Tickets are on sale for the popular Italian Film Festival as it returns to Hawke’s Bay in July with a carefully curated season of 27 films for those craving a tour of Italy without having to leave the country this winter.
In its eleventh year, the nation-wide festival is owned and organised by local film enthusiasts Paolo Rotondo and Renee Mark who live in Havelock North. As authentic as it is entertaining, it’s the only international film festival in New Zealand to be run by a person from that country with Rotondo born in Italy.
“We use popular films from the previous year’s Italian releases as a starting point when curating the festival programme,” says Rotondo, an award-winning New Zealand-Italian film director, actor and writer.
Rotondo was made Cavaliere dell’Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana (Cavaliere) by the Embassy of Italy in 2024.
The opening night film is the multi award-winning comedy Somebody to Love, Italy’s surprise number one box office hit last year. Chronicling the first date between Piero and Lara, it’s gatecrashed by a list of uninvited guests; the noisy ‘Italian chorus’ of emotions in their heads.
Given five stars by New Zealand Listener film reviewer, Sarah Watt, it’s a take on a comedy romance and the most popular film at the festival so far.
Other stand outs include the ultra-lush and visually stunning, Diamante, which is set in the 1970s in the famous Roman fashion house, Canova.
Also The Tasters, which is based on the recollections of 14 women who were forcibly rounded up to be the ‘tasters’ for Hitler’s meals during the last days of the Third Reich.
And, of course, no Italian festival would be complete without taking a visit to Alessandro’s for an authentic Neapolitan pizza, al dente pasta and a glass or two of prosecco. Alessandro’s will also be preparing Italian snack boxes for the opening night in Havelock North.
The festival runs in Havelock North’s Focal Point 22 July – 12 August and Napier’s Globe Theatrette 23 July – 2 August and 10-14 December. The full programme can be found at the cinemas or online at www.italianfilmfestivalnz.com
