Following its successful sixth edition last December, the capital's Irish Film Festa (IFF) has organised a special St Patrick's Day programme of events dedicated to animation, a strong point of Irish cinema. 

The St Patrick's Day special runs from 15.30 to 21.30 on 17 March at the Casa del Cinema, at the Via Veneto corner of Villa Borghese. The programme includes a selection of Ireland's best short animated films from 1909 to 2012, as selected by expert Steve Woods who will give a short lecture on the history of Irish animation. 

Also in attendance will be Kealen O'Rourke, the director of The Boy in the Bubble; Nora Twomey, the director of the Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells will address the crowd, as will the Irish ambassador to Italy Pat Hennessy, and the event concludes with a tribute to director Lenny Abrahamson.

Entry is free and all the films are screened in their original language with Italian subtitles.

The event is being held as part of Ireland's current presidency of the EU and has the backing of Irish and Italian tourism and cultural agencies, as well as the city of Rome and the embassy of Ireland to Italy.