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.

Media Contacts:

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

Mia Foley – ICFF Communications – mfoley@icff.ca