The Picture House presents

THE NINTH ANNUAL WESTCHESTER ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL

SPONSORED BY THE

GENEROSO POPE FOUNDATION

Purchase individual tickets or purchase a

discounted series package!

While previous festivals have showcased classic Italian film, this year has brought a partnership with the Miami Italian Film Festival and a selection of films from that organization.  There will be a complimentary wine reception on Saturday, October 17^th  starting at 6:30pm.  Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office.

The schedule of films is as follows (descriptions below):

PARLAMI D’AMORE (TELL ME ABOUT LOVE) ----------- Friday, October 16^that 7:30pm

IL DIVO --------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, October 17^th at 7:00pm

                                                                                          Reception at 6:30pm with an

                                                                                          introduction by Lucia Grillo  

COME L’OMBRA (AS THE SHADOW) ----------------------- Sunday, October 18^th at 5:30pm

ASPETTANDO IL SOLE (WAITING FOR THE SUN) ----- Sunday, October 18^th at 7:30pm

The festival will open with PARLAMI D’AMORE (TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE) on Friday, October 16^th at 7:30pm.  Nominated for four David of Donatello awards in 2008, the film tells the story of Nicole and Sasha. Nicole is French, 43, married and a teacher. Sasha is ten years her junior, son of two former addicts, born and raised on a comune, and loves to play poker. A car accident, an injured dog, a rush to an animal hospital. A casual encounter will change them, reintroducing them to the joy of living and loving.  Based on the novel "Parlami d'amore", by Silvio Muccino, Carla Vangelista.

IL DIVO is the winner of numerous film festival awards, including the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.  Paolo Sorrentino writes and directs this cinematic portrait of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, whose controversial legacy peaked when he was tried for Mafia ties and subsequently acquitted. A leader with close ties to the Vatican, Andreotti was also tried and acquitted for the murder of an Italian journalist, and remains a senator for life.  The film will play on Saturday, October 17^th at 7:00pm.  An introducation will be made by special guest speaker Lucia Grillo.  A complimentary wine reception will precede the screening at 6:30pm.

COME L’OMBRA (AS THE SHADOW), centers on Claudia, a single bored Milan travel agent in her thirties, takes evening classes in Russian and tries to get to know her teacher Boris from Kiev. Boris says that he is reluctant to get involved with his student, but asks Claudia to put up his beautiful Ukrainian cousin Olga for a few days while he is away on business. The women get along quite well, but Claudia is distressed when Olga disappears without taking her suitcase, money or passport.  The film was an official selection of the Venice and Toronto film festivals and won the Best Director prize at the Mar del Plata International film festival.   The film will screen on Sunday, October 18^th at 5:30pm.

ASPETTANDO IL SOLE  (WAITING FOR THE SUN) is set ambiguously in Italy, at the beginning of the Eighties.  Three “bad boys” stumble across a remote hotel, a sort of refuge at the end of the world.  Looking for something to amuse them through the long hours until dawn, they decide to take the hotel’s night porter hostage. Nothing is planned and everything appears a matter of chance. The only sure thing is the night – the simple camouflage of a sleepless night. The story doesn’t belong to them alone. The Bellevue Hotel is full of guests who breathe and pant and sob behind doors marked with worn numbers. They act out of love and despair, in whispers and screams, boldly and mysteriously.  Giuseppe Cederna won the Best Actor award at the Annency Cinema Italien.  The film will screen on Sunday, October 18^th at 7:30pm.