Raoul Bova wins the prize for Best Actor. Andrea Iervolino Receives IC Savings Award
The stars of Italian cinema shine in Canada’s Italian Contemporary Film Festival. This year the ICFF posted the highest attendance in history. The duo Nunziante-Zalone thrilled audiences and won the People’s Choice Award for “Quo Vado?”. The film “All Roads Lead to Rome” won two awards: Raoul Bova brought home the prize for best actor and producer Andrea Iervolino won the IC Savings Award. The Critics’ Prize was conferred upon “They Call me Jeeg Robot.”
TORONTO – Canada crowns Claudia Cardinale during the closing ceremony of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival presented by IC Savings. Ms. Cardinale won the Lifetime Achievement Award, the festival’s highest honour. Past winners of this recognition include Roberto Benigni, Al Pacino and Carlo Verdone. Audiences were treated to a grand gala at Toronto’s Bell Lightbox, where Ms. Cardinale’s latest film, “All Roads lead to Rome,” was presented. During the ceremony, the legendary actress was given a hearty standing ovation.
“I don’t know how many films I made – 130 or 140,” said Cardinale, holding the award created by sculptor Silvio Mastrodascio. “Cinema gave me the opportunity to live many lives. This was amazing to me and has spurred me to continue pursuing this profession. In this film I had the chance to play Raoul Bova’s mother. It was truly a special experience.”
At the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, upon receiving the best actor at the ICFF 2016, Raoul Bova replied to Cardinale’s comment. “I’m very excited about this award given to me by the Festival, especially since it is for a film that saw me work with this wonder, this force of nature, Claudia Cardinale.” The Roman actor also came to Canada to present Rewind and Reboot, the latest film from director Carlo Vanzina.
The winners of the People’s Choice Award were director Gennaro Nunziante and Checco Zalone. Their film, “Quo vado?” won the prestigious prize, confirming the fact that their comedy was successful with an international audience. The comedic duo won over a large portion of the Italian-Canadian audience. “We received a wonderful welcome,” said Checco Zalone. “The Italians in Canada have not stopped being Italian.” Director Gennaro Nunziante also expressed satisfaction: “It’s great to be here at the Festival. We’ve been welcomed by many fellow Italians who continue to believe – as we do – that Italian culture represents something important for the whole world.
The IC Savings Award for best Canadian Film went to Andrea Iervolino, whose tireless work as an Italian Canadian film producer were duly recognized. Mr. Iervolino, along with Ms. Monika Bacardi, founded AMBI/AIC and represents a veritable bridge between Italy and North American in the field of film production and distribution.
The Toronto Film Critics’ Association awarded their prize to “They called me Jeeg Robot,” by Gabriele Mainetti. The prize was announced to the public by Thom Ernst, representing the Jury, during the Festival’s closing ceremony at the prestigious TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The award for best short went to “Resce la Lune,” by Giulia Di Battista and Gloria Kurkik, while the Best Picture award at the ICFF Junior was conferred to Gabriele Salvatores’ “The Invisible Boy.”
“The films presented at the ICFF have proven to be an extraordinary reality that showcase modern-day Italy to North American audiences. Our goal is to show our cinema to Canadian hearts,” said ICFF’s artistic director Cristiano de Florentiis, commenting on the results of the Festival’s fifth edition.
“The ICFF has a history of great success: 70 films, over 130 screenings and – most importantly – 30,000 attendees. This proves that this festival is unique in its kind.
For the third consecutive year, the Festival dedicated a day to the film industry, aptly called Industry Day, presented by SIRT (Screen Industries and Training Centre, Sheridan College and Pinewood Toronto Studios) and by ETV Film Inc. at the historic Pinewood Studios. This year’s workshop focused on Virtual Reality and 360o films.
The ICFF has created an important meeting place where the masters of Italian, Canadian and American cinema were able to talk to each other and let audiences in on their trade secrets.
An important meeting took place with director Renzo Martinelli, who had a chance to interact with Toronto audiences. During the screening of his latest film, Ustica, which centers on one of the most newsworthy tragedies that struck Italy in the last few decades, the director was given the Award of Excellence for his investigative cinema.
However, it wasn’t all awards and accolades: the ICFF’s Italy is also a kind of “Dolce Vita”: Red carpets, flowing gowns and sequins: at Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton, over 1,000 guests celebrated the Festival’s success during the Closing Gala, which was hosted by noted actor Giacomo Gianniotti, star of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” The soiree saw the stars of cinema, fashion and Italian cuisine shine bright. More importantly, once again, Italy was in the spotlight, a country that is recognized, loved and honoured abroad.
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