so much more. Again, everyone who had something to do with this movie did a really good job, and the whole is much greater than sum of its parts. What a team! With Virzì’s brother Carlo Virzì creating the music for the film in the way that has changed Italian movie soundtracks forever, and cinematography from Radovic, perhaps the top DP in the business La Pazza Gioia is a clear “not-to-be-missed” highlight of this year’s Italian Contemporary Film Festival.

Guest Stars in attendance at the Closing in Toronto are Christian De Sica, Alan Barillaro, and more!

Watch La Pazza Gioia:

Micaela Ramazzotti and Valeria Bruni Tedesch, La Pazza Gioia

Toronto-born chef David Rocco has achieved world recognition in his career. Hailed as aa skilled Italian chef, his four television programs and four bestselling novels have made him known in over 120 countries across the globe. His programs dive into a love for Italy’s culture and way of life as well as the simplicity of its elegant food.

Meet David Rocco

*Guest star in attendance. Subject to change at the guest discretion.

Orecchie

We are excited to screen Alessandro Aronadio’s Orecchie at this year’s #ICFF17! Here are the top 10 reasons to add it to your MUST-SEE list!

1) Orecchie (Ears) was written and directed by Aronadio.

2) Aronadio is a Fulbright scholar (for life, he tells us), studied in Los Angeles, and is fluent in English.

3) The end of the movie is a kind of Rorschach test that Aronadio has created to evaluate our psychological evaluation of it. Did you feel hopeful or depressed? Aronadio wants to know.

4) Rocco Papaleo plays an unusual priest that believes that a lot of the Bible is nonsense.

Rocco Papaleo, Orecchie

5) Orecchie is a sort of philosophy lesson, referencing Nietzsche, for example: “You’re not more intelligent. You’re just unhappier.”

6) The movie’s star, Daniele Parisi, bears a striking resemblance to Aronadio, one that he insists is a coincidence, but we’re not so sure…

Daniele Parisi

Alessandro Aronadio

7) Parisi’s character has no name.

8) He wakes up to find a note on his refrigerator that says, “Your friend Luigi has died. PS I took the car.” But he doesn’t know anyone named Luigi.

9) Orecchie premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and went home with 3 awards.
10) Aronadio’s favorite thing about the film is that it was so lo budget that it’s his alone, didn’t have to answer to anyone, and could make Orecchie exactly the way he wanted to.

Showtimes

Actress

Plot

Every year five hundred thousand young people leave Italy and flee overseas. Among the new emigrants there are a lot of ordinary young people seeking their fortune. Sandro and Luciano are two of them. To start up a new business in Italy is an hopeless dream for young people. Now there’s a place instead where – Sandro and Luciano – believe that everything is possible, Cuba. But they will meet a beautiful, strong, sentimental italian woman, Nora, who is going to change their lives.

Director

Giovanni Veronesi

Giovanni Veronesi – born in Prato, on August 31, 1962 – is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director and he is the brother of writer Sandro Veronesi. He has written scripts for Francesco Nuti, Leonardo Pieraccioni, Massimo Ceccherini, Carlo Verdone, before being a commercial success film maker with Che ne sarà di noi and specially boxoffice winners Manuale d’amore and Manuale d’amore 2. His current partner is actress Valeria Solarino, whom Veronesi directed in Che ne sarà di noi..

Trama

Oggi molti ragazzi italiani lasciano il Paese natìo e viaggiano, sparpagliati nel mondo, alla ricerca di un luogo dove diventare grandi. Due di loro, Sandro e Luciano, vanno fuori dalle rotte battute dai loro coetanei e approdano a Cuba, all’inseguimento di un’attesa svolta economica. Ma il loro destino è segnato e s’imbattono immediatamente in Nora, una ragazza bella e irriducibile, sentimentale, estrema e italiana pure lei, che cambierà le loro vite.

Regista

Giovanni Veronesi

Giovanni Veronesi – nato a Prato, il 31 Agosto 1962 – è uno sceneggiatore, regista e atto-re cinematografico italiano ed è fratello dello scrittore Sandro Veronesi. Ha scritto sce-neggiature per Francesco Nuti, Leonardo Pieraccioni e Massimo Ceccherini, facendo an-che qualche cameo nei film che sceneggiava per loro, prima di raggiungere il successo come regista con Che ne sarà di noi, Manuale d’amore, Manuale d’amore 2 – Capitoli successivi, Italians, Genitori & figli – Agitare bene prima dell’uso e Manuale d’amore 3..

RÉSUMÉ

Chaque année, cinq cent mille jeunes quittent l’Italie et fuient à l’étranger. Parmi les nouveaux émigrés, il y a beaucoup de jeunes qui sont à la recherche de leur fortune. Sandro et Luciano sont deux d’entre eux. Démarrer une nouvelle entreprise en Italie est un rêve désespéré pour les jeunes. Maintenant, il y a une place où – Sandro et Luciano – croient que tout est possible, Cuba. Mais ils rencontreront une belle femme italienne, forte et sentimentale. Nora changera leurs vies pour toujours.

Directeur Bio

Giovanni Veronesi

Giovanni Veronesi – né à Prato le 31 août 1962 – est un scénariste, un acteur et un réalisateur italien, et il est le frère de l’écrivain Sandro Veronesi. Il a écrit des scénarios pour Francesco Nuti, Leonardo Pieraccioni, Massimo Ceccherini, Carlo Verdone, avant d’être un producteur de succès commercial avec et avec grand succès aux guichets et . Son partenaire actuel est l’actrice Valeria Solarino, que Veronesi a dirigée dans Che ne sarà di noi.

Checkmate

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 10’33”
Country: UK
North American Premiere

Jason Bradbury

Director Bio: Director Jason Bradbury’s work includes the 2011 short We Once Were Tide which gained distribution in three territories and has attracted 4.4 million views on YouTube. Over the past few years, Jason has directed and produced short films and music videos which include The Casting (London Short Film Festival) a music video for New Build Look In Vain and Nightwalkers for King Kong Magazine.

Chiaroscuro

Year: 2017  |   Duration: 10′
Country: Canada
World Premiere

Michael Pugliese

Director Bio: Michael Joseph Pugliese is a film maker from Toronto, Canada who’s wears his heart for film on his sleeve. Michael started performing as a child, landing roles in many commercials and independent films such as “Motives & Murders” (2012), “The Meeting” (2013) and “What’s the use?” (2015). As the years went on, Michael continued to grow as a performer, studying at Toronto and LA performing studios, finding his way to build his craft.

While his love continued to grow, Michael began writing screenplays. He wasn’t happy with the jobs he was booking and decided to create his own. As time went on, Michael completed a dozen screenplays, from shorts to features. He began developing the screenplays with a great friend, Prem Singh who shares the same passion to film as Michael does.

Chi fa Otello?

Who Plays Othello?

Year: 2014   |   Duration: 4’32”
Country: Italy
Canadian Premiere

David Fratini

Director Bio: David Fratini (Terni, Italy, 1977) works as director and screenwriter for TV and Cinema. In 2007, he directed his first short movie “Il barboncino”. In 2010 he directed the short “Realismo” and in 2011 “La domenica.”  These two shorts won several prizes as best movie, best screenplay, best music and was screened at several Italian festivals. Fratini also won several prizes as a screenwriter for short and long length features, in May 2014 he won the award for Best Story Screenplay at the Rome Independent Film Festival with the script for the comedy “Santo Vito”, written with Andrea Virili. In Summer 2014, Fratini finished the shorts “Danny boy – Come la neve”  and “Chi fa Otello?” for the Shakespeare Festival, Rome.

Cockles and Mussels

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 4’44”
Country: Ireland
North American Premiere

Bruna Barone

Director Bio: Bruno Barone is an actor, director and playwright. After taking his degree in Management Engineering, he graduated from Tasso Musical Academy in Sorrento.  As author and director he participated in the “Napoli Teatro Festival Italia 2015” with the show  that “P.I.A. – the Principle of Uncertainty of a Soul” and was also selected to participate in the competition “Inventaria 2017” with the pièce “Acqua Sporca”. He finally approached for the first time to the video production field during the international contest ‘Kino Kabaret’. He founded the ‘BRAVEMAN productions’ company.

FERRUCCIO: Storia di un Robottino

FERRUCCIO: Story of a Little Robot

Year: 2017   |   Duration: 6’30”
Country: Italy
North American Premiere

Stefano De Felici

Director Bio: In these last years, Stefano De Felici became part of Almòst VideoLab,  a digital maker collective, where he developed the short film “Ferruccio, storia di un robottino” which won the ABcontest Award at Casa del Cinema in Rome delivered by the jury Paolo Genovese, Riccardo Jacona and Carolina Crescentini. In 2012 he co-founded Seemars Video & Animation studio with which he made audiovisual research experiencing mixed media techniques both for television, as the “Cantiere” project with SKY Arte, and for installations and events such as the Virtual Museum of Save the Children during EXPO Milan.

Honest Frank

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 6′ 07″
Country: Canada
World Premiere

Danielle Heifa

Director Bio: Danielle Heifa is an award winning Italian-Canadian filmmaker from Toronto, Canada. In 2012, she directed the short documentary, Canary in the Mine, following the stories of victims of the Canadian asbestos industry. The film screened at festivals across North America, was awarded the Best Director award at the DOCUtah Film Festival and was featured in the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto.

Between 2014 and 2015, Danielle directed and wrote four documentary series for broadcasters Love Nature and Smithsonian Earth and acted as freelance producer for National Geographic. Her mother is an Italian immigrant from Cosenza, Calabria.

Gaiwan

Year: 2015   |   Duration: 4′
Country: Italy
North American Premiere

Elia Moutamid

Director Bio: Elia Moutamid, studied cinema at the Milano’s cinema school, where he earned two diplomas for directing. He also worked on several cinema stages with important Italian directors like Verdone and Bechis. Since 2007 he has produced and directed short movies and documentaries.

He is also interested in theatre, in 2008 he enrolled himself at the “Accademia della Voce” where he got a diploma for acting.  Moutamid has participated in Italian and foreign film festivals, winning several awards for his work.

La Condanna Dell’Essere

Agony of a Human Being

Year: 2017   |   Duration: 9’54”
Country: Italy

Adriano Morelli

Director Bio: Adriano Morelli, born in Caserta in 1994, begins working in the movies as assistant director on the set of “Perez”, the second film by Edoardo De Angelis, his older brother. He works again as assintant director for Edoardo De Angelis third film, “Indivisibili (Indivisible)”, which has received remarkable success. In the same year he decides to challenge himself directing his first short film “La Condanna Dell’Essere (Agony of a Human Being)” with Maurizio Casagrande and Massimiliano Rossi.

La Sua Africa

Sort of … Africa

Year: 2015   |   Duration: 3′
Country: Italy

Il Terzo Segreto di Satira

Director Bio: Since the opening of the YouTube channel (February 2011) to date, Il Terzo Segreto di Satira has reached 12 million total views, spread over about forty videos, with more than 150,000 Facebook and Youtube subscribers. Some of these videos have been retransmitted by some television shows (Blob, Ballarò, Che tempo che fa, Sky uno, L’Aria che tira) and quoted by major national newspapers (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, Il Fatto quotidiano).

Since 2014, the group has started collaborating with some television companies by producing videos, among others, for the “Report” Program by Milena Gabanelli and “Piazzapulita” by Corrado Formigli.  In 2015, for about thirty replies in the north of Italy, the show “Il Terzo Segreto di Satira Live”; A comic hybrid between screenings and live sketch performed by “known faces” of the video actors. In 2016 he made the “Biografie Imbarazzanti” series for Discovery Italia. They’re currently working their first feature film. In September 2013, Il Terzo Segreto di Satira received the ” Premio della Satira Forte dei Marmi –-Sezione Comicità sul Web “. In 2014 he received the Isimbardi Award from the Province of Milan.

Mamma non Vuole

Mamma Doesn’t Want Me To

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 10′
Country: Italy

Antonio Pisu

Director Bio: In 2002 he started his acting career by focusing on classical text scenes for three years.In 2004 he attended a course in cinematographic techniques at a “workshop”, where he met Film Director Mirko Locatelli and would become the star in the film As Before. In 2005, he attended an advanced course in dubbing, and worked on jobs such as Hotel Meina by Carlo Lizzani and La Figlia di Elisa by Stefano Alleva. He also appeared in an acting role in the tv show of RAI 1 On Your Behalf, earning him a role in the film directedby Emanuele Barresi There is nothing more to do. The year after, Antonio was on an extended tour of the show Perfect Crime.

In 2008 he succeeded in landing his audition to play the role of Cicci Dalmastri in the film Il papà di Giovanna by Pupi Avati, and later became the star of the advertising campaign Skoda.From 2009 to 2014 Antonio Pisu was involved in plays such as; Double Chat directed byGianluca Guidi; Pythagoras and the Magna Greece; Stupor Mundi; If you tell a lie, Say it even bigger; Moment of Madness and Double Cab. He also had roles on other television programs such as Domenica In, I soliti ignoti and Applause, as well as playinga role in the drama Welcome to table 2 and shooting commercials for Teletu and Mcdonald’s. In 2014 Antonio Pisu created and acted in a tv series entitled Low Budget, which aired on Universal Studios. In 2016, along with his brother Paul, Antonio Pisu founded the production company Genome Films, creating and directing his first feature film Noble Lies with Father Raphael, Claudia Cardinale and Giancarlo Giannini. Thereafter, in the same year, he directed the short film Mom Won’t.

Mannaggiamerica

Year: 2017   |   Duration: 10′
ICFF Premiere
Country: Italy

Roberto Zorfini

Director Bio: From Italy (Rome) he made his first short film at the age of 14 years he began the school of cinema at the Institute of Stato per la Cinematografia e Televisione Roberto Rossellini. From 1999 to 2001, he worked as a camera assistant in film industry Roberto Zorfini is a professional filmmaker with more than 20 years of experience in Video projects with a remarkable spirit of initiative, versatile and efficient, dynamic and elegant.

Roberto has worked for about 10 years in Italian broadcast RAI TELEVISION (2000-2010) in both at the camera and at the same time he made several personal projects as a Director. In Canada, it arrived in the 2010 it realized different video-advertising for different types of company. He also worked here in Canada as an author for RAI World. In 2013, Roberto Zorfini’s shortmovie “Imperfetto Equilibrio” wins a nomination Special at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (TIFF – Toronto). In July 2014, he won several awards in the 48h Project Project in Ottawa with the Short film “Alice” including “Best Director and Best Film.” In March 2015 with this film, Will participate in Hollywood as part of Apalooza film. In 2015 opened its own production company ABSURDE PRODUCTION – www.absurdeproduction.com In 2016 began to make short films with Kino00 In 2017, with his screenwriter Alessandro Mercurio ‘Grace’, he directed a short film Collaboration with Kino00 and OSM

Non Farti Fottere

Don’t Get Fucked

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 8’25”
Country: Italy
North American Premiere

Giovanni Iacarone

Director Bio: Born in Naples in the 1990, based in Milan. Graduated in Industrial and Communication Design at ISIA in Florence. He achieved a second degree at National Cinema School – Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. Now working as freelance filmmaker in the world of independent cinema and advertising in Milan.

Office Kingdom

Year: 2014   |   Duration: 7′
Country: Italy

Salvatore Centoducati, Eleonora Bertolucci, Ruben Pirito, Giulio De Toma

Director Bio’s: Salvatore Centoducati graduated from CSC Animation. With the short film “Premonition” is premiered at the 2013 Rome Film Festival. As recent work has achieved videclip for the artist Teta Mona “Stronger than pain” and co-directed with Massimo Ottoni the short film “Water hunters”.

Eleonora Bertolucci after the High School of Art in Venice, attended the CSC. He lives in Milan and works as animator for Ubisoft.

Giulio De Toma graduated from CSC. He lives in London and works as animator. Ruben Pirito after the High School of Art, he attended the CSC. In Turin he worked as animator.

Olivia

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 8′ 14″
Country: Italy

Alessandro Izzo

Director Bio:Alessandro Izzo was born in Livorno (Italy) in the 1974 where he earned an IT degree. He moved in Firenze to study at Scuola Internazionale di Comics and after several years drawing comics as a freelancer he started a collaboration with a group of young videomakers called “i Licaoni”. He has produced and directed feature length films (Kiss me Lorena, 2005 feat. Alba Rohrwacher, first Italian movie distribuited online), shortmovies (Last Blood, 2003, winner of several international film festivals) and webseries (Elba –Napoleon’s Legacy, 2014, among the ten most awarded webseries of the year).

Ratzinger Vuole Tornare

Ratzinger is Back

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 09’34”
Country: Italy

Valerio Vestoso

Director Bio: Born in Benevento in 1987, he is a screenwriter and director. He made several music videos and short films, including “Il Mese di Giugno” and “Tacco 12”. He wrote the play “Buena Onda” with Rocco Papaleo. He won the Solinas Award – webseries workshop. He directed many commercials for The Jackal. He also shot the documentary “Essere Gigione”

Semiliberi

Year: 2015   |   Duration: 10′
Country: Italy

Matteo Gentiloni

Director Bio: Matteo Gentiloni (Rome, March 21 1992).  At 18 he starts working as production assistant on Italian and International movie sets and commercials. In 2011 he attended the History of art B.A. at the Ludwig-Maximilian Universität in Munich, Germany and then the three years course of Directing (2013-2015) at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, Italy.

As director: Semiliberi, short 2015; La banda del catering, short 2015; Genitori VS Figli (web series) 2015; Il suo ragazzo, short 2016 (graduation work).

As production assistant on movies set: One day this pain will be helpful to you by R. Faenza, Posti in piedi in paradiso by C. Verdone, Una famiglia perfetta by P. Genovese.

As production assistant for commercials: Gucci Guilty by F. Miller, Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto by Nicolas Vinding Refn, Smart elephant by T. Singh, Borotalco by D. Luchetti.

Tangerine Crossandra

Year: 2016   |   Duration: 08’52”
Country: Canada
World Premiere

Kathryn McIntosh

Director Bio: Kathryn McIntosh was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on May 15, 1995. She’s a student at the University of Toronto, in her final year studying engineering.

Kathryn got her start on the popular Canadian televison show Mr. Dee. She’s an accomplished Volleyball player and former model for Vogue Italia. Kathryn broke into directing as an Assistant director on the short film The Hallway. After that, she collaborated with writer/producer Robert Misovic and was selected to direct her first film, Tangerine Crossandra.

Teddy Bear

Year: 2017   |   Duration: 1’37”
Country: Italy
North American Premiere

Hermes Mangialardo

Director Bio: Hi, I was born in 1975 in Copertino, a little town in the south of Italy.

I was 14 whem my brother took me to the cinema to see “The Wall”, and then my life changed.

I took a Flash animation Diploma at “Scuola Politecnica di Design” in Milan and in 2001 I started to product my own animations.After a Multimedia Design Master in Florence I started to write and developed many clips and animations, music videos and short videos that won many awards.

In 2006, with a crew of designer, I founded a multimedia agency, Plasmedia

(www.plasmedia.it).In 2008 I write and animate the short serie URBAN JUNGLE for MTV ITALIA, about the various metropolitan animals (Metal kids, Darkers, Indie kids, Emo…).
From 2007 I started my visual experience (best Italian Vj in 2009) and from 2011 my 3D Architectural Mapping experience.

Without

Year: 2015   |   Duration: 19’10”
Country: Italy
Canadian Premiere

Paola Sinisgalli

Director Bio: Paola is from Rome, she graduated in Economics for Arts, Culture & Communication and obtained a Masters Degree in Marketing Management from Bocconi University in Milan. She was the director of Marketing of ThinkBreatheLive in NY for 2 years. In 2013, she launched TheCreativeShake with her partner in crime Francesca Bianchi. She has managed and directed creative film projects such as “AirWC”, “End of Summer” with artist Dante Basco, and “ExtraVerso”, a crowd-funding campaign.

Synopsis

David is in Naples: one of the world’s oldest inhabited cities and a treasure trove for foodies and travel junkies alike. Famous for its music, museums, and thriving arts scene, this Southern Italian city is also the birthplace of pizza and espresso as we know it, making it the perfect place for David to embark on a culinary adventure. He uncovers hidden gems in the city and explores the surrounding scenic islands of Capri, Ischia, Procida and the beautiful Sorrento Peninsula. Through David, we get to know the proud and passionate Neapolitans and experience the real Naples: gritty, colorful, vibrant and full of life.

Executive Producer

David Rocco

Canadian-born celebrity chef, executive producer and author David Rocco brings his passion for food and healthy cooking to millions of kitchens every day, through his worldwide hit television programs. David is most known for producing and hosting the television series David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, and publishing four cookbooks David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, Made in Italy, and David Rocco’s Dolce Famiglia.

Trama

David si trova a Napoli per una nuova puntata della sua trasmissione David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, dedicata allo street food partenopeo. È arrivato in città il sabato di Pasqua e la prima tappa è stata la pizza. Prima da Sorbillo ai Tribunali, poi da Guglielmo Vuolo e infine da Ciro Oliva da Concettina ai Tre Santi alla Sanità. Gira tra i vicoli di Napoli, Bacoli e Pozzuoli in Vespa. Il suo cicerone è un altro influencer del web in materia di food, il napoletano Egidio Cerrone. Tappe obbligate per la Pizza fritta, Maria Cacialli e La Masardona: “The ultimate Neapolitan street food!”, scrive Rocco. Poi in Vespa verso Monte di Procida per provare i panini di Mazzella.

Produttore Esecutivo

David Rocco

David Rocco è un famoso chef, produttore esecutivo e autore canadese che porta la sua passione per il cibo e la cucina sana a migliaia di spettatori ogni giorno grazie ai suoi programmi televisivi di successo. E’ conosciuto soprattutto per la serie televisiva David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, di cui è produttore e presentatore e per aver pubblicato quatto libri di cucina di successo come David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, Made in Italy, and David Rocco’s Dolce Famiglia.

Director: Luca Lucini

Country: Italy
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 92 min.
Year: 2016
Production: Bianca Film | Rai Cinema
Distributor: Bianca Film

Language: Italian
Subtitles: English

————————–

VAUGHAN
May 4th, 2017
8:00 pm Screening
Colossus Vaughan
(3555 Highway 7 West)

TORONTO
May 12 th, 2017
9:00 pm Screening
Tiff Bell Lightbox
(350 King St W)

$ 13+hst Movie Ticket

*Once you have purchased the ticket, please print your receipt and bring it with you to the event. It will serve as your admission ticket.

Plot

Fabiola and Lucia have hated each other since their first meeting. Though they are completely different from each other, they share a man in their life, Paolo, Lucia’s ex husband, now married to Fabiola.

When Paolo dies unexpectedly, he leaves behind little Paolino, a half Chinese boy, whose existence had been kept secret from the women.

Lucia and Fabiola, though still overwhelmed by resentment, are forced to come closer.They must find a way to put aside their enmity and personal disagreements to raise the child together. They will find themselves inadequate in their new role as mothers, but will embark in a journey of self-discovery, growing fonder and fonder of little Paolino.

Eventually they will join forces to obtain full custody of the child.

Trama

Fabiola e Lucia si odiano da quando si conoscono. Non potrebbero essere più diverse, ma le accomuna un uomo, Paolo, che è stato il marito di Lucia ed è l’attuale marito di Fabiola.

Quando Paolo scompare lasciando in eredità il piccolo Paolino, un bimbo per metà cinese del quale entrambe le donne ignoravano l’esistenza, Lucia e Fabiola, anche se ancora animate dall’antico astio, dovranno necessariamente tentare di mettere da parte le proprie divergenze personali, frequentarsi e trovare il modo di coesistere.

Benché inadeguate al nuovo ruolo di madri, iniziano un viaggio dentro se stesse e finiranno presto per affezionarsi al piccolo, tanto da dovere unire le forze per ottenere l’affido del piccolo Paolo, che ha ormai fatto breccia nei loro cuori.

This week at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF), presented by IC Savings, announced our lineup consisting of 180 screenings, including features, shorts and documentaries, of which several are premieres.

This is our sixth edition of a Festival that celebrates the best in contemporary Italian cinema from around the world, taking place June 8th-16th, 2017 in Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, Montreal, Québec City and new this year, Vancouver!

ICFF will bring together film enthusiasts with some of the most influential and prolific directors, actors and industry leaders, including Academy Award®-winning director Alan Barillaro and producer Andrea Iervolino, who will participate in a special tribute to celebrate the contribution of Italian-Canadians to the film industry.

From Bello to Beautiful: The Art and Impact of Italian-Canadian Cinema is a dynamic 7-day free-admission screening series of a multitude of inspirational films in honour of Canada and Ontario’s 150th Birthday, opening this celebration with Noelle’s Journey, a documentary by Peter Gentile about two immigrants who left southern Italy for a new life in Canada.

The Future Ways of Living – a documentary by Marcello Ferrara and George Brown University, as well as Il Fiume ha sempre ragione/The River Always Knows, directed by Silvio Soldini, will also premiere at the festival as part of the Bello to Beautiful program. The screening will feature the publisher Alberto Casiraghi and will include a poetry reading by Rob Marra e Lucio Iacobelli.

Italian box office celebrity and superstar Christian De Sica, son of iconic director Vittorio De Sica, will be receiving the ICFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award, joining other screen legends winners Al Pacino, Academy Award® Winner Roberto Benigni and film star Claudia Cardinale. De Sica will also be presenting his latest films, Poveri ma ricchi/Poor but Rich and Fraulein/Una fiaba d’inverno/A Winter Tale.

“This year’s Festival lineup focuses on three aspects of Italian cinema: creating a bridge between the classics, due to the phenomenal presence of film royalty Christian De Sica, welcoming Paola Cortellesi, who will show the importance of women in film as they headline both the opening and closing screenings, as well as celebrating Canada’s 150th by showcasing the incredible contribution of Italian-Canadians to cinema,” said Cristiano de Florentiis, ICFF Artistic Director.

”We believe that ICFF – through the years – has strongly built its reputation within the Canadian audience and this edition is going to represent another great opportunity for the film industry to showcase its best,” said Paul Golini, President of ICFF’s Board of Directors. “ICFF 2017 will definitely shine thanks to its wide range of features, documentaries and shorts selection along with the presence of several protagonists of the film industry here in Canada.”

“The Festival has a very positive impact on Canada’s diverse economy” said Maurizio Magnifico, ICFF Managing Director. “With thousands of ticket sales, as well as the fundamental support of our sponsors, our festival not only aids the economy while supporting local businesses, but also draws international media coverage, visitors and attracts major attention from the film industry.”

ICFF will also honour De Sica’s father, Vittorio De Sica, a four-time Academy Award® winning director with the screening of one of his most brilliant comedies, Matrimonio all’italiana/Marriage Italian style. In conversation with Christian De Sica will also play a main role in the sixth edition of the ICFF, when he’ll openly discuss his work with the audience as well as the prolific productions of his father Vittorio.

ICFF’s opening film is Qualcosa di nuovo/Something New, a vibrant comedy directed by Cristina Comencini, starring Paola Cortellesi and Micaela Ramazzotti. Special guest Paola Cortellesi will be with us, known for her eclectic talent as an actress, singer, voice actress and presenter, and starred in over 20 movies as well as a number of theatrical shows, television and radio shows.

Other special guests of the ICFF 2017 will include Giancarlo Giannini, an Oscar® nominated Italian actor, director and multilingual voice actor who’s created an international reputation for his leading roles in Italian films, as well as for his mastery of a variety of languages and dialects.

The ICFF will also have the pleasure of hosting actor Franco Nero, who was discovered by director John Huston and became famous for his unforgettable role as the lonely gunfighter in Django by Sergio Corbucci and his acting performance alongside Bruce Willis, in Die Hard 2. Giannini and Nero star in The Neighborhood, the latest feature by prolific Italian-Canadian artist and filmmaker Frank D’Angelo and a World Premiere at ICFF 2017. The Neighborhood features Hollywood stars such as Danny Aiello, who will attend the screening with the entire cast of D’Angelo’s movie.

We are also excited for Director Ruth Borgobello to come directly from Australia, presenting to Canadian audiences her movie The Space Between – the first ever Italian-Australian film co-production. There will also be a World Premiere of Jackie and the Ladies: 65 Years of The Ladies’Auxiliary of the CIBPA by Diana Di Mauro.

We’ll close our 9 day festival featuring the film La pazza gioia/Crazy Love, directed by Paolo Virzì, and starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Micaela Ramazzotti, which won the David di Donatello for Best Picture – the equivalent of an Italian Oscar.

Parties

The ICFF is ecstatic to be once again planning our extravagant Opening Party and Closing Gala, now our festival staples. Our glamorous and star-studded events enable us the opportunity to continually expand this cherished reputation. This year, the Opening Party’s at QRC West and the Closing Party’s at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a soirée dedicated to walking the Red Carpet and rubbing shoulders with celebrity guests.

We’re so excited for the 6th edition of our festival. For movie and party tickets please visit our website at ww.icff.ca. Stay up to date with everything happening with our festival by following us on www.facebook.com/icffcanada, www.twitter.com/icffcanada and www.Instagram.com/ICFFcanada.

DANNY AIELLO

Danny Aiello is part of a large group of American actors with Italian origins that created the stereotypical Italian mob boss or typical pizza chef in modern film, by having the ability to bring these various traditional Italian characters to the big screen.

He made his big screen debut in the ’70s, participating in The Godfather – Part II. At the peak of her music career Madonna had Aiello play the role of her father in her music video – Papa Don’t Preach. The ‘80s are where Aiello gave his best, playing multiple feature roles.

His most famous role is most likely that of an Italian-American pizza chef named Sal in Spike Lee’s film, Do the Right Thing, for which he was nominated for an Oscar in 1990 for best supporting actor..Aiello also made himself a well-known film figure in his role of police captain Vincent Aiello in Sergio Leone’s best work, Once Upon a Time in America and for his role of Monk in The Purple Rose of Cairo oby Woody Allen.

DANNY AIELLO

Danny Aiello fa parte della grande schiera di attori statunitensi, di origine italiana, che hanno fatto la storia del cinema contemporaneo ed in cui ha ricoperto diversi ruoli dimostrando grande abilità nel portare sul grande schermo personaggi come uno spietato gangster o un pizzaiolo.

Debutta sul grande schermo negli anni ’70, partecipando anche a Il padrino – Parte II. La cantante Madonna – all’apice del successo – lo ha voluto per interpretare la figura di suo padre nel video musicale Papa Don’t Preach. Gli anni ‘80 sono poi quelli in cui Aiello dà il meglio di sé, interpretando diversi ruoli da attore caratterista.

La sua interpretazione più celebre è probabilmente quella del pizzaiolo italo-americano Sal nel film di Spike Lee, Fa’ la cosa giusta, per il quale fu nominato al premio Oscar nel 1990 come miglior attore non protagonista..Aiello si fece notare al grande pubblico anche per l’nterpretazione del capitano di polizia Vincent Aiello nel capolavoro di Sergio Leone, C’era una volta in America e per il ruolo di Monk in La rosa purpurea del Cairo di Woody Allen.

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival [ICFF] cordially invites you to our press conference at The Ritz‐Carlton on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. We will unveil this year’s line‐up of film premieres for the 6th edition of the ICFF, the guest stars that will be present, the 150 Ontario Bello to Beautiful program and other key aspects.

This will be the only press conference for the entire festival, taking place in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Quebec City, Vaughan, and Hamilton.

CLICK TO ATTEND CONFERENCE

Actress Claudia Gusmano

At just 31-years-old director Marta Savina embodies Italian cinema’s bright future.

Her short film, Viola, Franca is based on the true story of a young Sicilian woman in 1965 who was being forced to marry her rapist because of a custom known as “reparation marriage”; the rapist marries his victim and “saves” the woman’s reputation. Seventeen-year-old Franca’s simple act of refusing to marry her attacker and insisting that he be arrested was monumental in establishing rights for women in Italy. In fact, hers was the first rape trial in the country.

And yet, Savina says that it was important to her that the rapist, Filippo (Carlo Calderone) wasn’t portrayed as “just some evil guy”.

“This is probably controversial, but in a way he’s almost like the victim”, she says. “He was just how some men were, and that’s just how you treated women.”

“Franca’s definitely not a victim. She fell victim to violence but she bounces back. He, on the other hand, was a product of that society”, says Savina.

Claudia Gusmano

 
Claudia Gusmano, who plays Franca, says that the first time she watched the film she turned to Savina and said, “Is that me?” because she almost didn’t recognize herself. She says that she cried because she saw so many qualities in Franca that she wished she had.

The most surprising thing of all about Viola, Franca is its length, just 15 minutes long. “We have just 13 minutes to tell the story”, says Savina, “and that’s hard because you have to be really, really disciplined and put in the very central things that you need to tell the story.”

“Otherwise you end up just muddying the waters and losing the focus. We really stripped out anything that wasn’t vital.”

As for the real Franca Viola, Savina says that she’s met her and that they agreed not to share what they’d talked about. “She’s obviously a very private person.”

Carlo Calderone, Marta Savina and Claudia Gusmano

“I did a lot of research and I hope I found the essence of the character. It’s a biopic, of course, but you have to let the character live and breathe.”

And there’s good news; according to Savina this short film is just chapter 1 of a feature length film that is in the works. “We’re getting together the financing right now, because obviously there is more to the story”, she explained.

The film is especially important to Savina because she says she really wanted to inspire young girls. “If she could do it”, says Savina, “maybe I can do it as well.”

Indivisibili was one of the big winners at this year’s David Di Donatello Awards in Italy. Nominated for 17 awards this film took home 5 Davids and had it’s North America premier last year at TIFF. We are looking forward to having this film in Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, Montreal and Quebec City as part of #ICFF17! For tickets please click here.

Indivisibili (Indivisible)

In Indivisibili (Indivisible) eighteen-year-old conjoined twins Daisy and Viola (twins Angela and Marianna Fontana) have been supporting their family earning as much as €80,000 a year performing at weddings and first holy communion festivities, but are they succeeding because they are pop stars, or because they are side show geeks?

Angela Fontana And Marianna Fontana

Whatever the reason, their parents couldn’t waste the girls’ hard-earned money any more efficiently if they tried.

Their home in the seaside town of Castel Volturno (north of Naples) is furnished with top of the line everything and their dad, Peppe (Massimiliano Rossi) and his wife Titti (played by David di Donatello winner Antonia Truppo) won’t win any parents-of-the-year awards any time soon. When the girls were little, life was pretty good for them, too. They loved singing and each other and didn’t know any other way of living. But can they, should they be separated?

Director Edoardo De Angelis cleaned up at this year’s David di Donatello Awards (6 awards) and Indivisibili was on the list of films considered to represent Italy at the Oscars; in fact, Paolo Sorrentino famously said that it should have been selected.

“The first time I knew I had a hit was when the screenwriter pitched me the idea; the second was when I met the girls,” says De Angelis. “They were the body and the soul of the story.”

Angela and Marianna Fontana, professional singers in real life and new to acting, believe it or not. “We identified so much with the characters”, the say. “We read and read and read the script many times; actually before we even read the script we knew we wanted to make the movie.”

They say that they’ve been “living in a kind of symbiosis” their whole life, are very close to each other, and can identify with the pain of separation even though they aren’t physically connected. “The story is about ‘amore veramente indivisibile” (truly indivisible love) and talks about a psychological bond that is even stronger than the physical one,”, they say.

indivisibili

 
Indivisibili uses the unusual dialect of the girls’ region making it necessary for subtitles, even for Italians. “It’s a very obscure dialect,” says De Angelis, “and the idea was to give them a language that was a sort of mysterious code between them.”

As do all good directors on a budget,De Angelis used the local talent for everything from actors to technicians . “With the cuts in government funding for cinema,” says De Angelis “we have learned how to make films with little money. We talk about reality in our films,” he says, “and they are made with little money, but we are free with the way we make them. Even with the mainstream film distributors we have a kind of freedom to produce the kind of realism that we want to.”

Antonia Truppo, Indivisibili

 
Antonia Truppo won best supporting actress for her role in last year’s big hit Mi Chiamavano Jeeg Robot and then again this year for her role in this film. De Angelis says of her, “I always admire beautiful actresses that are willing to and so successfully take on the parts for unattractive characters, as she does playing Nunzia in Indivisibili. Nunzia is a bad mother on so many levels, is drunk most of the time, and probably not faithful to her husband.”

“Antonia’s a great human being,”says De Angelis. “She arrived at the audition with a completely different idea about the character, but after one reading she immediately changed. This showed how really smart and flexible she is as an actress.”

ICFF is excited to be well into planning our extravagant Opening Party and Closing Gala with what has become a staple to our festival. These glamorous and star-studded events enable ICFF to build on and expand this cherished reputation.

This year, the Opening Party will be held at QRC West and the Closing Party will be held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a soirée dedicated to walking the Red Carpet and rubbing shoulders with celebrity guests.

Past ICFF gala’s included the likes of Raoul Bova, Claudia Cardinale, Roberto Benigni, Chef Massimo Capra, Mischa Barton, Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, David Rocco, and Giacomo Gianniotti to name a few…

Queen Richmond Centre

The Queen Richmond Centre at Richmond and Peter will capture your complete attention with the 70-foot atrium and soaring x-shaped delta frames, creating a mystical energy in perfect synergy with opening the ICFF. Home to exclusive events, private residences and our Opening Party sponsor Ricarda’s, our plush party in this recently restructured building should be marked on your calendar for June 8^th. With this dazzling ambience filled by a night of savouring the most decadent Italian cuisines in Toronto beginning at 9:00 p.m., we advise you to purchase your tickets right away!

Lavis Ritz Carlton

In true ICFF fashion, we will once again host our exclusive closing gala at the lavish Ritz-Carlton, surrounded by a luxurious atmosphere, where guests can indulge in the splendid creations of superior cuisine while enjoying and celebrating the effervescent surroundings. This star-studded evening on June 16^th will also include our annual award ceremony, live music, as well as extravagant entertainment that will begin at 9:00 p.m. Start preparing your Red Carpet walk because this is definitely a gala you shouldn’t miss!

SEE ALL THE INFORMATIONS…

 Le Confessioni was so popular during our Annual Program, we HAD to bring it to our ICFF audiences in Quebec City and Montreal. Le Confessioni was a highly anticipated movie in 2016, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Writer, Best Actor (Toni Servillo), Best Supporting Actor, and Best Photography at the David Di Donatello Awards.

ICFF 2017 Screenings:

June 10th at 7pm at Cinéma Cartier in Quebec City

June 13th at 7pm at Cinémathèque in Montreal

That director Roberto Andò’s movies are as satisfying as a good book is no mistake because Andò is also an author; his latest movie, Le Confessioni (The Confessions) is like a mystery novel that is impossible to put down.Billed as a “thriller”, Le Confessioni is likewise a good old-fashioned whodunit with a big “Clue Game” cast of characters in forced seclusion at a picturesque luxury hotel by the sea plus a murder (or was it a suicide?). Everybody seems a little sinister, including the monk (Toni Servillo) who was invited by the rich and powerful director (Daniel Auteui) for reasons that no one’s quite sure of.

G8 organizers have taken over the resort for a summit and leaders from around the world are there to discuss their top-secret new plan for making the poorest countries in the world even poorer; the film has plenty of lessons about power, money, and morality, but the mystery is what will really draw you in.

It turns out the monk is there for the sole purpose of hearing the director’s confession, and shortly after the two meet, the director’s found dead in his room. Murder or suicide? And does it even matter, since what the group is going to announce about it will be based on which explanation they feel will less severely impact the stock market. What’s the big secret that nobody wants to come out? What’s the monk hiding, and can anyone be trusted?

Tony Servillo  has made a career-playing guys that are unflappable and cool as cucumbers, but this is a different kind of serenity, one that comes from integrity instead of arrogance. As everyone around him frets and panics, insisting he tell them what the director shared with him the night he died, the monk is relaxed and composed in his resolve to keep the seal of the confessional.

Andò’s films are particularly original and internationally admired for a reason: He sees the future of Italian cinema and is firmly in the midst of innovative filmmakers who changing the face of Italian cinema. “In the last fifteen years”, he says, “filmmakers have given up on the idea of making films with no relationship to the audience.”

He talks about what he calls a “mortification” of Italian cinema that had developed in previous decades, where, “unlike in the US where filmmaking is a strategic industry, Italians just wanted movies that didn’t hurt”.He says that iconic director Bernardo Bertolucci, for example “made beautiful films that nobody saw, and it was in the moment that he (Bertolucci) decided that he wanted an audience that he began to fill theaters, because if you don’t want an audience, then why would an audience want you?”

Andò and Toni Servillo are great friends and had been looking for a project to do together for a while when they made Andò’s book Il Trono Vuoto into the movie Viva La Libertà. According to Andò, Servillo (perhaps Italy’s most important actor) is a simple man who has become a “messenger for Italy.”

“It was obvious even when I was writing Viva La Libertà that it would have to be him (Servillo)”, says Andò, and you’ll see that the same is true for Servillo as Roberto Salus in the spellbinding Le Confessioni.

Toni Servillo and Roberto Andò

To purchase tickets for Le Confessioni and to watch the trailer please click here.

Director: Rocco Papaleo

Plot

Gegè, a fading pop singer, is invited to a tour in Uruguay, where thirty years before he had performed obtaining an astounding success.

Not having enough money for the flight, he boards a ship and meets Ruggero, a loner cook who hasn’t touched ground for the last four years.

The two feel an immediate dislike for each other and, as an act of spite, Ruggero locks Gegè in the refrigerator.

Due to this occurrence, Gegè’s voice suddenly fades and he is diagnosed with a block of his vocal chords. Feeling responsible, Ruggero pretends to be the singer himself.

From then on, the destinies and the lives of these strangers, united by the same desire for redemption, will intertwine in surprising ways.

Trama

Gegè, cantante in crisi economica e di popolarità, riceve un invito per ritornare in Uruguay, dove trenta anni prima si era esibito con successo.

Non avendo denaro sufficiente per il volo aereo, si imbarca come passeggero su una nave, dove incontra Ruggero, cuoco solitario che non scende a terra da quattro anni.

Da subito scatta una istintiva antipatia: per dispetto Ruggero chiude Gegè nella cella frigorifera. Questo incidente causa a Gegè un improvviso abbassamento della voce.

A Montevideo, Gegè viene visitato e la prima diagnosi accerta un blocco delle corde vocali. Sentendosi responsabile, Ruggero finge con l’organizzazione di essere lui il cantante.

Da questo momento, i destini e le vite dei due uomini, accomunati dallo stesso desiderio di rinascita, si intrecceranno.

Plot

Ivan, a botanic, is waiting for Chiara, a costum designer on a small island near Sicily. His brother Richard and her best friend Francesca are going to get married and they want to help them. The broom and the bride are both former drug addicts. There are several problems to be fixed, since the hotel and the lighthouse – where the broom wants to spend their first wedding night – are both in bad shape. But Ivan and Chiara are resolute to make it happens, despite all difficulties.

Director

Rolando Colla

Rolando Colla – born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, on 1957 – by Italian immigrants, became a Swiss citizen in 1977. He began to work as an actor and a screenwriter. In 1984 he founded Peacock Film AG. In 1998 he directed his first feature, Una vita alla rovescia and by the following year the series of shorts entitled Einspruch. He has written and directed films as Oltre il confine, L’altra metà, Giochi d’estate and Sette Giorni.

Trama

Ivan, un botanico, attende su una piccola isola della Sicilia l’arrivo di Chiara, una costumista. Lui è il fratello di Richard, lei la migliore amica di Francesca e debbono organizzare il matrimonio dei due. I due sposi sono entrambi ex tossicodipendenti e quel luogo è molto importante per Richard. I problemi non sono pochi perché l’isola ha pochi abitanti e l’albergo e il faro – dove lo sposo vuole trascorrere la prima notte di nozze – non sono nelle migliori condizioni. Ivan e Chiara decidono di impegnarsi perché tutto riesca al meglio, nonostante le difficoltà.

Regista

Tony D’Angelo

Rolando Colla – nato a Sciaffusa, Svizzera, nel 1957 – da immigrati italiani, ottiene la cittadinanza svizzera nel 1977. Inizia a lavorare nel cinema come attore e sceneggiatore e nel 1984 fonda la Peacock Film AG. Nel 1998 esordisce alla regia con il lungometraggio Una vita alla rovescia  e dall’anno successivo inizia a realizzare la serie di cortometraggi di Einspruch. Per il cinema ha scritto e diretto i film Oltre il confine, L’altra metà, Giochi d’estate e Sette Giorni.

RÉSUMÉ

Ivan, un botaniste, attend Chiara, créatrice de costumes sur une petite île près de la Sicile. Son frère Richard, et sa meilleure amie Francesca, vont se marier et ils veulent aider. Le marié et la mariée sont tous deux des anciens toxicomanes. Il y plusieurs problèmes à résoudre, depuis que l’hôtel et le phare – là où le marié veut passer leur nuit de noces – sont tous les deux en mauvais état. Mais Ivan et Chiara sont résolus à le faire, malgré les difficultés.

Directeur Bio

Tony D’Angelo

Rolando Colla – né à Schaffhausen, Suisse, en 1957 – né d’immigrants italiens, est devenu citoyen suisse en 1977. Il a commencé à travailler comme acteur et scénariste. En 1984 il a fondé Peacock Film AG. En 1998, il a réalisé son remier long métrage, et l’année suivante une série de courts métrages intitulée Einspruch.Il a écrit et réalisé comme  Oltre il confine, L’altra metà,  Giochi d’estate  et  Sette Giorni.