Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio was named best film by members of the Toronto Film Critics Association at the finale of the second annual Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) on Saturday night [6].

The awards ceremony of the 11-day Canadian celebration of Italian and Italian-themed features and shorts included a life achievement award for Bread And Tulips director Silvio Soldini.

The ICFF jury recognised Soldini’s closing night screening Come Undone (Cosa Voglio Di Più) with an honourable mention for best film. 

Festival winners included Frank D’Angelo’s Real Gangsters, recipient of the IC Savings Award; Paolo Genovese’s Una Famiglia Perfetta (A Perfect Family), winner of the People’s Choice Award; and Alessandro Marinaro’s Buongiorno Signor Bellavista (Good Morning Mr Bellavista), which took home the inaugural award for best short film and a $1,000 cash prize.

On hand to present the awards were ICFF artistic director Cristiano de Florentiis and managing director Maurizio Magnifico. “We are thrilled by the strong enthusiasm shown to our festival, and we are very proud of the positive contribution it has made to Toronto’s vibrant cultural life in such a short span of time,” said de Florentiis.

ICFF ran from Jun 26 and presented 62 Italian and Italian-themed features and shorts, including 32 premieres. The festival expanded to Montreal this year and presented a selection of films in collaboration with La Cinémathèque Québécoise and the Italian Cultural Institute Of Montreal from Jun 26-30.

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