Italian Contemporary Film Festival

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF), presented by IC Savings, is a not-for-profit organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which hosts an annual Italian film festival in June (Italian Heritage Month in Canada) in eight Canadian cities: Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton, Montreal, Québec City, Ottawa, Halifax and Vancouver. The ICFF is the largest Italian film festival outside of Italy. Its mission is to cultivate an appreciation for Italian cinema in North America, and to create networking opportunities for filmmakers from Italy, Canada and abroad. The Festival runs for nine days each year in mid-June, and features screenings of approximately 150 feature films, shorts and documentaries, attracting more than 45-thousand spectators across the country. In addition to screenings, the annual Festival includes the following special events:

Italian Contemporary Film Festival
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Founded2012
Founded byCristiano de Florentiis, Maurizio Magnifico
No. of filmsApproximately 150 per year
Festival dateJune 18-26, 2020
LanguageEnglish and Italian
Websitewww.icff.ca

ICFF Opening Night: ICFF Opening Night launches the Festival each year with a massive cocktail party, with about 1000 guests, following the Opening Film. The event, often held at Ricarda’s Toronto at the Queen-Richmond Centre, features live music and entertainment, food stations, open bar, and a photo booth.

ICFF Cucina: ICFF Cucina is an event that combines Italian cuisine with the art of film; an exploration of Italy’s food and wine traditions. Guests watch a series of short films presented by local and international guest chefs, while enjoying the dishes they are seeing on screen.

ICFF MODA: ICFF MODA is a celebration of high-end Italian fashion brands, which includes a runway fashion show, screenings of fashion-related shorts and documentaries and special appearances by designers and models.

ICFF Letteratura: ICFF Letteratura is a celebration of the marriage between the written word and the moving image. The event features films based on books and related to themes and characters pertinent to the field of literature, including poets and other important writers.     

ICFF Architettura & Design: ICFF Architettura and Design is a three-day event focused on Italy’s contribution to the fields of architecture and urban design. The event consists of special screenings of documentaries, feature films, shorts and important interviews accompanied by panel discussions, Question and Answer sessions and special presentations by local and international architects, as well as networking receptions for industry leaders.

ICFF Musica: ICFF Musica is the Festival’s celebration of the importance of music in film, and includes live concert performances by award-winning artists and composers at the legendary TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.

ICFF Industry Day: ICFF Industry Day is an annual showcase and networking event that brings together guest filmmakers, producers and industry partners from Italy and Canada. The annual event takes place at the production studio Pinewood Toronto Studios and often includes discussions on co-productions and emerging technologies in the film and television industries.

ICFF Closing Gala: The ICFF Closing Gala is the official culmination to the nine-day Festival, held in the ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto. The black-tie event includes a sit-down dinner and an awards ceremony.

Industry support

ICFF showcases films, supports filmmakers, recognizes the leadership of entertainment industry performers and business executives, and promotes a diversity of perspectives on Italian culture. The aim of the festival is to raise awareness and promote all the various aspects of Italian cinema, as well as to support established and emerging filmmakers of Italian descent. It is a forum where industry professionals from major and independent production and distribution companies are invited to attend meetings with participating filmmakers as well as panel discussions with speakers from film industry professionals.

ICFF also introduces films in the hope of finding them a Canadian or US distributor, it presents other films (including works from any country in the world) that have an Italian flavour or connection that are sometimes outside the ‘mainstream’ but that have considerable artistic and cultural merit.

This is a festival focused exclusively on anything related to Italian culture.

Distributors will have the opportunity to see films that have never been shown in Canada. For established directors, it will open up new avenues to exhibit their films, for emerging directors it will provide a gateway to unexplored channels. The festival is conceived as a kind of "piazza" or public square that marries cultural factors with the demands of market distribution and promotion.

Highlights
  • Six days of film screenings
  • 3 GTA venues, including the prestigious TIFF Bell Lightbox
  • The highest quality Italian heritage films
  • Films from around the world
  • Features, shorts and documentaries
  • North American premieres
  • Italian‐Canadian independent films
  • Q&A sessions with filmmakers, actors and academics
  • Opening and closing gala parties
  • An experience that celebrates Italian culture & lifestyle
  • Building bridges in the multi‐ethnic community of Toronto

Premieres

The first edition of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival was held in Toronto, Ontario between June 26 and July 1, 2012. Films have been screened in three GTA venues including the prestigious TIFF Bell Lightbox.

ICFF 2012 Film Selection

Feature Films

  1. Basilicata coast to coast (2010)
  2. Che bella giornata (2011)
  3. Habemus Papam (2011)
  4. Il Gioiellino (2011)
  5. Immaturi Il viaggio (2012)
  6. La Kryptonite Nella Borsa (2012)
  7. La Giusta Distanza (2012)
  8. La Scomparsa Di Pató (2012)
  9. Posti In Piedi In Paradiso (2012)
  10. Terraferma (2011)
  11. To Rome With Love (2012)
  12. Anna, Teresa e Le Resistenti (2010)


Documentaries and Short Films

  1. Canadian West Coast directed by Cristiano de Florentiis

From the Bay of Vancouver, a journey winds across the mountains and the ocean, traveling through a land that reminds the observer of the Garden of Eden. A documentary, a road movie about British Columbia narrated by members of the Italian community living in B.C.

  1. Letter One directed by Tony Nardi

This film is based on letters sent to "middle-men" of the Canadian cultural scene: a film/television producer and two theatre critics. ICFF presents the first letter, Letter One, which articulates an actor/writer’s struggle with cultural stereotypes in Canadian theatre/film/TV. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Italian Canadian actors, directors and film critics.

  1. Piazza Petawawa directed by Rino Noto

This documentary honours the experiences of individuals who were interned during World War II in the Petawawa concentration camp for being ‘enemy aliens.’

  1. Pizza Bagel directed by Joe Mari

Pizza Bagel takes a comedic look at intercultural dating while poking fun at Mediterranean cuisine and unabashedly patriotic soccer celebrations.

ICFF 2012 Awards

ICFF films are subjected to both a public vote and a review by the Toronto Film Critics Association. The winning film will receive the ICFF Audience Award and will be honoured with a statuette created by renowned artist Silvio Mastrodascio. A second award will be conferred by the TFCA.

People’s Choice Award

The People’s Choice Award, voted by festival audiences, went to Ivan Cotroneo’s La Kryptonite Nella Borsa (Krytonite!). Actress Monica Nappo was present to accept the award.

Angela Baldassarre Award

The Angela Baldassare Award for Best Film, established in honour of the late Toronto film critic, was awarded to Emanuele Crialese’s Terraferma by members of the Toronto Film Critics Association.

IC Savings Award

The IC Savings Award for best contribution to Italian social and cultural values was presented to La Scomparsa Di Pató and to its director and screenwriter, Rocco Mortelliti, who was present to accept the award.

ICFF 2013 Edition

The second edition of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival will be held in Toronto, Ontario between June 26 and July 7, 2013.

Feature Films

ICFF 2013 Film Awards

ICFF Junior 2013 First Edition

The first ICFF Junior festival will be held in Toronto, Ontario between May 7–8, 2013 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. This section has been created to allow children to see engaging films created especially for young audiences, which will challenge them and provide opportunities to discuss interesting and fascinating topics and foster global connections. The ICFF is focused on using film as a tool to bring the Italian reality closer to kids and to help develop their critical and analytical skills.

Feature Films

  1. Pinocchio (2013) by Enzo D'Alò
  2. Scialla (2011) by Francesco Bruno
  3. Salvatore Questa E' La Vita (2006) by Gian Paolo Cugno
  4. La Gabbianella E Il Gatto (1998) by Enzo D'Alò
  5. Gladiatori di Roma (2012) by Igino Straffi

References
  1. Italian Contemporary Film Festival al via Corriere Canadese. 27 June 2012.
  2. Terraferma e la Kryptonite nella borsa premiati dal pubblico dell’Icff di Toronto Corriere Canadese. 4 July 2012.
  3. An edgy Italian-Jewish farce The Canadian Jewish News. 22 June 2012
  4. Korean vs. Italian Toronto.com 21 June 2012
  5. Rino Noto’s, Piazza Petawawa: The Paradox Documentary screens at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival on opening night Corriere Canadese. 22 June 2012
  6. Italian Contemporary Film Festival coming to TIFF Lightbox Toronto.com 13 June 2012
  7. La scomparsa di Patò trionfa a Toronto. Canada Blogosfere. 23 July 2012
  8. |work=20%20June%202012 Italian Contemporary Film Festival’s inaugural year presents new Woody Allen film. The Toronto Film Society. 20 June 2012
  9. Say Hello to the Italian Contemporary Film Festival. Torontoist. 22 June 2012.
  10. Italian Contemporary Film Festival in Toronto The only festival of its kind in Canada will showcase a selection of international, national, and local movies. Corriere Canadese. 8 June 2012.
  11. Italian Contemporary Film Festival showcases cultural cinema Inside Toronto. 15 June 2012
  12. The Inaugural talian Contemporary Film Festival ICFF. My ETV Media. June 2012.
  13. Con l'ICFF verrá promossa una nuova immagine dell'Italia a Toronto Italiani Web Magazine. 31 May 2012
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