Italian for Beginners in Edina

The Italian Cultural Center (ICC), in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Chicago, held its fifth annual Italian Film Festival in April at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). For the past five years, the ICC has arranged to share an extraordinary selection of contemporary Italian feature films with the Twin Cities community, several of which make their U.S. debut at the festival. “The festival is special to me because it represents an impassioned and labor-intensive effort on the part of native Italian speakers to share Italian film with Twin Cities audiences,” says Jesse Fanciulli, an Edina resident and Italian Film Festival volunteer committee member. “Edina is fortunate to have a population of both native Italians and Americans of Italian ancestry. The sense of community created through the ICC and other organizations and businesses that appeal to Edina’s Italophiles, whether of Italian lineage or not, is uplifting.”& Movies that debuted at this year’s festival include Polvere: Il grande processo dell’amianto (Dust: The Great Asbestos Trial), Terra Ferma (Dry Land), Un giorno speciale (A Special Day), and È stato il figlio (It was the son).