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Talent on Tap – Luca Drives-in To the Italian Contemporary Film Festival on June 19

Happy Italian Heritage month! Let’s light this candle, pour the Vino, create some amazing dishes, embrace the culture and celebrate like everybody’s watching. Canada is a multi-cultural country and we are extremely lucky for that. I have always wanted to visit Italy at some point in my life but this pandemic has prevented it from happening. However, Italian Heritage is bringing Italy to Canada for the month of June and Italian films that celebrate and showcase Italian culture are a huge part of that. The Italian Contemporary Film Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year and if you’ve never had the opportunity to travel to Italy (like me) and it’s on your bucket list, this film festival (ICFF) will fill every tastebud, ear drum, vision and heart vessel with everything there is to know about Italy. After the festival, you’ll be so convinced you went to all 4 corners of the country, you’ll be searching for the photos you thought you took. Immerse yourself and get lost in the Italian culture and cinema… because this gift keeps on giving. 

 

Certainly, festivals in today’s virus environment do come with strings and safety measures attached… it’s at a Drive-in. Unlike any festival of its kind, it breaks the mold, it reinvents the wheel and lights the torch in a darkened society of TV movie watchers. Someone has answered the call and come to society’s rescue, at a time when big screen TV’s are reaching 120” in the average home – I think it’s a sign. Have you asked yourself the last time you’ve been to the drive-in? The drive-in may not have been designed to host a festival, but thanks in large to ICFF Artistic Director and Co-Founder, Cristiano de Florentiis, the blueprint has been created.

 

The ICFF, presented by Lavazza is ecstatic to announce that the 10th edition of the festival will open with Disney and Pixar’s upcoming feature film “Luca”, directed by Academy Award® nominee Enrico Casarosa (La Luna). The Special Screening will take place on June 19th at Toronto’s renowned drive-in venue at Ontario Place, including a special greeting from Casarosa and an introduction from Character Art Director Deanna Marsigliese, an Italian-Canadian and proud Torontonian.

 

Luca is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

The film showcases one incredible summer in the Italian seaside town of Portorosso-seen through the eyes of a sea monster named Luca. Staying true to the aquatic theme of the movie, the iconic waterfront venue of Ontario Place will fully immerse guests into the world of Lucataking the audience on a summer journey with the main characters as they explore the most beloved aspects of Italian culture.

 

“It’s an immense honor for us to have Pixar’s latest masterpiece, Luca, to inaugurate the 10th celebratory edition of the ICFF,” said Cristiano de Florentiis, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the ICFF. “Since the first images of the trailer, we saw the connection to our festival – firstly for its location being set in Italy, its focus on true Italian culture and life-style, the Italian Riviera linked to our festival venue, which sits on an iconic Toronto waterfront, and lastly for its inspiring and uplifting message of friendship, understanding and community”.

  

 

“This opportunity celebrates many beloved aspects of my life—my hometown, my heritage and my work,” says Marsigliese. “I’m truly honored to take part in ICFF and am so proud of this movie–this beautiful love letter to Italy.”

 

The 10th edition of the ICFF and second edition of the Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival, organized in collaboration with CHIN Radio/TV and thanks to the support of Rogers Communications and Christie Digital, will run from June 27th to July 17th at Ontario Place, Toronto, and in several other major Canadian cities. 

 

Luca will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 18, 2021. 

 

I had the immense pleasure of speaking to the brilliant visionary, Cristiano de Florentiis, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the ICFF. 

 

HNMAG “Congratulations on organizing a very unique film festival being held at the iconic drive-in.  What has been your mandate upon co-founding the Italian Contemporary Film Festival?”

CRISTIANO “The Italian Contemporary Film Festival started 10 years ago, so we are celebrating the 10th anniversary this year. The mission is to show Italian cinema but new Italian cinema. There were lots of classic films by Fellini, Pasolini or Rossellini but there was no organization promoting or organizing events or cinemas for contemporary cinematic films. The Italian community in Toronto is quite large but they weren’t sharing too much of their culture and values with the mainstream. In Little Italy, they would organize a lot of events but not the kind that were going to be shared with the mainstream community of Toronto. We wanted to create an event that could share the Italian culture with everybody while also promoting the industry. Our mandate was also to create a co-production between Canada and Italy. Every year, we continue to organize the event and one of our main focuses is to push for more co-productions. We’ve managed in the last few years to co-produce many films between Italy and Canada. We also want to promote local Italian-Canadian artists, directors, producers in the industry. That is the ICFF.” 

 

Cristiano went on to explain the second Drive-in festival, “The Lavazza Drive-in Film Festival is going to open on the 27th of June in Toronto and is a different kind of international festival. We launched it last year because we felt it was a necessity to create an event that would reconnect communities after a long stay at home. For many in the audience, it was the first time they were able to get out amongst other people while maintaining a safe environment. We had to reinvent a model that could facilitate the festival and everything it encompasses – but in a drive-in environment. We created a drive thru red carpet, so instead of arriving in a beautiful dress, they arrive in a beautiful car (laughing). The host was also hosting the festival from a car rather than the stage, as well as directors, producers, actors. There is a Q&A from the audience using Zoom on their phones. It was really successful and sold out, we had entire communities joining and 9 countries representing their films. We initially thought that it would just be for 1 year… but things haven’t changed much. Here we are in the second year and we have more days, more films, more communities. It’s better for society to watch a film in a theatre and exchange the emotions together.  Instead of clapping, in this case – they are honking their horns.”

 

HNMAG “I love outside the box thinking. Would the Drive-in idea have been your idea or a consortium of ideas?”

CRISTIANO “As Artistic Director, I take full responsibility for finding new ways (laughing). This is the creative part of my job, being creative in the moment of a crisis/emergency. Cinema and social events are essential for our society, so we had to come up with a formula that was going to get people reconnected.”

 

HNMAG “How far in advance would you have booked the Drive-in for this event?”

CRISTIANO “We came up with the model in March of 2020. When everyone was closing down, we were thinking of opening up. It was a long process to convince people, including Ontario Place, to come onboard. CHIN Radio is providing the outlet to the cars. It’s a long, complicated process because there are so many factors. Last year we started in March but this year we’ve had the entire year to plan and make it better.”                 

 

HNMAG “How many vehicles can this event accommodate?”

CRISTIANO “Even though you are in your car, you have to maintain a safe distance, so we are not able to utilize all the space. It is large enough to accommodate 188 cars but each vehicle is capable of carrying four people, so you’re looking at 500-600 plus people per night and if every night is sold out, at the end, these are big numbers.”

 

HNMAG “I know that many film festivals that have gone virtual have had to adjust their ticket prices. Have you also had to adjust your ticket prices to reflect the changes to the venue?”

CRISTIANO “We also decided to have an online platform because we understand that we can’t bring Drive-ins to every audience and our festival wants to reach many cities. We also don’t want to force everyone to drive to the Drive-in and not everyone has a car, which is another reason why we made much of the festival available on our online platform. In regards to the price, the Drive-in is actually more expensive than renting out a theatre but the spirit of the festival is to connect with everyone, rather than an elite festival to fill a niche – so we maintained a low-cost ticket price at 20 dollars per person.”

 

HNMAG “What size of a team is required to organize an event like this?”

CRISTIANO “With a film festival like this you have to start organizing immediately after the previous festival. That group grows very large as we grow closer to the opening of the festival. In the beginning of the year, it’s a group of 6-7 people but by the end it grows to become hundreds of people working to make the festival happen. We are lucky to have so many volunteers helping out and we have a core group of approx. 14 people.”     

 

HNMAG “When would you start receiving submissions for the festival?”

CRISTIANO “The mission was to bring something new that people didn’t have access to during the lockdown. We are receiving the majority of the selection of the line-up for the North American premiere now, 3-4 weeks from the festival.”

 

HNMAG “How many films do you anticipate receiving?” 

CRISTIANO “The program can accommodate up to 35 feature films. We have films from 17 countries, which represents 17 communities.”

 

HNMAG “How supportive has the city of Toronto been to the film festival?”

CRISTIANO “This is just coming out… one of my staff has just got off the phone with someone that works in the city’s institution relations, and they just told me that the city will not support the initiative. We are trying to reverse the decision but they contend, they don’t have the budget. I feel what we are doing is essential to the city of Toronto and it’s not because there are too many events to choose between supporting. At the moment, I am not aware of any other summer events scheduled, so I certainly hope this is not the final decision.”

 

Cristiano follows up, “Keeping everyone in their homes to prevent catching the virus can cause other psychological/mental health problems. By doing something for the safety of society, is providing them with a safe way to reconnect with each other and get back that sense of community that’s been lost – the lockdown is the opposite of community. Hopefully we can get some support from the city and this decision can be reversed. I think we could use someone involved in the arts or film, sitting at that table that decides what to do with their money. It also supports the film industry, especially the Canadian film industry.”    

 

HNMAG “You’re kicking off the Italian Contemporary Film Festival with the animation Luca. Does this film encompass the Italian heritage?”

CRISTIANO “Yes it does and we are honoured to collaborate with Disney and Pixar for the launch of this movie. Secondly, it’s the perfect film to help further our mission of building bridges. This story takes place in Italy in the town of Portorosso, on the coast. It is a historical and beautiful place and is very attached to the lifestyle of Italy down there. The director, Enrico Casarosa is an Italian American living in the US as an immigrant, much like the majority of the Italian community in Toronto. I think it’s symbolic that the person has both North American and Italian roots. Also, the Animator/Artistic Director, Deanna Marsigliese is an Italian-Canadian from Toronto, which is another connection between Canada and Italy. She put the concept together to create the movie, which is a perfect match to represent the celebration/opening up of society once again.”        

         

HNMAG “Have you had direct talks with Disney and Pixar in regards to launching the festival with this film?”

CRISTIANO “We started working with Disney-Pixar many months ago to put this together. We are very happy that we built this event together. It’s been a long-term partnership that we started with an idea to celebrate Italian Heritage month, as well as the opening of this film on their platform, Disney+. I have to thank Disney and Pixar for this collaboration, which has been incredible in these past weeks.” 

 

Since its inception in 2012, the ICFF has grown and strived to share Italian culture and traditions to all North American audiences, creating bridges that link Italian and International communities, and promoting “made in Italy” in all its facets. Throughout the years and thanks to the steadfast support of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Ontario, the ICFF has maintained and strengthened its mandate and mission to connect audiences worldwide, bringing contemporary Italian culture to the forefront. 

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