Annecy Italian Film Festival makes its return to the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps this autumn. Film fans will be able to enjoy this festival from 21 to 27 September 2016.
Originally founded in 1983, this prestigious event showcases the best of contemporary filmmaking from Italy, and is held at the Cultural Centre of Annecy (now better known as the Bonlieu Scène Nationale or the Bonlieu Theater).
The Annecy Italian Film Festival screens both recently made films as well as movie classics filmed in Italy. Photo exhibitions and discussions of films will also take place at the Bonlieu Theater where the event is being staged.
Annecy Italian Film Festival Programme
The Annecy Italian Film Festival is divided up into a number of different sections with the Official Selection being the most important part of the festival.
There is a Feature Competition in which nine new films compete for the Grand Prix Award, which is decided on by a jury. All these competing films must be making their debut or be second feature films.
In the Prix Sergio Leone section of the event, a selection of films by the director who has won this award will be screened. Other prizes being competed for include Best Actor and Best Actress, and there is a Jury Prize.
There are also non-competitive programmes being run that will look at other aspects of the film industry in Italy.
A programme for the Annecy Italian Film Festival will be available from the beginning of September.
Ettore Scola
The famous Italian director and screenwriter Ettore Scola, who sadly died this year at the age of 84 on 19 January, will be featured in a special tribute at this year’s Annecy Italian Film Festival. In his outstanding career, Scola received a Golden Globe in 1978 for A Special Day in the Best Foreign Film category, and he had been nominated for five Academy Awards. He had been an honorary citizen of Annecy and the President of the Annecy Italian Film Festival and he will be greatly missed.
French Subtitles
Although the films being screened will be shown in the original Italian there will be French subtitles so the viewers will be able to understand what is going on. Of course, Annecy is in France so this is to be expected, and speaking of the French language, here in Annecy we are proud to have our own French Language School. Watching films with subtitles in a language you are studying is an excellent way to help you learn, and this you can do at the film festival.
Other Film Festivals in Annecy
Another annual event that puts Annecy on the world map for the film industry is the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (shortened to AIAFF), and as its name suggests, this event features animated films, such as Miss Hokusai, which was a winner at the festival in 2015. The AIAFF takes place at the beginning of June and really makes Annecy a great place to be if you are interested in films. See our related blog post on this topic.
