The NICE Italian Film Festival, which has become a regular fixture on the Dublin and Cork arts calendars, will have its inaugural outing in Galway next month.

Running at the Pálás Cinema from next Friday to Sunday, May 3-5, it will include films by some of Italy’s best contemporary directors, including Sydney Sibilia, Andrea Di Stefano and Maria Sole Tognazzi.

The programme will be launched his Friday, April 26 at 5pm in the Colm Ó hEocha Theatre at the Arts Millennium Building of the University of Galway and will include a free screening of Sydney Sibilia’s 2023 film, Mixed By Erry, followed by a Q&A with the lead actors, Luigi D’Oriano and Giuseppe Arena.

The festival will start at 6.30 pm next Friday, May 3, with a wine reception at the Pálás bar, followed by the screening of Maria Sole Tognazzi’s film, Dieci Minuti. Other films being shown include Il primo giorno della mia vita, La chimera and L’ultima notte di Amore.

Irish-based Italian musician Simone Di Addezio will play a selection of acoustic covers of Italian classics and film soundtracks on Friday and Saturday evenings, in a duet with violinist Tamara Musukova. The Galway screening of L’Ultima Notte di Amore on May 5 will be the closing event of the Italian festival in Ireland.

All films will be in Italian with English subtitles. For more information see nicefestival.org, while the full programme and tickets for Galway are available at palas.ie.

Pictured: Maria Sole Tognazzi’s Dieci Minuti will be the opening film.