Giannini, Nero and Aiello take their act to the Italian Contemporary Film Fest

By Jim Slotek

Giancarlo Giannini

Giancarlo Giannini

The food was fantastic and the prosecco flowed at the black-tie closing-night gala of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at Toronto's Ritz-Carlton June 16. And some of the world's most famous Italians (and Frank D'Angelo) indulged their inner ham.

Danny Aiello sang a lounge number, Franco Nero did stand-up comedy, Giancarlo Giannini said a few gracious words. And tireless, self-promoting low-budget filmmaker D'Angelo (Sicilian Vampire) even got up and bellowed Just A Gigolo (sorry, we failed to capture that last one)

It was a free-spirited, at times joyously-cheesy, memorable evening.

On the film side, my fellow Toronto Film Critics Association jurors and I chose Fiore (Flower) - Claudio Giovannesi's affecting film about a teenage girl in a reformatory - as best film. The People's Choice Award went to In Guerra Per Amore (At War With Love) - a romantic-comedy set amid the U.S. military's deal-making with the Mafia to help take back Sicily from the Nazis.

  Original-Cin heartily recommends both movies. And we hope you enjoy the entertainment.

 

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Jim Slotek is a former Toronto Sun columnist, movie critic, TV critic and comedy beat reporter. He’s been a scriptwriter for the NHL Awards, Gemini Awards and documentaries, and was nominated for a Gemini Award for comedy writing on a special (the NHL Awards). Prior to the Sun, he worked at the Ottawa Citizen as an entertainment reporter.