by The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team

The 10th Anniversary Italian Film Festival USA of Metro Detroit opens on Wednesday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Detroit Film Theatre with La pazza gioia (Like Crazy). A trio of festival films are slated to be screened in Ann Arbor beginning April 21.

Weekend screenings will continue throughout April at Chippewa Valley High School (Clinton Township), Henry Ford College (Dearborn), University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Wayne State University (Detroit). La stoffa dei sogni (The Stuff of Dreams) will close the festival on Sunday, April 30 at the Detroit Film Theatre. Check out the full schedule on the Film Festival’s website.

For the first time, The Italian Film Festival USA of Metro Detroit will be featuring a program of short films.

Gli Ultimi saranno Ultimi (The Last Will Be The Last) is one of the films scheduled to be screened in Ann Arbor in the Rackham Auditorium. The film, made in 2015, stars Paola Cortellesi, Alessandro Gassmann, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Stefano Fresi and Ilaria Spada. The film, nominated for Best Picture in Italy, is about Luciana. She is living the simple and quiet life she has always desired with her husband Stefano. Just when they realize their dream of starting a family, their world starts to fall apart; Luciana is fired from her job and decides to seek justice, but in front of the wrong person—someone just as unfortunate as she is.

Watch a Trailer for the film below.

In addition to a range of comedies, dramas, and documentaries, festival goers are invited to mark their calendars and meet several special guests, including local writer and survivor Pierette Domenica Simpson, (Andrea Doria: Are the Passengers Saved?) and director Gianfranco Cabiddu of La stoffa dei sogni. 

Admission to all the Festival’s screenings is free and open to the public.