Italy's illustrious and  multifaceted film tradition once again takes the screen for SIFF’s annual mini-festival, Cinema Italian Style. Over seven days (boasting eight guests) the mini-fest is packed with comedy, drama, and a healthy dose of actor Toni Servillo, who SIFF director of programming Beth Barrett calls “the patron saint of the festival.”

Here are some of the highlights of Cinema Italian Style 2013:

• L’Arbitro, the festival opener, looks a lot like Best in Show meets Kung Fu Soccer—minus the kung fu (but certainly heavy on the comedy). The film focuses on an eclectic group of players all competing in an increasingly absurd neighborhood soccer tournament that includes a blind coach and an internationally acclaimed referee. Expect quite the wonky championship.

• The documentary Slow Food Story investigates the story behind the international slow food revolution; started by the enigmatic Carlo Petrini in 1986. Barrett says it largely avoids informing its audience about slow food, and more about the movement which was very much on the back of Petrini. “It very much fits the soul of Seattle with food,” says Barrett. “Where it’s made, how it comes to us, and how we eat it.”

• The Best Offer is the only English film in the bunch, but it still showcases plenty of Italian flair from prominent Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore. Geoffery Rush stars as Virgil Oldman, an eccentric art auctioneer who becomes drawn in by the mystery of a reclusive young woman looking to sell her family’s antiques. Not only are the enigmatic seller's pieces quite valuable, but she refuses to be seen by anyone.

• Salvo, winner of the Critic’s Week Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Festival is the story of a steely and silent hitman, Salvo (Saleh Bakri), who kidnaps a beautiful, blind witness Rita (Sara Serraiocco) when he can't bring himself to kill her. Barrett calls intimate, (largely) two character drama, Wait Until Dark meets Gomorrah.

• Long Live Freedom follows one conservative politician who decides to take a break from politics. Luckily, he’s got a reclusive twin brother—recently released from an asylum—to take his place so no one will know he’s gone. Long Live Freedom really needles into current Italian politics. Watch as Toni Survillo performs as both twins, in his first film of the festival.

• In Honey, a young Italian woman named Irene (who goes by the pseudonym Honey) works outside the law to help provide euthanasia to the terminally-ill. It’s an intricate and delicate topic, one Irene hasn’t considered the ramifications of until Carlos, a depressed architect, enlists her help. The lead actress Jasmine Trinca—who Barrett describes as spectacular—will be in attendance.

• The festival closes with La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), a favorite at Cannes, and Italy's submission for this year's Academy Awards. It’s a beautiful, sweeping tale of an aging journalist, played by Toni Survillo, who spends his time bouncing around his town's absurd party scene, until an admission from his first lover’s husband sparks a revitalized review of his life.

Cinema Italian Style 2013
Nov 14–21, SIFF Cinema Uptown, $11; festival pass $100