Excerpt from Beth Accomando's 2008 review of the San Diego Italian Film Festival
The San Diego Italian Film Festival, now in its second year, "invites you to celebrate life in the social piazza of cinema with recent films that depict life in Italy."
Although just in its sophomore year, the festival has a maturity about it. Maybe you get that feeling from the level of conversation at the panel discussions. The first year I had the honor of being part of a panel following a screening of I'm Not Scared and the authors and academics, along with the audience members provided a very lively, lengthy, and in depth conversation about the film. The willingness of the festival organizers to set aside a good chunk of time for discussion reflects a different attitude than most of the other festivals that are usually more pressed for time with a greater number of films packed into fewer days.
The only event that's not free is the Gala… If last year is any indication of what this year's Gala will be like then be prepared for some incredible food and film.
- Beth Accomondo
The best is yet to come.
The SDIFF is hot on the trail of an exciting year, and 2010 promises a deeper look at Italy’s cinematic treasures and a broader embrace of other aspects of Italian culture.
The plans are already gelling for monthly showings, almost all at the home of our partner, The Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park, but we are also exploring other venues, so please look carefully at our announcements to get precise locations and times.
One item already in the works is a mini-series of “oldies but goodies,” films which are classics but never had much distribution in the U.S. These will be films from the 1960’s and early 1970’s by such outstanding filmmakers as Ermanno Olmi, Federico Fellini and Pietro Germi. While our main effort is to share contemporary Italian culture with our friends, that culture is rooted in the classics of the past, and they have a brilliance which we want to share again.
Reserve May 22 on your calendars - you won’t want to miss this. That Saturday is shaping up as a glorious outing. The SDIFF in collaboration with Slow Food Urban San Diego is preparing a food and film party, full of the visual flavors and tastebud delights that alert you to the real pleasures of life. Once again we expect to attract large crowds to North Park at one of our favorite venues, The Birch North Park Theatre, which gave us such a warm welcome in November. Again, check for times and specific details in future newsletters and on our website.
All our films have been ordered for our fall festival, but we want to alert everyone to the special retrospective that leads off the festival, major films of the Italian master Marco Bellocchio. His films, even at their most controversial, have always been admired for their mastery in both craft and story-telling. These films are brought to you through the collaboration with the Institute of Italian Culture and Cinecitta’ Luce, Italy’s premiere movie organization.
We are happy you will be joining us for another great year of Italian culture.
Victor Laruccia, Executive Director SDIFF
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