(June 8, 2017) Films that left a mark, the best of made in Italy, Italian stars and record numbers. Everything is ready in Canada for the 2017 edition of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival: the Festival that promotes contemporary Italian cinema. The event starts today and closes on June 16. Six Canadian cities are involved: in addition to Toronto, Montreal, Vaughan, Hamilton, Quebec City, this year the ICFF expands to the city of Vancouver. Over 180 projections scheduled on the bill, many will be the first absolute international and in North America with an audience that has already passed in the past editions the thirty thousand attendees. In addition to big numbers, there are also big names. This year the festival super guests will be Paola Cortellesi and Christian De Sica. The actor will receive the prestigious Career Award, which in previous editions had already been awarded to major performers such as Al Pacino, Roberto Benigni, Carlo Verdone and Claudia Cardinale. De Sica brings to Canada two of his latest works, "Poor but Rich" and "Fraulein-A Winter Fairy tale". The Roman actor will also present one of the masterpieces of his father Vittorio, "Matrimonio all'Italiana". Paola Cortellesi will be present in Canada with two of her latest films, "Something new" by director Cristina Comencini and "Mom or Dad?" By Riccardo Milani, partner of the brilliant actress. Guests of the film festival will be two other stars of the likes of Giancarlo Giannini and Franco Nero, both of whom will be featured in Toronto's "The Neighborhood / The Quarter". "This year the festival's programming aims to highlight three aspects of Italian cinema: - explains the Artistic Director of ICFF, Cristiano de Florentiis - to create a bridge between today and the great classic masters thanks to the exceptional presence of Christian De Sica; To show, thanks to the extraordinary Paola Cortellesi the fundamental role of women, protagonists both in the opening and closing films; to celebrate, during the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Canada, the outstanding contribution and the extraordinary excellence of Italian-Canadian cinema ". A great number of comedies in the festival, starting with "No Religion" by Luca Miniero, with the exhilarating couple composed by Alessandro Gassman and Claudio Bisio. Another successful comedy presented at ICFF 2017 will be Ficarra and Picone's "Legal Time", already hosted by the show in Canada in 2015. But the Italian Film Festival - which last year had over thirty thousand viewers and became one of the most important events of its kind outside of Italy - also has several dramatic films, from "Fast like the wind” by Matteo Rovere, to "Indivisible" directed by Edoardo De Angelis. (PO / red)

ABOUT / ICFF

ICFF promotes the pride of Italian culture in Canada. Opened in 2012 as a non-profit cinema festival, it has become one of the most important Italian cinema festivals in the world. Since its first edition, ICFF has presented a wide and varied billboard, projecting hundreds of films, documentaries and shorts from more than 30 countries. Each year, it attracts a large audience in the six Canadian cities, where projections, meetings with the film industry and events take place. The ICFF presents a selection of films that, while focusing on Italy and Italy, illustrate issues of valence and international interest, articulated and complex, faced with multi-faceted prospects, and affecting both the Italian and international communities.