LINE-UP FOR CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 2026
Over five days, this year’s mini festival at the BFI will screen ten of the latest contemporary Italian films, including biopics, period drama, historical epics. These are not necessarily prize-winners or those picked up for general distribution so this is possibly the only opportunity to catch them outside Italy.
PRIMAVERA
Director: Damiano Michieletto
Cast: Tecla Insolia, Michele Riondino, Andrea Pennacchi, Fabrizia Sacchi, Valentina Bellè, Stefano Accorsi, Hildegard De Stefano, Cosima Centurioni, Federica Girardello, Rebecca Antonaci, Chiara Sacco, Miko Jarry
Running time: 110 mins
Venice, early 18th century. Renowned for its exceptional music programme, the Pièta orphanage is home to Cecilia, a 20-year-old violin virtuoso. Despite her extraordinary talent, Cecilia remains confined within the orphanage and like all the girls there, her only escape seems to be to get married. Yet, her life changes dramatically when Antonio Vivaldi, a brilliant and ambitious composer, is contracted as the new violin teacher. Through a complex artistic relationship with Vivaldi and his music, Cecilia finds the strength to challenge the destiny that once seemed inevitable.
UK release date: 24 April 2026 (Curzon Film)
GRASSHOPPERS (Cavallette)
Director: Bruno Bozzetto
Running time: 9 mins
Multi-award-winning Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto, known for his witty, satirical, and often thought-provoking animation, tells the story of human history, from cavemen to the modern age, focusing on cycles of war, love, power, and survival. This featurette about war in the history of humanity received an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Short in 1991.
A YEAR OF SCHOOL (Un Anno di Scuola)
Director: Laura Samani
Cast: Stella Wendick, Giacomo Covi, Pietro Giustolisi, Samuel Volturno
Running time: 90 mins
It is September 2007 and Fred, a sassy 17-year-old Swedish girl, arrives in Trieste and starts at a new school, enrolling in an all-male class. She quickly becomes the centre of attention for the three friends Antero, Pasini, and Mitis. Fred’s arrival puts their longstanding friendship to the test. Each of them secretly desires Fred for himself, whereas all she wants is to be accepted by this close-knit group.Small Body director Laura Samani’s second feature is an enchanting coming-of-age tale, adapted from the novel by Giani Stuparich.
HEADS OR TAILS? (Testa o Croce?)
Directors: Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
Cast: Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Alessandro Borghi, John C. Reilly, Peter Lanzani, Mirko Artuso, Gabriele Silli, Gianni Garko
Running time: 116 minutes
Against the backdrop of a legendary rodeo contest between American cowboys and Italian butteri, Rosa, the young wife of the local landowner, falls in love with Santino, the buttero who wins the challenge. After Rosa’s husband is murdered, she runs away with Santino, and a hefty bounty is placed on his head. This delightfully playful Euro-western draws inspiration from Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci’s films, delivering a highly original and spellbinding caper which never ceases to surprise.
A BRIEF AFFAIR (Breve Storia d’Amore)
Director: Ludovica Rampoldi
Cast: Pilar Fogliati, Adriano Giannini, Andrea Carpenzano, Valeria Golino
Running time: 98 mins
In A Brief Affair, Lea meets Rocco in a bar and becomes his lover. Their clandestine affair, confined to a hotel room, takes a sinister turn when Lea begins to infiltrate Rocco’s life beyond their secret encounters. The lives of the two couples in question gradually become intertwined, with calamitous consequences. Ludovica Rampoldi, one of Italy’s leading screenwriters, known for her work on films such as Marco Bellochio’s The Traitor and Gabriele Salvatores’ The Invisible Boy, makes her impressive debut as a feature film director with this thrilling, sophisticated drama addressing themes of adultery, obsession and revenge.
THE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD (Le Città di Pianura)
Director: Francesco Sossai
Cast: Filippo Scotti, Sergio Romano, Pierpaolo Capovilla, Roberto Citran, Andrea Pennacchi
Running time: 100 mins
Carlobianchi and Doriano, two broke, bar hopping, fifty-something oddballs, embark on a chaotic road trip through the beguiling Venetian plains, befriending Giulio, a shy and adrift architecture student, along the way. Bad advice, hangovers, and unexpected friendship redraw Giulio’s plans for life and love. Beautifully shot on film stock, the down-to-earth demeanour and effortlessly off-the-cuff rhythms of the script constitute a whimsical, soulful gem with a wistful, heartwarming, undertone.
UK release date: spring 2026 (Bulldog Film Distribution)
ELISA
Director: Leonardo Di Costanzo
Cast: Roschdy Zem, Barbara Ronchi, Diego Ribon, Valeria Golino, Giorgio Montanini, Hippolyte Girardot, Monica Codena, Roberta Da Soller, Marco Brinzi, Nadia Kibout, Josepha Yang, Federico Di Costanzo, Adeline Tayoro, Antonio Buil, Jasmin Mattei, Roberta Fossile
Running time: 105 mins
Elisa, 35, has been in prison for over ten years, convicted of murdering her older sister and burning her body, seemingly without motive. She claims to remember little or nothing of the crime, as if she had drawn a veil of silence between herself and the past. But when she agrees to meet criminologist Alaoui and take part in his research, memories begin to resurface. In confronting the pain of fully acknowledging her guilt, Elisa may glimpse the first step towards a possible redemption. This realistic, sensitively directed film is part-psychological thriller, part-prison drama.
FUORI
Director: Mario Martone
Cast: Valeria Golino, Matilda De Angelis, Elodie, Corrado Fortuna, Stefano Dionisi, Antonio Gerardi, Francesco Gheghi
Running time: 117 mins
Fuori is a moving drama about friendship in adversity, female solidarity, and anti-conformism, inspired by the life of noted Italian feminist writer and political activist Goliarda Sapienza. After her magnum opus The Art of Joy is rejected by all the Italian publishers she sends it to, Goliarda Sapienza ends up in prison for stealing some jewellery. Her encounter with some of the young inmates turns out to be a life-changing experience. After their release and over the course of a sweltering summer in Rome in 1980, the women continue to meet, and Goliarda forms a deep bond with Roberta, a repeat offender and political activist. A connection that no one on the outside can truly understand, but through which Goliarda rediscovers the joy of living and the impulse to write again. The film features a stunning central performance by Valeria Golino, who previously directed the recent, acclaimed television adaptation of Sapienza’s epic novel The Art of Joy (L’Arte della Gioia).
GIOIA (La Gioia)
Director: Nicolangelo Gelormini
Cast: Valeria Golino, Saul Nanni, Jasmine Trinca, Francesco Colella, Betti Pedrazzi
Running time: 108 mins
Gelormini follows his formidable debut feature, Fortuna – The Girl and the Giants, with this gripping noir, adapted from a theatre piece. Gioia is a high school teacher who has never known any other love than the oppressive bond with her own parents, with whom she still lives. When she is seduced by one of her pupils, the delinquent teenager Alessio, a fragile relationship ensues. Their liaison is forbidden fruit, and inexplicably, one they can’t do without. Still, Alessio’s desire for social and human redemption is a silent killer that prevents him from ultimately accepting Gioia’s unwavering affection for him, resulting in a devastating finale.
THE FACTS OF MURDER (Un Maledetto Imbroglio)
Director: Pietro Germi
Cast: Claudia Cardinale, Pietro Germi, Franco Fabrizi, Cristina Gaioni
Running time: 115 mins
Adapted from Carlo Emilio Gadda’s 1957 novel That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana (Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana), The Facts of Murder is a classic detective thriller about the investigation of two crimes committed in the same Rome apartment block. Presented in a ravishing digital restoration, it is the perfect tribute to the late, great Claudia Cardinale.
4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata at Cineteca di Bologna
SWEETHEART (Gioia Mia)
Director: Margherita Spampinato
Cast: Aurora Quattrocchi, Marco Fiore, Camille Dugay, Martina Ziami, Clara Salvo, Renata Sajeva, Concetta Ingrassia, Giuseppina Cardella, Giuseppina Cammareri, Rosaria Oddo, Gaspare Gruppuso
Running time: 90 mins
Nico, a lively, stubborn, and impertinent young boy from Milan, used to living in a modern, hyper-connected world, is forced to spend the summer in Sicily with his belligerent and devoutly religious elderly great aunt. She lives alone, without Wi-Fi or any other form of modern technology, a place completely frozen in time. The clash between modernity and the past, reason and faith, speed and slowness marks the beginning of a stormy relationship. Yet, little by little, a deep bond grows between them, one that neither of them knew they needed. The veteran actor Aurora Quattrocchi deservedly won the Pardo for Best Performance at the 78th Locarno Film Festival for her leading role in this powerful film which offers many layers for reflection.
THREE GOODBYES (Tre Ciotole)
Director: Isabel Coixet
Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Elio Germano, Silvia D’Amico, Galatea Bellugi, Francesco Carril, Sarita Choudhury
Running time: 120 mins
After what seemed like a trivial quarrel, Marta and Antonio split up. Marta reacts to the breakup by withdrawing into herself. The only symptom she cannot ignore is her sudden lack of appetite. Antonio, a rising chef, immerses himself in his work, but despite being the one who ended things with Marta, he can’t seem to forget her. When Marta discovers that her loss of appetite has more to do with her own health than the pain of separation, everything changes: the taste of food, music, desire, her view of the choices she once made… Adapted from Michela Murgia’s partly autobiographical, best-selling novel, Three Goodbyes is a heartrending love letter to life.
CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 4-8 MARCH 2026