Cristina Comencini’s captivating romantic comedy Black and White is one of the few Italian films to directly tackle the issue of race relations. Old-fashioned charm makes it something of a throwback to the Hollywood of the 1960s, when Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner seemed like the height of liberal daring.

In Rome, Elena (Ambra Angiolini) is fiercely committed to her job at SOS Racism. Her husband Carlo (Fabio Volo) is an IT technician who feels obliged to make rare and reluctant appearances at her charity fundraisers. At one such function he meets Nadine (Aissa Maiga), the beautiful Senegalese wife of one of Elena’s colleagues. He is instantly attracted to her and all hell breaks loose when the two of them begin a passionate relationship. As the prejudices of family and friends come to the surface, Nadine and Carlo start to see the world from another perspective and wonder if it is possible for love to be colour blind in contemporary Italy.