Italian Film Festival

Familia dir. by Francesco Costabile, 2024, 2h 4m

PLOT: Rome. Luigi Celeste is twenty years old and lives with his mother Licia and his brother Alessandro. The three are very close. It has been almost ten years since any of them saw Franco, their father, who ruined the two boys’ childhood with memories of fear and abuse. Luigi, looking for a sense of belonging and identity, decides to join an extreme right-wing group where rage and oppression are still rampant. One day Franco returns, claiming his children and his family back. The story of Luigi and his family is one that goes down to the depths of the abyss to pursue a path of rebirth, whatever the cost. Liberally inspired by the book Non sarà sempre così by Luigi Celeste.

CAST: Francesco Gheghi, Barbara Ronchi, Francesco Di Leva, Marco Cicalese, Francesco De Lucia, Tecla Insolia, Enrico Borrello, Giancarmine Ursillo, Carmelo Tedesco, Edoardo Paccapelo

Sweetheart dir. by Margherita Spampinato, 2025, 1h 30m

PLOT: Nico, a lively and impertinent boy, raised in a secular family in a modern, technological and hyper-connected world, is forced to spend the summer in Sicily, staying with an elderly, unmarried and very religious aunt who lives alone in an old building full of legends and superstitions, without Wi-Fi, appliances, or any kind of technology, completely out of time. The clash between modernity and the past, between reason and religion, between speed and slowness, marks the beginning of their stormy relationship. Yet, little by little, a deep bond is formed, one that neither of them knew they needed.

CAST: Aurora Quattrocchi, Marco Fiore, Camille Dugay, Martina Ziami, Clara Salvo, Renata Sajeva, Concetta Ingrassia, Giuseppina Cardella, Giuseppina Cammareri, Rosaria Oddo, Gaspare Gruppuso

For You dir. by Alessandro Aronadio, 2025, 1h 55m

PLOT: Based on the true story of eleven-year-old Mattia Piccoli and his father Paolo who, in his early forties, slowly begins to lose parts of his memory. As the world begins to fade, Paolo chooses to stay close to what truly matters, strengthened by the love of his wife Michela. Together with his son, he embarks on a journey made of shared everyday moments, sudden laughter, and silences that speak volumes. A story that celebrates the power of love beyond time and memory. The film, adapted from the book Un tempo piccolo by Serenella Antoniazzi, explores the moment when family roles invert, and a child becomes the caretaker of a parent.

CAST: Edoardo Leo, Teresa Saponangelo, Javier Francesco Leoni, Giorgio Montanini, Eleonora Giovanardi, Guia Jelo, Daniele Parisi

All films presented with English subtitles.