The Italian Film Festival in India titled ‘Italian Screens’, is all set to present the best of Italian cinemas across Indian cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata to cater to the cinephiles and movie enthusiasts for a delightful cinematic experience.

The program is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), Cinecittà for the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MoC) and the Academy of Italian Cinema – David di Donatello Awards and holds high artistic and cultural value to foster the cultural relation between Italy and the Indian subcontinent.

The festival will present an array of Italian films with English subtitles. The line up of movies include Il Buco by Michelangelo Frammartino, Sulla Giostra by Giorgia Cecere, Qui rido io by Mario Martone, L’Arminuta by Giuseppe Bonito and Ariaferma by Leonardo di Costanzo.

In Kolkata, the festival will be organised from October 12 to October 14 at the historic New Empire Cinema. A press conference was held on Tuesday at Park Street, Kolkata to announce the Film Festival in the presence of the celebrated Indian film director, Gautam Ghosh, actress Ushoshi Sengupta and the Consul General of Italy in Kolkata, Gianluca Rubagotti.

Talking about the initiative, director Gautam Ghosh, who is undertaking an Italo-Indian collaborative project himself said, “It is very good news that an official Italian Film Festival is taking place after so many years in India. Satyajit Ray started making films after being inspired by Italian films like ‘Bicycle Thief’, and I too gained inspiration from ‘Rocco and his Brothers’. The new generation of Italian films will be shown to the Kolkata audience – a city which has a great connection with Italian cinema starting in the late 1940s. There is a great synergy between Italian and our film makers in terms of passion, culture and love for cinema.”

The Consul General for Italy in Kolkata, Gianluca Rubagotti emphasized the importance of this initiative. She said, “This Film Festival of Italian Films is a comprehensive event on cinema. Our main motive is to promote and recognize Italian films. People will enjoy contemporary movies from different cultural aspects.”

Actress Ushoshi Sengupta said, “I am glad and excited that the Film Festival is happening in Kolkata. I am sure people will enjoy this because all forms of art are experiential and cinema is a vital part of this.”