ICFF - Italian Contemporary Film Fest returns to the Distillery District bigger and better

 

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) Press Conference was held today at the Distillery District to unveil the plans for this years festival.  This festival really goes big and innovates when they try to do more every year.  This year has a huge logistic component with all kinds of things going on day and night.

The ICFF/Lavazza IncluCity as it's called Film Festival takes place from June 27 to July 21, 2023 at the Distillery District in Toronto for their second year.  They managed to find a way around the pandemic a couple of years ago when they held a Drive In Festival at Ontario Place.   Always ready to innovate and experiment to make it all come together.   This year the Distillery will be taken over for roughly a month of full programming with a stage being built for Music during the day and then the evening will take over with mostly Italian films but also other films from around the world such as India, France, Germany, Canada and more.

After the regular programming for the first time they are adding late night screenings of Horror films with their The Dark Side program which is handled by Horror expert Chris Alexander.  One of the films that will be shown is by David Cronenberg's son Brandon with his Infinity Pool (CAN).

The Opening Night film is called Freaks Out by Gabriele Mainetti.

The film I am looking forward to is Sugar and Stars/A La Belle Etoile Directed by Sebastien Tulard. Which will also coincide with chocolate at the festival.

Another noteable film is Perrugino a Documentary Directed by Giovanni Piscaglia about an influential Renaissance painter.

Another familiar musician will be in The Journey: A Music Special from Andrea Bocelli, Directed by Gaetano Morbioli, Paolo Sodi.

There is a really wide variety of programming with 50 films in this 12th edition with more activations such as Bastille Day events,  Sake Tasting event,  A Ghost tour of the Distillery, and a 60 minute Cinematic tour of all the films that were made at the Distillery.  I look forward to these events.

And also returning is 6ix Art Outdoor with a focus on local artists that will display in the galleries and around the Distillery district.

There's an AWA Music Showcase and there will also be a couple of Opera singers that will sing along with one of the films.  Music artists are from all over the GTA.

on July 22nd there is also a special "In Conversation with" ANNA FENDI at the Bell Lightbox at 6pm and the tickets are $32 and at 7:30 at the Ritz Carlton there is the Closing Gala for $275 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Also featured at the festival will be Architecture and Design with special panels and screenings.

This festival is too huge for me to list all the highlights so I would suggest that you check out their website and book your tickets and make plans to sit in the sun and lounge on couches while watching a film and grabbing some food and drink.   Did I mention that Pizza Nova and Lavazza were their returning sponsors.

I haven't be able to attend the festival for the past couple of years but really hope I can spend as much time there this year as possible.  The festival is run by a terrific team of people who have an enormous amount of passion for all things film, culture and community.

Tickets are available for purchase now at https://icff.ca/.

Social Media
Instagram: @icffcanada & @distilleryto
Twitter/Facebook: @ICFFCanada & @DistilleryTO
#ICFF23 #LavazzaIncluCity23 #DistilleryIncluCity

Visit the Distillery District for more information:  www.thedistillerydistrict.com

ICFF presents the Lavazza Drive-in Film Festival in July in Toronto

This year due to Covid 19 the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) was unable to present their June film festival in Toronto due to the pandemic emergency closures.

In a technology and creatively driven way they decided to take the Festival to a Drive-In Format at Ontario Place by the lake in Toronto.  July 20-31, 2020

Get out of your house and go to a real film festival instead of watching one on your computer or tv.

Twelve international contemporary films have been programmed for viewing on a Huge screen that is being built just for ICFF and it will run from July 20th
through the 31st.

The festival is being presented by ICFF, IC Savings, and CHIN Radio/TV, who will provide the audio portion on their CHIN radio channel.
The Festival will offer something for everyone - from comedies to musicals, historical dramas to crime thrillers to family-friendly films, and everything in between. A different nation will be represented each night at Ontario Place, including France, China, Russia, the US, the UK, Brazil, India, Canada, and Italy. The event will open on Monday, July 20th with the Toronto Premiere Screening of Sergio Navarretta’s The Cuban, representing Canada. The film, which follows the
budding friendship between an Alzheimer patient and his caregiver, is a musical
journey of love and the power of imagination.

Throughout the Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival, four contemporary Italian films
will be screened as part of the special “Focus on Italy” series, presented in
partnership with the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura a Toronto.

They will move the festival to Vaughan in August and there are still plans for a scaled down festival in November 2020.

A portion of ticket sales will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross to
assist with COVID-19 relief efforts.

On Tuesday, July 21st, Simone Spada’s Tomorrow’s a New Day/Domani è un altro giorno will be screened.
The film is the touching story of two friends reflecting on a life well-lived, after one is handed a terminal diagnosis.
Fausto Brizzi’s If You Love Me/Se mi vuoi bene, starring ICFF fan-favourite Claudio Bisio, is the story of a middle-aged man, feeling depressed and confused, who executes a series of lies and manipulations to help his loved ones. The film will be screened on Saturday, July 25th.

On Monday, July 27th, the International Premiere of the latest film starring comedy troupe Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, I Hate Summer/Odio l’estate, will be presented. The film, directed by Massimo Venier, follows three strangers who are forced to spend the summer holiday together, after accidentally being booked in the same vacation home.

Lastly, the Festival will close on Friday, July 31st with the Canadian Premiere Screening of the touching comedy-drama, If Only/Magari, directed by Ginevra Elkann. It’s the story of three tight-knit siblings who spend their summer caught between the eccentric lives of their divorced parents, each more concerned with themselves than their family.

Among the international titles, the Canadian Premiere Screening of the crime thriller Sheep Without a Shepherd/Wu sha, directed by Sam Quah, will represent China on Wednesday, July 22nd.
The film, which made history with its highest-grossing opening weekend sales in Mainland China, tells the story of a man who takes desperate measures to try and save his family from the dark side of the law, after committing an unexpected crime.

The Canadian Premiere Screening of the hilarious comedy Fisherman’s Friends, representing the UK, will be screened on Sunday, July 26th. The film, directed by Chris Foggin, is the story of a London music exec who becomes a true “fish out of water" when he tries to sign a record deal with a group of singing fishermen.

Jorge Gurvich’s football dramedy Back to Maracanã will represent Brazil on Thursday, July 23rd. The film follows three generations of men who embark on an unplanned road trip, which leads them on an emotional journey, changing them all forever.
Representing France, Nicolas Vanier’s Spread Your Wings/Donne-moi des ailes is a delightful adventure the whole family can enjoy. Screening on Friday, July 24th, the film is inspired by the real life story of a visionary scientist on a mission to save an endangered species of birds, and guide them along a new migratory route.

Representing Russia, Aleksey Sidorov’s WWII action flick T-34 will screen on Tuesday, July 28th
. T-34 is a story of unfailing bravery, and the incredible escape of a soldier and his tank crew from Nazi capture. The critically-acclaimed historical drama is presented with the generous support of the Representative of Rossotrudnichestvo in Canada within the Russian Embassy.
A truly heartwarming tale representing the United States, The Peanut Butter Falcon, winner of the SXSW Audience Award, will be presented on Wednesday, July 29th. Co-directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, the critically-acclaimed film is a modern-day Mark Twain adventure; the harrowing tale of a young man fighting the odds to achieve his dreams with the help of two unlikely friends.

The penultimate screening of the Festival is Amar Kaushik’s latest film Bala, representing India, which will be screened on Thursday, July 30th. Bala is a fresh new comedy about the struggles of a young man facing premature baldness and his inability to cope with social pressures.

Audience members will be invited to vote on their favourite films over the course of the Festival, and a prize for People’s Choice will be awarded on the last day.

A selection of short films will also be screened ahead of the feature presentations, including Milkoffee, directed by Edoardo Vanja Raffaele; Best Friend, directed by Sara Cardillo; The Mona Lisa’s Aura, directed by Eric Delbaere; and Finding Harold, directed by Katarzyna Kochany.

After months of isolation, the event will transform the most classic movie-going experience into a
contemporary film festival, providing Canadians the perfect opportunity to engage with the community once again, in a safe and physically-distanced manner. To eliminate concerns over large crowds at concession stands during the event, the Festival has partnered with sponsor Pizza Nova to design a tailored app which offers contactless delivery of snacks directly to vehicles.
The audio of the presentations and the films will be broadcast live on Radio CHIN - AM1540. Each
evening of the Festival, a feature film will be preceded by live and live-streamed interviews and
Question & Answer sessions with actors and directors.

Visit www.icff.ca
 or call 416-893-3966 for ticket information.

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/

ICFF - Italian Contemporary Film Festival- Industry Day

It's a bit later than I would normally post this but I have been so busy trying to keep up with all of the festivals going on in this city that I haven't had time to write about my visit to 4th Annual ICFF- Italian Contemporary Film Festival's Industry Day.  I was so busy during the week of ICFF June 11-19, 2015 that I only had 1 day free to attend any of their program and that day fell on their Industry Day.
This year it was all about Animation.  I don't do animation and don't know as much as I should about it so I decided to go and see what's the latest in Animation.   Industry Day was held at Studio 10 at the Pinewood Studios downtown.  It was held all afternoon in the studio.

It was presented by Sheridan College and speakers from Sheridan and production company AIC Movie Inc/AMBI and Rainbow CGI.

Mostly the day focused on the program at Sheridan College which is a leader in producing Animators for film and television and they showcased some of the students works.  AMBI talked about some of their past and future big productions.  Their notable upcoming project will be Artic Justice which they have high hopes of it competing with the large Hollywood Animation studios.  It has a huge cast of well known actors such as James Franco, Alec Baldwin, John Cleese and Angelica Huston.

The fun part of the day was the motion capture demo at the end of the day with the actors showing how their movements are captured live to add CGI effects so that the Directors can direct mixed set ups with real actors blocking the movements that can be animated in the computers live.

    

Unfortunately I didn't have time to see any of the films but one that I really wanted to see was The Colossal Failure of the Modern Relationship by Sergio Navaretta.  It was also screened at another local festival in the same week and I still didn't have a chance to see it there but since it's Canadian I am hoping it goes to another one of our many film festivals in the city or it gets picked up by one of the networks.

Although I didn't have time to attend as much of ICFF as I would have liked it did seem to me that it was a well organized festival that was trying to showcase the best in Italian Film and the Industry collaborations.

I have a friend that attended the Opening Night party and it looked like I missed a good party.  You know Italians know how to throw a party with fabulous food and drink.  I hope it falls on a better week for me next year so that I can spend a bit more time attending some films and parties.

Til next year ICFF.

Fore more info about the Festival www.ICFF.CA    #ICFILMFEST15