Honolulu Weekly

Cinema Italiano / The 6th annual Cinema Italiano film fest breezes back into town this week, with its usual commixture of movies (from cutting edge to feel-gooders), glitterati guests, celebrity judges, a party or two and maybe a fashion show (the smash hit of last year’s fest).

One film, chosen by Hawaii jurors, will win the coveted Princess Dialta di Montereale prize. As always, the fest is presented by the Friends of Hawai with the involvement of the San Francisco Italian fest. Added to this year’s gusti vari (variety) will be a program of slow food shorts curated by the Bologna (Italy) Slow Food fest. As usual, the Hawaii fest will sponsor a scholarship for UH’s Academy of Creative Media. Sixteen showings of the films will be screened at the Kahala Theatres.

Here’s a short-take rundown on the fest features: Giovanni’s Father (unusual drama directed by Hawaii fest favorite Pupi Avati); The 1,000 Euro Generation (romantic comedy about financially-challenged young people); Ex (also known as Many Kisses Later, a rom-com); Il Divo (cutting edge Mafioso comedy-drama); The Girl by the Lake (prize-winning murder-mystery; We Can Do That (comedy-drama about mentally-challenged folks going into business). In a telephone chat with the Weekly, founder Margherita Parrent summed it all up: We’re trying to bring three things–film, fashion and cuisine–together in one four-day series of events, our best ever.”