MUMBAI: Filmitalia, created with the objective of promoting Italian cinema abroad, plans to bring Italian films to the Kolkata, Goa, Mumbai and Kerala film festivals this year.

Set up to increase the distribution of Italian films on the international market, Filmitalia has been working in India since 2002.

“In Kerala, I plan to have a screening of Italian films, which will be personally selected by an international filmmaker like Mira Nair or Amitabh Ghosh, so that it helps in choosing films that are more appealing to Indians,” says Filmitalia president Irene Bignardi.    

“When I was the director of the Locarno Film Festival, I took many Indian films to Italian festivals,” she adds. Among the Indian films screened at Italian film fests are Black Friday, Lagaan, Mangal Pandey- The Rising and also films by Rituparno Ghosh and Mrinal Sen.