The Italian Film Festival was hosted the weekend prior to Lismore’s most anticipated Italian event, Piazza in the Park, as a way of increasing awareness for the coming festival as well as to introduce a cinema event to the community.
All films were screened at the Keen Street cinema complex in Lismore.
“We had four films, one on Saturday night, and three on the Sunday,” Ros Derrett OAM, president of the Lismore Friendship Festival Inc, said.
Opening night featured Paolo Sorrentino’s popular Oscar nominated film Loro, about Silvio Berlusconi, with drinks and canapés included in the ticket price.
“The opening night was a bit of a function,” Derrett enthused.
“We had some antipasto, some prosecco, some gelato...
“Loro has been a very popular film around the place, a bit controversial here and there.
“We had about 120 people at that, which was great for our first time doing something like that.”
Three hilarious comedies were screened on the Sunday: The Last Prosecco, Put Nonna in the Freezer and My Big Gay Italian Wedding, with about 80 people turning up to each of those.
“The Lismore Friendship Festival Inc was established to acknowledge the local Italians who have come here, mostly after the war,” Derrett said.
“The city council itself has a relationship with two cities up in the Veneto: Conegliano and Vittorio Veneto.
“With these events, we were trying to celebrate that and to make people locally aware that the Italians here have made a great contribution to our lives, and we want to celebrate things Italian.
“We go from food and music and dance and lots of different activities that have an Italian flavour.”
Check out our website tomorrow for a write-up on the The Lismore Friendship Festival Inc’s main event, Piazza in the Park, which was held on Sunday, June 23, in Spinks Park, Lismore.
