1 Nov– For the third consecutive year, the Italian Film Festival (IFF) is bringing the best of Italian cinema to the big screen in Malaysia. H.E. Cristiano Maggipinto, the Ambassador of Italy to Malaysia, said in his welcome speech at the launching ceremony yesterday evening that thanks to the success of the previous years' edition, IFF is able to return to Malaysia once again. Though this time, it is being held earlier than the previous editions, which were held in mid-November. The ambassador explained that the decision to move the dates to early November was so that it would coincide with the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) in Malaysia, which just wrapped up its 20th edition in KL and is currently running in Penang. There are two Italian titles screening under EUFF this year. It is also held closer to the Week of the Italian Language in the World, a week that promotes the teaching of the Italian language. H.E. Cristiano Maggipinto joked that Malaysians should attend the Italian classes at Universiti Malaya so that they wouldn't require subtitles when watching next year's IFF movies. This year's IFF offers five movies of various genres, with "The Champion" selected as the opening film. Aside from "The Champion", the other titles available at IFF 2019 are "Like A Cat On A Highway", "Little Tito And The Aliens", "Put Grandma In The Freezer" and "The Invisible Witness".
Also present at the launch was London-based Italian filmmaker Luca Vullo, who, when asked if he was interested in making a movie in Malaysia, said that he would love to so that he himself can learn more about the country during the production. Vullo, whose works encompasses both theatre and film, is also directing and performing in the theatre performance entitled "La Voce del Corpo", to be held today at PJ Live Arts Centre from 8pm. The event is open to the public and free of charge. Get showtimes for the Italian Film Festival 2019 right HERE.