San Diego Italian Film Festival kicks off its 13th year at the Museum of Photographic Arts with a madcap murder mystery and new leadership. Here's a preview. Being Italian I can say that Italians love to talk and at the San Diego Italian Film Festival they love to talk about films.

With 37 film screenings over the past year in San Diego and Encinitas drawing more than 5000 people, SDIFF provided panels and Q&A's at a third of the events to inspire discussions sometimes running late into the night after a film has ended. Diana Agostini has just taken over the executive director role from Victor Laruccia (who now serves as the board president) and she sees movies as the best means of cultural sharing and has big plans for the future.