The San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF) kicks off its 16th year with "Qui Rido Io" ("The King of Laughter") on Oct. 12 at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) and runs through Oct. 22 online and at multiple venues. SDIFF was the passion project of Victor Laruccia who envisioned a film festival as a "piazza", a place where people could gather and create a vibrant community around film.

Laruccia died in March and this will be the first festival without his warm, enthusiastic, and passionate presence. "It's been a journey of sadness and happiness at the same time," said Antonio Iannotta, SDIFF artistic director. "Victor Laruccia's legacy is so important, but also his loss has been so personal to me and to so many of us. So we were able to celebrate him at The Nat and with two movie nights at the Museum of Photographic Arts."