You won't need to go far for Roman holidays, Tuscan summers and romantic endings against a Venetian backdrop this weekend - the Newcastle Italian Film Festival is back for another year.
Running since 2010, this year's festival will showcase some of Italy's best flicks from 2022 and 2023 at Event Cinemas Kotara.
Inspired by St. Ali Italian Film Festival in Sydney, organiser Nick Moretti has spent months meticulously sifting through films to find hidden gems.
Amongst them are romances, a comedy and a Mafia drama. Mr Moretti said despite distinct European themes, Australians made up the festival's largest demographic of viewers.
"They really enjoy watching European films," Mr Moretti said. "Some of the stories in these films are more real life [than Hollywood] and if there's not a happy ending, there's not a happy ending. A lot of people like that.
"You see the scenery of Italy. It is like a little portal."
But Mr Moretti's dedication for the event stretches beyond sharing Italian artistry. With each new year, he honours late friend and festival co-founder, Dino Cesta.
A much loved community member and artistic powerhouse, Cesta died in 2015 after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
"Dino was well-loved by his family and friends. He was an extremely innovative type of thinker - a very deep thinker. A lot of the creative elements of the Italian Film Festival came from him," Mr Moretti said.
"[Dino] really made a large contribution to making the film festival what it is today."
All profits from this year's festival will go to Motor Neurone Disease NSW, which helps people with MND to stay living in their own homes.
"From the very beginning, we gave any money we made to charity. We never did it for our own benefit. We just enjoyed putting the festival on, seeing people have a good experience and getting to watch Italian films," Mr Moretti said.
A $2000 scholarship named in honour of Cesta and his late wife Anna is awarded during each festival to a Hunter student studying a tertiary course in visual or digital arts, film and television, music or writing next year.
Opera singer Hilary Oliver has been a scholarship judge for four years and said this year's entries were "exceptionally good".
"It is so, so hard to chose. Every year is gets worse" Ms Oliver said. "But the winning entry this year was just charming. The way this person wrote [their application] was so serious and so eloquent. It stuck out."
The winner will be announced at the festival's opening night on Friday, where up to 400 people will fill cinema seats for a screening of crime thriller, The Last Night Amore.
"Nick works so hard on [the festival]," Ms Oliver said. "It will be special."
