The festival’s 24th edition showcases the best new films from contemporary Italian filmmakers, with films that premiered at Cannes, the Berlinale and more.
The St Ali Italian Film Festival is back, bringing a program of 26 films to Palace, Luna Palace and Palace Nova cinemas across the country.
It’s the biggest public celebration of Italian cinema outside Italy, giving Australian audiences the chance to see the best in new contemporary Italian cinema and iconic classics on the big screen.
Opening the festival is stylish thriller The Last Night of Amore, which tells the story of an honest cop drawn into a web of corruption on his final night before retirement. Starring award-winning actor Pierfrancesco Favino and set in the Lombardy capital of Milan, the film premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.
A seven-time winner at the 2023 Nastri D’Argento Awards, this year’s centrepiece film is critically acclaimed director Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped. Based on true events, the historical drama brings to life a global scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in the mid-19th century, lifting the lid on the Church’s anti-Semitism and the controversial Pope Pius IX.
Fresh from its debut at Cannes earlier this year, La Chimera is another festival highlight. Starring The Crown’s Josh O’Connor, this tale of lost love in the early ’80s centres on a rowdy group of travelling entertainers who aren’t what they seem, and who learn that the beautiful things in life are often the most fragile.
Other highlights include the Australian premiere of mafioso-western flick Burning Hearts, starring Italian pop singer Elodie in her acting debut; Michele Placido’s 14th feature Caravaggio’s Shadow; The Eight Mountains, which won the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival; coming-of-age adventure Supernova; and feature-length documentary The Genius of Gianni Versace Alive.
A special retrospective also pays tribute to the late legendary actor and entertainer Massimo Troisi, with screenings of his film debut I’m Starting From Three, Nothing Left To Do but Cry, Splendor and his final film The Postman, which is also the festival’s closing night film.
See the full festival program and book tickets.
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