Italian Film Festival comes to North Taranaki’s Len Lye Cinema

La Chimera is in the line-up at this year's Italian Film Festival showing at New Plymouth's Len Lye Cinema. Photo / La Chimera

New Zealand’s largest Italian cultural event is returning to North Taranaki.

Over the next three weeks, New Plymouth District Council’s Len Lye Cinema will host the Cinema Italiano Festival. The festival runs until Sunday, June 9, with this being the fifth year it has screened at the cinema inside the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

The Italian Film Festival is visiting 18 towns and cities across New Zealand, with the Len Lye Cinema the exclusive host venue for New Plymouth.

Cinema programmer Alastair Ross said everyone, not just those who loved Italian film and cinema, should check out the programme.

“Cinema Italiano Festival is one of the gems in the gallery’s year-round film programme, and the first of the three big international film festivals we present, amongst festivals each year. It has been a pleasure to work with the festival’s artistic directors, Paolo Rotondo and Renee Mark, to present a great snapshot of classic and contemporary Italian cinema to Taranaki audiences.”

Ross said there were many highlights across the programme.

“I don’t think you can go past the 1952 award-winning classic The White Sheik on the big screen, and the glorious La Chimera.”

The festival also features three bonus screenings of the New Zealand-made short film Maunga Cassino, filmed entirely in te reo Māori and Italian. The film focuses on the meeting between an Italian deserter and a soldier from the 28th Māori Battalion during World War II.

For more details of the festival and ticket information, visit the Govett Brewster website.