Italian Contemporary Film Festival

ICFF
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
FoundedJune, 2012
Festival dateJune–July (Opening Day coincides with Canada Multiculturalism Day on June 27)
LanguageEnglish and Italian
Websitewww.icff.ca

The ICFF is a not-for-profit, publicly attended film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, programming international films and taking place during the summer. Founded in 2012, ICFF has grown from a four-day, single-venue festival of 18 films, to a 10-day, nine-city festival of over 130 feature films, documentaries and short films.[1]

The ICFF has a monthly program with screenings and events held in its main cities, a Youth Festival program and its main June Festival initiative.

Every year ICFF takes place during the month of June in celebration of Ontario’s Italian Heritage Month with screenings in the cities of Toronto, Vaughan, Vancouver, Hamilton, Markham, Niagara, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City.[2] The ICFF festival screenings in Toronto are held at the TIFF Bell LightBox. The ICFF also runs special events and international programs throughout the year, which aim to involve different niche audiences.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, in 2020 the 9th edition of the ICFF took place online. In both 2020 and 2021, in light of the pandemic the ICFF and corporate sponsor Lavazza also organized the special 'Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival,' a screening series of films presented at a drive-in theatre at Ontario Place; the Lavazza Festival included some Italian films in its program, but programmed a diversity of films representing a broad cross-section of Canadian and international multicultural films rather than being exclusively Italian-themed.[3]

In 2021, the ICFF introduced an open-air section of the festival at Trillium Park in Toronto, and in 2022, the festival fully transitioned to an outdoor format at the Distillery Historic District under the new name 'IncluCity Festival.'[4][5] The new format includes international and multicultural cinema screenings on the streets and main square of the Distillery District, as well as stages and street activations.[6]

In 2023, the festival introduced a new section dedicated to dark drama and horror films called 'The Dark Side.' This program features full-length films screened at midnight in the outdoor setting of the Distillery District.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "About ICFF". Italian Contemporary Film Festival.
  2. ^ "Italian Contemporary Film Festival". Filmitalia. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  3. ^ Jane Stevenson, "Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival back at Ontario Place this summer". Toronto Sun, June 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "You can watch movies under the stars in Toronto all summer long". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  5. ^ Rajan, Revathy (2022-06-23). "Distillery District in Toronto is going to become an open-air cinema next week". View the VIBE. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  6. ^ Mazzucco, Lucy (2023-07-11). "Lavazza VIP Lounge for ICFF unveiled in Toronto's historic Distillery District". Canadian Architect. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  7. ^ Johnson, Ron (2023-06-14). "Watch a terrifying movie outside in one of Toronto's creepiest locations". Streets Of Toronto. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  8. ^ "The Lavazza IncluCity Festival announces new horror program in suggestive open-air cinema". Horror Society. 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  9. ^ "Watch movies under the stars in Toronto's historic Distillery District this summer". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2023-09-18.