The San Diego Italian Film Festival will begin its 12th annual FeStivale Wednesday. The title of the 12-day festival is a play on words, said artistic director Antonio Iannotta. “Stivale” means boot in his native tongue, he explained, and refers to the well-known shape of Italy.

From an unusual documentary about the legendary painter Caravaggio to the musical comedy that opens the festival, the 13 feature films offer different perspectives of — and from — Italy. Except for Sergio Leone’s 1968 classic spaghetti Western “Once Upon a Time in the West,” the movies are contemporary. The 2017 festival attracted more than 1,400 people. It’s not to be confused with the festival’s year-round monthly screenings in both San Diego and North County, which have totaled 3,400 attendees so far in 2018.