Festival will offer spotlight on Toni Servillo including One Man Up.

Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow will once again welcome the yearly celebration of Italian cinema as the 18th Italian Film Festival (April 1-14) offers a programme of new features, long-unavailable classics and a spotlight on revered Italian actor Toni Servillo.

The event will open with Italy’s most recent Oscar submission, The First Beautiful Thing (La prima cosa bella) [pictured] by Paulo Virzi, and includes screenings of Gabriele Muccino’s Kiss Me Again (Baciami Ancora), Roberto Rossellini’s General Della Rovere (Il Generale Della Rovere) and the UK premiere of Gennaro Nunziante’s comedy What A Beautiful Day (Che Bella Giornata).

The Festival honours Servillo with features of One Man Up (L’Uomo in piu) and The Girl By The Lake (La ragazza del lago). The tribute also includes the first Scottish screenings of tense thriller A Quiet Life (Una vita tranquilla).

The Italian Film Festival is organised by Allan Hunter (a Screen contributor) and Richard Mowe with support from the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Edimburgo and the Consolato Generale d’Italia, as well as sponsors Valvona & Crolla VinCaffè and Zucca Edinburgh.