30 March. The tenth edition of Irish Film Festa, the festival dedicated entirely to Irish cinema, begins at 16.00 on 30 March with The Flag, presented by its director Declan Recks and screenwriter Eugene O'Brien in the Sala Deluxe at the Casa del Cinema. When Harry Hambridge (Pat Shortt) discovers that his grandfather was among those to hoist the Irish tricolour over the GPO during the 1916 Rising, he hatches a plan to retrieve the flag.

At 19.00 the festival screens Mammal, a drama written and directed by Rebecca Daly, starring Rachel Griffiths and Barry Keoghan. For Margaret the news of the disappearance of her teenage son, who she he left when he was little, coincides with the decision to host Joe, an injured homeless youth.

At 21.00 the festival welcomes Ireland's ambassador to Italy Bobby McDonagh and Prof. Mario Panizza, the rector of Università degli Studi Roma Tre. This is followed by Len Collin's Sanctuary, starring young lovers Larry and Sophie, for whom intimacy is not only breaking the rules, but breaking the law.

The festival holds two parallel events in the Sala Kodak: at 17.00 it screens seven short films in competition, while at 19.00 the festival pays tribute to the writer Dermot Bolger, who will appear in a meeting coordinated by John McCourt (University of Macerata).

The Irish Film Festa takes place from 30 March to 2 April at its usual venue, the Casa del Cinema in Rome. All films are screened in their original language versions with Italian subtitles. Entry is free. For full details see website.