Italian Movie Siren to Open 2011 Lavazza Italian Film Festival

It has been announced that the ethereally stunning Mathilde Maggio, one of the rising stars of Italian Cinema, will be in Australia to launch the 12th Annual Lavazza Italian Film Festival.

Maggio will officially open the Festival in Melbourne on the 14th September and in Sydney on the 15th September and will also introduce select screenings of her latest film, Martino’s Summer, which screens as part of this year’s event.

Acknowledged as the biggest celebration of Italian cinema in the world, outside of Italy, the 2011 Festival, which boasts over 1,000 sessions nationally, will open with Welcome to the South, an Italian adaptation of Dany Boon’s French comedy, Welcome to the Sticks. This box office hit which has taken over 30 million Euros in Italy alone, follows the adventures of postal worker, Albert, who dreams of being transferred to Milan, but instead finds himself sent to a small southern town which he is convinced must be an uncouth backwater awash with mafia intrigue. 

Lavazza’s partnership with the 2011 Italian Film Festival will also add a delicious dimension to the agenda. For the opening nights, Lavazza will be shaking up Lavazza Mocha Martinis from their very own cocktail bar. 2011 Festival audiences will be treated to the culinary delights of acclaimed Italian chef Donato Buchicchio from Ristorante Due Torri in Italy’s Basilicata region. Chef Buchicchio will be on hand to present exquisite antipasti with produce imported from Italy for special event screenings in Melbourne and Sydney of Basilicata Coast to Coast.

Other notable highlights from this year’s line-up include:

18 Years Later (18 Anni Dopo) directed by Edoardo Leo

20 Cigarettes (20 Sigarette) directed by Aureliano Amadei

A Quiet Life (Una Vita Tranquilla) directed by Claudio Cupellini

The Ages of Love (Manuale D’Amore 3) directed by Giovanni Veronesi and starring Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci

Corpo Celeste directed by Alice Rohrwacher

The Passion (La Passione) directed by Carlo Mazzacurati

Escort in Love (Nessuno Mi Puo Giudicare) directed by Massimiliano Bruno

The 2011 Lavazza Italian Film Festival will screen on the following dates: Melbourne (14 Sep – 5 Oct), Sydney (15 Sep – 5 Oct), Brisbane (5-23 Oct), Adelaide (12-30 Oct) and Perth (13-26 Oct).

For more information and ticket details visit: www.italianfilmfestival.com.au