Presented by Palace, the 2025 edition of the festival will screen in Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Byron Bay and Ballina, commencing on September 24 in Brisbane.

The full 2025 line up will be revealed in late August with these first highlights offering a tantalising taste of what to expect in this year’s program, which will showcase the filmmaking and acting talents of Italy’s finest.

Opening the festival is Paolo Genovese’s record-breaking hit SOMEBODY TO LOVE (FolleMente), a romantic comedy with an all-star cast including Edoardo Leo, Pilar Fogliati and Vittoria Puccini. Following the global success of Perfect Strangers (IFF 16), writer/director Genovese’s latest film reveals the innermost thoughts and uncertainties of a modern Italian couple on their awkward first date.

From acclaimed filmmaker Ferzan Özpetek comes the stunning, female led drama DIAMONDS (Diamanti). An ode to the beautiful craftsmanship of film costume designers and seamstresses, Luisa Ranieri and Jasmine Trinca star as sisters running a couture costume design house in 1970s Rome, exploring the lives and relationships of the women working within it.

The festival Special Presentation is the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, THE MOUNTAIN BRIDE – VERMIGLIO (Vermiglio). An atmospheric, visually breathtaking portrait of a family caught between tradition and modernity in the final year of WWII, writer/director Maura Delpero drew upon her own family’s past and collective memory to create this rich, intimate drama that follows a series of consequential events.

A box office sensation in Italy, moving drama THE BOY WITH PINK TROUSERS (Il ragazzo dai pantaloni rosa) features rising star Samuele Carrino in a powerful performance. Exploring the real story behind Italy’s first publicised case of online bullying, the film garnered much attention in Italy and sparked important discussions about the issue.

Starring popular comic duo Ficarra & Picone and festival favourite Toni Servillo, THE ILLUSION (L’Abbaglio) is a fun re-imagining of Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860 campaign that unified Italy. Directed and co-written by Roberto Andò (Strangeness IFF23) this entertaining tale blends comedy and drama to illuminate a piece of history, exploring the paradoxes of Sicilian identity.

The adventures of the Rovelli family continue in WHEN MUM IS AWAY…WITH THE IN-LAWS (10 Giorni con I suoi). This time the family head to Puglia in the hit comedy directed by Alessandro Genovesi and starring Fabio De Luigi and Valentina Lodovini.

The full programme will be announced and tickets go on sale late August. Register for updates via the festival website to be the first to know when tickets are released.

The 2025 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival presented by Palace screens in the following locations:
Canberra 17 September – 15 October, Palace Electric Cinema
Adelaide 17 September – 14 October, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Sydney 18 September – 15 October, Palace Moore Park, Palace Norton St, Palace Central, Chauvel Cinema
Melbourne 19 September – 16 October, The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, Cinema Nova
Ballarat 20 September – 16 October, Palace Regent Cinemas
Brisbane 24 September – 22 October, Palace Barracks, Palace James Street
Byron Bay and Ballina 25 September – 15 October, Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
Perth 25 September – 22 October, Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema
www.italianfilmfestival.com.au

Multi-talented Italian-Australian food writer, TV producer and host Silvia Colloca will invite audiences to enjoy ‘la dolce vita’ as this year’s ST. ALi Italian Film Festival Ambassador, sharing her love of all things Italian with festival audiences!

This year’s diverse program includes award-winning drama, documentary, laugh-out-loud comedy and historical epics starring an array of iconic talent. The first highlights offer a glimpse into the programme which celebrates Italian cinema and filmmakers at their very best.

Special Presentations include the playful, meta comedy MARCELLO MIO, led by acting royalty and real-life mother-daughter duo Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. A joyful imagining of the daily lives of a creative family, it focuses on the legacy of the great Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, Chiara’s late, real- life father.

The festival’s second Special Presentation and winner of the 2024 Sydney International Film Festival’s coveted Sydney Film Prize is THERE’S STILL TOMORROW (C’è ancora domani). The directorial debut of Paola Cortellesi, who also stars in the film, follows a woman living in post war Rome with her family who dares to break with tradition. It was the highest grossing film in Italy last year.

The 2023 Venice Film Festival opener COMANDANTE is a gripping maritime thriller starring festival favourite Pierfrancesco Favino. Favino delivers a powerhouse performance as a Naval Captain who commands the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini in the Battle of the Atlantic and is faced with a moral dilemma.

Italo-French co-production MARIA MONTESSORI (La Nouvelle Femme), is a bold and illuminating drama set at the turn of the 20th Century. The film stars Jasmine Trinca as the famed Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori, whose revolutionary methods are still used across the globe today.

And for bambini and nonni alike, THE WAR OF THE NONNI (La guerra dei nonni) is a fun family comedy starring Vincenzo Salemme and Max Tortora as competing grandfathers. When Nonno Tom returns from abroad, a series of hilarious challenges ensue as he and Nonno Gerri compete for the affections of their grandchildren.

The full programme will be announced and tickets go on sale late August.

The 2024 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival presented by Palace screens in the following locations:
Sydney 18 September – 16 October, Palace Moore Park, Palace Norton St, Palace Central, Chauvel Cinema
Canberra 19 September – 16 October, Palace Electric Cinema
Brisbane 19 September – 16 October, Palace Barracks, Palace James Street
Melbourne 20 September – 16 October, The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, Cinema Nova Byron Bay and Ballina 26 September – 16 October, Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
Adelaide 2 October – 23 October, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Perth 3 October – 23 October, Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema
www.italianfilmfestival.com.au

The 2022 Festival opens in Brisbane on 21 September with Italian box office hit BELLI CIAO, starring comedic duo Pio and Amedeo. It follows two formerly inseparable friends who reunite in their hometown in Puglia after years apart, resulting in an entertaining north versus south culture clash. Opening Night receptions will include delicious Italian antipasti, Santa Margherita Prosecco and more.

Direct from the Cannes Film Festival is this year’s Festival Centrepiece NOSTALGIA, directed by Mario Martone and winner of Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the 2022 Nastri D’Argento Awards. An atmospheric urban drama starring the superb Pierfrancesco Favino, it follows a man returning to his hometown of Naples after 40 years and rediscovering the city, its codes and rules, and facing a past that has haunted him.

One of Italy’s most significant filmmakers, Pier Paolo Pasolini, will be the focus of a retrospective celebrating the centenary of his birth. The Festival is thrilled to present three of his iconic film adaptions of literary works: THE CANTERBURY TALES on its 50th anniversary, ARABIAN NIGHTS and THE DECAMERON.

New Italian Cinema highlights include BREAKING UP IN ROME (Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma), an homage to the Italian capital. This heartfelt romantic comedy directed by and starring Edoardo Leo delves into the difficulties a couple faces when they separate after many years living together.

Romance is a key ingredient of the suspenseful and delicious comedy THE PERFECT DINNER (La cena perfetta) which sees a Neapolitan mafioso who is sent to Rome to launder money through a restaurant crossing paths with a chef who dreams of winning a Michelin star.

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY (L’ombra del giorno) features brilliant performances from a smouldering Riccardo Scamarcio and rising star Benedetta Porcaroli. Following the declaration of racial laws in Fascist Italy, a restaurateur’s life changes when a girl with a dangerous secret starts to work at his restaurant in this dramatic love story.

For families comes the prequel to the hugely successful THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS WITCH (IFF19) called THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS WITCH 2 – THE ORIGINS (La Befana vien di notte 2: Le origini), featuring an excellent ensemble cast including Monica Bellucci. Set in the 18th Century, the comedy explores the origins of the Befana.

The full programme will be released and tickets go on sale Thursday 18 August.

The 2022 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival presented by Palace screens in the following locations:
Sydney 13 September – 12 October, Palace Central, Palace Norton St, Palace Verona, Chauvel Cinema
Canberra 14 September – 12 October, Palace Electric Cinema
Melbourne 15 September – 12 October, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, The Astor, Cinema Nova
Brisbane 21 September – 16 October, Palace Barracks, Palace James Street
Adelaide 21 September – 16 October, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Perth 22 September – 16 October, Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema
Byron Bay 23 September – 9 October, Palace Byron Bay

For information and updates, please visit www.italianfilmfestival.com.au

The highly anticipated Festival will be an antidote to current lockdown woes with new start dates planned for October 20th in Brisbane, Adelaide, Byron Bay and Canberra, October 21st in Perth, October 28th in Sydney and October 29th in Melbourne.

As previously announced, the Festival will open with the Australian premiere of Daniele Luchetti’s THE TIES (Lacci) which opened last year’s Venice Film Festival and also include 2021 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight winner TO CHIARA (A Chiara), HIDDEN AWAY (Volevo nascondermi), starring Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear winner Elio Germano, Marco Giallini in hit comedy THREE PERFECT DAUGHTERS (È per il tuo bene) and the dramatic thriller YOU CAME BACK (Lasciami andare), starring Festival favourite Stefano Accorsi.

To add to these impressive highlights will be the Special Presentation and Australian premiere of acclaimed director Nanni Moretti’s (Mia Madre, The Son’s Room) latest film THREE FLOORS (Tre piani). Featuring a tremendous ensemble cast, it traces the disparate lives of three families who reside in the same apartment block in Rome’s stylish Prati neighbourhood.

In addition to the two new venues announced last month (the iconic Pentridge Cinema and Cinema Nova Carlton, both in Melbourne), the Festival will also be screening at Palace Nova Prospect Cinema in Adelaide and Windsor Cinema in Perth.

The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival remains the biggest Italian film festival in the world. Festival director Elysia Zeccola says “October can’t come soon enough, we can’t wait to get out of lockdown, relish in ‘la dolce vita’ and rediscover the magic of cinema.”

The full programme will be announced in late September.

The 2021 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival is planned to take place nationally from October, in the following cities:
Canberra 20 October – 14 November, Palace Electric
Brisbane 20 October – 14 November, Palace James Street, Palace Barracks
Adelaide 20 October – 14 November, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas Perth 21 October – 14 November, Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema Byron Bay 22 October – 7 November, Palace Byron Bay
Sydney 28 October – 21 November, Palace Norton, Palace Verona, Chauvel Cinema and Palace Central
Melbourne 29 October – 21 November, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, The Astor and Cinema Nova
www.italianfilmfestival.com.au

It’s told mostly through the actions of a little girl and a young woman who are left stranded outside the courtroom while one of the parents is inside enduring the reality of the law. At first, the two women have no interaction, this ever so slowly changes as time draws on and boredom sets in.

Taking so much time to establish a relationship between the two main players forces you to discard your usual thirst for quick dramatic tension. It eases you into a view of the beauty that is tightly woven into the fabric of the ordinary. Those things that are right in front of you but gather little thought or inspection.
Rob Hudson

Ordinary Justice is screening as a special presentation at the ST. ALi Italian Film Festival – Brisbane screening times listed below:

PALACE JAMES ST
Thursday 8, October 11:15 AM
Monday 12, October 7:30 PM
Sunday 18, October 4:30 PM

PALACE BARRACKS
Friday 9, October 2:00 PM
Wednesday 14, October 5:00 PM
Friday 16, October 7:30 PM

For more information and screening details about this great film festival head to www.italianfilmfestival.com.au