Launched in 2015 the Italian Film Festival Cardiff is organised by the Italian Cultural Centre Wales. It was set up to bring to the screens of Wales a dynamic and diverse portrait of contemporary Italy with its beauty, diversity, complexity and contradictions. The selection of cutting edge films shown, both in November at the festival and at recurrent screenings during the year, feature all genres of Italian cinematography with a strong emphasis on new narrative forms, animation and independent productions.
IFFC’s showcase and informative nature widened in 2019 to also include a competitive side, as it became the only Italian Film Festival in the United Kingdom to award prizes to Italian Cinema. At present we assign awards to six categories: the Awen award for best film and the Canfod award for best documentary are the main ones. The other four include best actress, best actor, best director and best soundtrack. The jury comprises both British and Italian specialists working in the UK.
Artistic directors Luisa Pèrcopo and Luca Paci explain: “The awards have been named in honour of the incredibly rich artistic culture of Wales. Our pledge has always been to act as a bridge between the Italian productions and the Welsh as well as the larger British audience. This is also a precious opportunity for Italian films to meet some of the prerequisites to have access to dedicated international funds in Italy.”
In these five years the Festival has also become a lively space for directors, actors and producers from both sides of the Channel to meet, discuss and start new projects together.
The Italian Film Festival Cardiff is now part of Wales’ increasingly international artistic profile.
