ICFF opens in grand style in Toronto

by Allan Tong

You gotta hand it to the Italians: They know how to party.

The Italian Contemporary Film Festival opened in Toronto last night with a screening of the biopic, L'Oriana, about legendary journalist Oriana Fallaci (review here) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, then a gala party at Roy Thompson Hall.

Savoury samples, including pork sandwiches, pizza and lobster rolls, were served indoors while the outdoor patio hosted a live band and a dizzying array of Italian sweets from the likes of The Big Cannoli, Exquisitely Yours and Dolcini that would kill any diabetic.

Screenings continue all weekend in Toronto, Vaughan, Montreal and Quebec City. Check back here for reviews.

Italian fest opens with biopic of Oriana Fallaci

by Allan Tong

This year's Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) opens Thursday night in Toronto and Vaughan with L'Oriana, a biopic about Oriana Fallaci, one of the most fearless and celebrated journalists of the 20th century.

The Florence-born Fallaci was known as a formidable interviewer, getting heavyweights such as Henry Kissinger to admit Vietnam was a "useless war" and having the gall to calls Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini a "tyrant" to his face.

Fallaci was a passionate personality who survived war zones and covered world politics with an intensity that this film, directed by Marco Turco, succeeds in capturing. Fallaci is a natural subject for the silver screen. Her words spring to life on screen and its through her words that her fiery intellect shines like a laser beam. Vittoria Puccini nicely balances Fallaci's ferocious drive and compassion.