Opening the 11th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival, Manual of Love is a textbook of contemporary Italian cinema; a vibrant romantic comedy fraught with the pitfalls and consequences of falling in love. MELODY NIXON reviews.

Manuale d’Amore screened at the opening night of the Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival, Wellington. As well as vino Italiano the opening night audience was treated to the announcement of the winner of the film festival’s inaugural Scholarship. This Scholarship will be awarded yearly to a suitable New Zealand filmmaker. The winner gains the opportunity to attend the Venice Film Festival, and have periods of internship at Due A, Italian film production house and the National Museum of Cinema, Turin. This year’s recipient is actor, director and one-time Shortland Street star Paolo Rotondo. (Yes, a curiously Italian name. Paolo is in fact half-Italian and half-kiwi, and speaks fluent Italian.) The Wellington audience was given a viewing of Rotondo’s short film Dead Letters, which also screened at this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival. More information about the annual Scholarship, including application details for 2007’s round, can be found at italianfilmfestival.co.nz.—Melody Nixon

As niche film festivals in this country continue to mutate, we do our best to keep tabs on the latest fixtures on the calendar. We however have let one festival slip through the cracks: the Wairoa Maori Film Festival, which concludes this Labour Weekend. The second festival outing for Wairoa, this year's programme gathers a contingent of local and internationally relevant films to mark the beginning of the long East Coast summer. Encore screenings of New Zealand International Film Festival selections Squeegee Bandit, The Last Resort, Ten Canoes, Ans Westra: Private Journeys/Public Signposts, and Time & Tide are amongst the offerings. Films more synonymous with Maori culture – namely, Whale Rider, River Queen, and The Maori Merchant of Venice – also reappear. Events run until Monday night. All is revealed at www.manawairoa.com.

Yet another addition to the ever-increasing local film festival calendar: French Documentary Month, vis-à-vis The Festival of Festivals 2006, returns to present eight documentary films courtesy of the Embassy of France and Alliance Française. This, the third edition of the documentary festival, tours various centres throughout November and December. The dates we were given and are listed below don’t quite match those listed on the festival website – we suggest confirming with your corresponding venue closer to the time. Fresh from the European festival circuit, major acquisitions this time around include Clair Denis’ dance documentary Towards Mathidle (the great French choreographer Mathidle Monnier its subject), and Avi Mograbi’s Avenge But One of My Two Eyes, an encore from the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals earlier this year. Programme and itinerary follows. More details at ambafrance-nz.org

At the 11th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival, Gianni Amelio’s Keys to the House launched the 2006 programme in style. MELODY NIXON got first glimpse.

The Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival brings the latest Italian films to New Zealand’s towns and cities. Each year Italophiles, romantics, and those interested in European culture are spoilt by the range of films on offer. From comedy to romantic comedy and drama to, err, romantic drama, the Italian Film Festival presents a menu completa of the most popular in contemporary Italian cinema.