If there is one film festival you don’t want to miss, it’s the 16th edition of the Lavazza Italian Film Festival at Palace Electric Cinemas

…and there are so many reasons why.

The Zeccola family, who moved to Australia in the 1960s, owns the Palace chain of movie theatres. Since then, three generations have been involved in the management of the cinemas. Incredibly proud of this heritage, the Zeccola’s make the Italian Film Festival one of the cultural highlights of the year.

To celebrate this heritage, they have invited actor Luca Zingaretti who is most famous in Australia for his starring role in the hit SBS series, Inspector Montalbano. He charmed the Canberra audience last night at the gala opening – one which was the biggest held to date by Palace Electric and sold out three of the feature cinemas.

The festival kicked off with Se Dio Vuole (God Willing) – a comedy starring Marco Giallini and Alessandro Gassmann and tells the hilarious story of an atheist surgeon with a God-complex, a charismatic priest, a dysfunctional family and an announcement that takes everyone by surprise.

What could go wrong? To find out, visit one of the encore screenings on Saturday 26 September, or Saturday 10 October at 6.30pm.

As well as God Willing, there are over 30 films to watch this year. From now until Sunday 11 October with a range of comedies, dramas and family movies for you to enjoy. Click here to see the entire list and to buy tickets to any of the festival sessions, and great discounts apply for 5 and 10 film passes.

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OutInCanberra has 10 double passes to be used in-season for the 16th Lavazza Italian Film Festival. For your chance to win, use the form on this page tell us the thing you love most about Italy.