Italian Film Festival Havelock North

11.00am Botticelli, Florence & The Medici

Renaissance Florence Medici was powerhouse of culture with dark side. Sandro Botticelli was able to project into his works, the lights and shadows of this era - the inventor of ideal Beauty in The Allegory of Spring and the Birth of Venus.

1.00pm Lord of the Ants

Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti is jailed in 1968 under a law criminalizing grooming. The informant is his partner's father.
Screening direct from Venice competition, the powerful new drama from Gianni Amelio recounts the controversial trial of Aldo Braibanti, an intellectual whose relationship with a male student caused a nationwide scandal.

3.30pm Power of Rome

Edoardo Leo roams the streets of his native Rome looking at it with fresh eyes. Between odd encounters, getaways, unexpected twists, and surreal moments in which he'll find himself caught by the faces and voices of the "Roman Gods", Edoardo takes us on a journey of discovery, sharing with us his amazement and fear, anxiety and wonder. He tells us the story of Rome, a city that almost died many times and each time was refounded, to regenerate from its own ashes and to regenerate the Western World from the Roman heritage.

6.00pm Breaking up in Rome

What if you found out your girlfriend's secrets? And what if that secret was her leaving you? Directed by, starring, and co-written by Edoardo Leo, this romantic comedy asks how difficult it is to separate after a long relationship, while paying homage to the eternal city of Rome.