Italian movies are very popular and Italian film festivals are held all over the world. Here are some of the biggest annual film festivals showcasing award-winning Italian films outside of Italy including festivals in the United States, the UK, Australia, and Canada. Many movie events sell out so be sure to buy tickets ahead of time.
San Francisco holds screenings of new Italian movies, some shown for the first time in North America during this festival. Italian directors, producers, and actors usually attend the events, held in November.
Miami's film festival in October presents ten new Italian movies. The audience casts votes to pick the winning film.
Italian Film Festival USA hosts this free ten day Italian film fest in Detroit starting at the end of March. They also have a short Italian film fest in Minneapolis before Detroit.
St. Louis shows 6 award-winning Italian movies free to the public, 3 weekends in April. Following St. Louis,
Italian Film Festival USA holds fests in Cleveland, Kansas City, and Milwaukee. All festivals are free.
New York City holds an Italian film festival in April showing ten feature movies and ten shorts.
New Mexico holds its Italian film festival in Albuquerque for one week in February. This festival shows great Italian films from the past and includes music, wine, and food.
Seattle's film festival is part of a big Italian festival for three days in September.
Marin, north of San Francisco, shows Italian movies for six Saturdays in the fall with two screening times each Saturday.
Toronto's Italian film festival in June shows Italian movies making their World, North American, Canadian premier. There's also a selection of short films.
The UK Italian film festival, starting in mid-November, has movie screenings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Cardiff, Manchester and London. Film categories include Panorama, Nuova Cinema (new movies), documentaries, and shorts. Festival guests will be present at several of the screenings.
From October through early December, the Italian film festival travels to eight cities in New Zealand, for about two weeks in each city.
With more than 26 million people of Italian heritage living in the United States, it's easy to find an Italian heritage festival. Here are top Italian festivals and celebrations in the United States from May through October.
