The Italian Film Festival Cardiff (IFFC) returns this year boasting twelve feature films, including seven UK premieres, curated by artistic directors Luisa Pèrcopo and Luca Paci.
The festival takes place between Wed 22 Nov and Sun 26 November at Chapter Arts Centre. This year the festival will present a catalogue of films that provide “a thought-provoking and entertaining glimpse of life into contemporary Italy”. The festival kicks-off with a retrospective look at Italian cinema with Together, the 1956 experimental film by Lorenza Mazzetti. Highlights from the festival includes the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Michelangelo Antonioni’s death, on 23 November, with a Cardiff University sponsored event for Antonioni’s masterpiece Red Desert, and a showing of the Italian submission for the 2018 Oscars Best Foreign-Language film, A Ciambra, by Jonas Carpignana on 24 November. A Ciambra tells the story of a boy’s journey to manhood in the Roma community of Calabria; the film has been executive-produced by Martin Scorcese who describes the film as “compelling and accomplished”.
There is also an opportunity for post-screening Q&As with Gianfranco Cabiddu, director of the Globo d’Oro winner The Stuff of Dreams, Karen Di Porto, director of Maria Per Roma and Pierfrancesco ‘Pif’ Dilberto, director of, the critically-acclaimed At War for Love, screening as the IFFC 2017’s final film on 26 November. The films on show create a vibrant cross-section of contemporary Italian life and the richness of its cinema, so pop down to Chapter and get a slice of the Italian zeitgeist.
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wed 22 Nov – Sun 26 Nov. Tickets: 10 Early Bird Tickets available at Chapter on a first-come first-served basis, with full pricings out later. Info: 02920 304400 / www.chapter.org + www.iffc.wales
words BEN NEWMAN