Opening Night ICFF - Qualcosa di Nuovo

For the third year in a row I have had the great fortune to be able to attend the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) a great festival in Toronto that is very young in years but it is very big in scope.
It has grown so much in a few short years.  It now spans from Toronto to Vancouver to Montreal.  It's more than a film festival, it's a celebration of Italian Culture and along with the films there has been loads and loads of Italian Food and fashion and Italian centred art.

The Opening Night film was a hilarious comedy called QUALCOSA DI NUOVO.  It stars Paula Cortellesi.  Although I am not familiar with her work I understand that she is very popular and is a great singer.  She is a very good actress and I really enjoyed this fun and interesting look at 2 Forty something women who were best friends since childhood.  One is a responsible and repressed Jazz singer and the other is a wild child single mother with 2 kids.  In an interesting twist of fate the mother meets a young man on an alcohol fuelled night out and after they spend the night together the young man who doesn't remember all of the details of the previous evening but knows he had a great time but mistakenly thinks it was with her friend the repressed Jazz singer.  Through a serious of mixed up circumstances the 2 women get to know the young man and realise that although they think they are teaching him a few things about life he is actually teaching them some big life lessons.

This was a smartly written piece that was adapted from the theatre and the dialogue and the chemistry between the 3 characters is incredible.

It's great to see women over 40 in attractive, desirable and smart roles and it was very entertaining at the same time.  A great start to the film festival.

From the films I have seen so far at the festival I think that Italians really know how to do comedy well and make their films both hilarious and smart.  They remind me of the films like the old Hollywood film with Carey Grant and Sophia Loren.

Paula Cortellesi and ICFF artistic Director Cristiano de Florentis

You still have time to see some films at ICFF.  for more information and tickets  http://icff.ca/