N.I.C.E. is a not-for-profit cultural organization founded in 1991 by a group of film professionals, which has grown into one of the most important expressions of Italian cinematography abroad. The goal of the organization is to promote new Italian cinema abroad, through a series of film festivals and cultural exchanges. Every year, N.I.C.E. organizes festivals in the United States (New York, San Francisco), Russia, England, and in China.

The festival in the USA is the first one to be organized every year and the oldest for N.I.C.E.. The first event took place in New York in 1991, followed by the festivals in Russia, held between March and April. During each festival, N.I.C.E. facilitates meetings between Italian directors in attendance and local international producers and distributors, promoting access of the best and most recent film projects made in Italy to the international film markets.

In addition to its primary commitment to showcase the new Italian cinema abroad, N.I.C.E. has also been promoting, over the past twenty years, the City of Florence, the Region of Tuscany, its territory and culture, supporting not only tourism but cultural and productive exchange. This happens every year through the screening of films produced or shot in Tuscany (often international premieres), the circulation of promotional material through all our traditional communication channel and, most importantly, through the presentation of the “N.I.C.E. City of Florence Award” to the winning film of the US festival. The award, assigned by the American audience (mostly young film professionals and students of film and Italian language) through voting ballots, has the aim to draw the national and international attention to quality and independent films, which nonetheless don’t easily find their natural place into the Italian movie theaters.