PEARTREE LIFE: Experiencing Languages

Q+A with one of the Artistic Directors of the Italian film festival, Dr. Luisa Percopo

It’s Friday morning, November 17th 2018 and I’m enjoying a delicious cappuccino at my favourite Italian coffee shop, Calabrisella. At Peartree we never need an excuse to drop in and say hello to some of our first ever students who have established this wonderful little piece of Italy in the heart of Canton. But today is even more special as I am getting ready to interview Dr. Percopo about the very exciting 2017 Italian Film Festival Cardiff.


Carry on reading to find out what our friend, Luisa, has to say about this year’s wonderful line-up of films.

Can you tell me something about the history of the festival? 

“The festival is in its 3rd year, so the pressure is on! We started in May 2015, a few months after the opening of Calabrisella, we wanted Cardiff to have its own Italian film festival, as there are already established festivals in the other UK capitals of London and Edinburgh. Although there is a long history of Welsh-Italians, it was really the opening of Calabrisella that made us realise that there are many Italians in Cardiff, however it’s not only Italians who attend the festival with about 60% of the attendees being Italophiles. We also liked the idea of connecting the past Wales-Italy link with the present.”


And what is new for this year? 

“Well, firstly, all the performances will take place in Chapter Arts Centre, due to the closure of Penarth Pier. All the films are Welsh premieres and in fact, there are 7 British premieres! In total there are 13 films to choose from.”


The Italian Film Festival Returns to Cardiff


Which part of the festival are you most looking forward to? 

“That is very difficult to answer! I can honestly say that I am excited about all parts of the event in different ways. For example, there will be a film from 1956 with a live jazz score, most of the films are followed by a Q+A and many of these will feature the film’s director. This time there are more dark comedies, for example ‘Easy’ (Un viaggio facile facile), which is a kind of road movie. Then, there is a film with a Shakespearean tone, ‘La stoffa dei sogni’ and the beautiful ‘Emma’, really, there I can’t say one film in particular.”


Finally, what is the future for the festival? 

“We would like to see the festival grow bigger and bigger. We are talking about holding a monthly screening and also creating more of a forum for Welsh and Italian film-makers to meet and make contacts. Also, we would like to hold round-table type events to discuss the future of film funding post-Brexit. Finally, we aim to go into schools to show the films to younger audiences and spread film making to younger generations.”

We would like to thank Luisa for her time. If you would like to have a general picture of the Italian Film Festival, please check out our first blog post in this series, or, why not just go along to the festival! If you are planning on seeing ‘Il colore nascosto delle cose', come and say hello to me, I’ll be there. 

Arrivederchi amici!


Source of the picture and video: https://www.iffc.wales/
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About Peartree Languages

Peartree Languages is a language school located in Cardiff.

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