The Metro Detroit edition of Italian Film Festival USA will be showing two movies Saturday at Chippewa Valley High School’s Henrichsen Auditorium in Clinton Township at 5 and 7:30 p.m.

“The Italian Film Festival USA is present in many cities in the United States including Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The Metro Detroit editions are often the largest ones in terms of films offered and the number of shows,” said Pierluigi Erbaggio of Bloomfield Hills, chair of the Metro Detroit Committee of the Italian Film Festival USA and director of operations for the organization.

Year after year this area gathers the largest crowds.

This year Erbaggio is expecting between 3 and 4,000 spectators.

“We had over 450 spectators for Sunday’s “C’e ancora domani” at the Detroit Film theatre,” said Erbaggio.

The Italian Film Festival runs through April 27 and features a variety of films created by directors, some renowned and some showing great promise.

Two films will be screened at Chippewa Valley High School.

“The first at 5 p.m. is a family friendly comedy, “Gli addestratori (The Trainers). The second at 7:30 p.m. is “Un mondo a parte (A World Apart),” Erbaggio said, noting that the second is also a comedy that spectators will enjoy.

“Gil addestratoi is the story of a dog trainer who opens a training center for dogs that gets mistaken by a group of parents for a childcare facility,” Erbaggio said. “‘Un mondo a parte’ with familiar Italian comedian Antonio Albanese is set in Abruzzo and follows the story of a teacher who decides to move from Rome to a small town in the Apennine Mountains.”

Watching him as he adapts to his new environment is going to be very entertaining,” added Erbaggio, who said many contemporary Italian films would not be shown before an American audience if it were not for the Italian Film Festival USA, which screens films in 13 cities across the country.

Erbaggio said the films they select are often debut films including shorts by young directors.

“We love seeing those directors developing their careers over the years,” said Erbaggio, who is part of a large group of people who annually attend the Italian film screenings. “We also have new spectators who join us for some of our films because they learn about our festival through friends or social media.”

Magnifico!

That’s one of the words used to describe the quality of the films that are shown.

“We believe that Italian cinema is more than Neorealism and Fellini,” Erbaggio said. “Our festival, every year, brings contemporary Italian films by talented filmmakers as well as the most recent works of renowned directors and brilliant actors. In addition these films will allow our spectators to enjoy a cinematic tour of Italy, showing 11 of the 20 regions of the Belpaese.”

Admission is free.

This is due to major sponsors of the Italian Film Festival USA, which is a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis. Its mission is to provide the public with an opportunity to see films that have not yet or may never be seen locally, always with the scope to elevate the awareness of and educate the public about Italy-its land, people, culture, and language. What enables the films to be shown for free are the annual supporting sponsors.

This year’s major sponsors include: Consulate of Italy in Detroit, Your Italian Passport, Michigan Arts & Cultures Council, ENR Engineering News-Record, Italian American Club of Livonia-Charitable Foundation, Società Dante Alighieri del Michigan, Schlossberg Legal PLCC. Film sponsors also include: Sara & Tonino Corsetti, MSU Department of Romance and Classical Studies, Federazione Abruzzese del Michigan, Barbara Heller, Italian-American Chamber of Commerce and Pierette Simpson.

For more information visit the website at Itallian Film Festival USA or contact the Detroit committee at detroit@italianfilmfests.org

Show goers will find a full list of titles, dates and venues on the Italian Film Festival showing through April 27, on the website at italianfilmfests.org/detroit.html.

Chippewa Valley High School is at 18300 19 Mile Rd., Clinton Township.