11:00 at the ANTICO CAFFÈ SAN MARCO marks the start of the Q&As WITH DIRECTORS AND FESTIVAL GUESTS, with Kukla (director for Fantasy), Ketevan Vashagashvili (director for 9-month contract), Karina Kostyna (producer for Silent Flood).
Simultaneously, at the Politeama Rossetti, for TSFF TALKS: THE SKY IS GLOWING ABOVE SLOVENIAN ALTERNATIVE MUSIC curated by Meridiano 13 with Boris Benko and Petar Stojanović in conversation with Mitja Stefančić (free entry). Independent art and alternative music were an essential part of Slovenian culture in the 1980s and 90s, the influence of which is still felt to this day. The legacy of this artistic movement, and its continued relevance, will be explored in a talk which features leading members of Slovenian l bands such as Silence and Kontradikshn. They will recount their experiences and discuss what it means to be a professional musician in contemporary Slovenia. The discussion will be introduced and facilitated by Mitja Stefancic, and will focus on a range of topics: from the legacy of the 1980s (Laibach, Borghesia, Demolition Group) in contemporary Slovenian music; to an exploration of the main channels through which to create and promote music in Slovenia ; and finally, the continued relevance of not only institutional cultural centres (such as Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana), but also independent centres (such as the “mladinski centri”) and rock venues (Metelkova Ljubljana, MKNŽ Ilirska Bistrica, Mostovna Nova Gorica) and their importance in shaping alternative Slovenian music and art.
The screenings start at the same time at the Cinema Ambasciatori with the first programme (runtime 71′) which inaugurates the retrospective “The Second Shift: Women Comrades at Work” curated by cinema critic Călin Boto. This section brings back to the big screen images, stories and portraits of women at work, starting from the moment when the film industry itself began to document labor: the early communist-era films set in factories, among male and female workers.
Communism (or the various forms of communism) in Eastern Europe introduced groundbreaking gender policies. For the first time, women were granted equal rights and promised equal opportunities. Drawing on titles rescued from archives, the retrospective now seeks a connection—also critical and polemical—with our present through a showcase of bodies, desires, rebellions and hardships that history has not fully processed.
Thirteen short and medium-length films explore women and manual labor during communism, crossing countries, decades, ideologies and visions. From factories to construction sites, the camera’s eye was already attentive to women’s morale, and the struggle for equality was inscribed within the class struggle—yet always in second place: a ‘second shift’.
The section thus examines how, despite battles for equal rights, attitudes remained patriarchal, with inescapable responsibilities toward the state, the family, the workplace and the home. These fragments are brought together here: films that depict the ‘double burden’ borne by women—from female workers on screen to films made by women directors—largely produced by so-called ‘secondary’ institutions of the Eastern European film industry, such as documentary studios, short-film units and film schools, addressing the theme in ways distinct from mainstream cinema (politically, aesthetically, professionally and ethically).
The theme ultimately became a genre in itself, with recurring rhetoric. With a spirit of research, the section seeks to rework and present a cinematic and formal celebration, in order to imagine, today, the end of the ‘second shift’. The second programme of this section will be shown at 14:00 (runtime 95’).
At 14:00 at the Rossetti, for the Feature Film Competition, the Italian premiere of ELENA’S SHIFT by Stefanos Tsivopoulos (GR, 2025, col., 101’). Athens, 2013. Elena, a Romanian single mother works the night shift cleaning metro stations. When she is unjustly fired, her dormant activist spirit reignites and her fight for justice collides with her deep need to belong.
Always at the Rossetti, at 16:00 the screening of a selection of the Short Films in Competition: the national debut of SUNNY by Andreea Parfenov (RO, 2025, col., 21’); the Italian premiere of CHŁODNO/ Coldness by Lena Jaworska (PL, 2025, col., 30’); TRAJE VELIKO FINALE/ Gran finale by Luka Galešić (HR, 2025, col., 16’) – a world premiere, and, finally, LAST TROPICS by Thanasis Trouboukis (GR, 2025, col., 20’).
Next, three different events, all scheduled for 18:00. At the Libreria Ubik, the talk A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF PERIPHERIES curated by Meridiano 13 with Eleonora Sacco and Giorgia Spadoni in conversation with Martina Napolitano (free entry). What do Yemen and Bulgaria have in common? Seemingly, nothing. Yet both are countries with a socialist past, located on the edge of an Empire. As other continents had their gaze fixed elsewhere, they crafted intertwined relationships with the USSR and the rest of the world. Their stories, free of orientalist stereotypes, reveal new and fascinating perspectives. Eleonora Sacco and Giorgia Spadoni have each spent long periods in Socotra and Sofia, respectively, and have written books about their experiences. In this talk with Martina Napolitano they will attempt to bring these two destinations closer together and make them more accessible to general audiences.
At the Cinema Ambasciatori, always at 18:00, as part of the Corso Salani Award, PAUL À MAYERLING – UN PORTRAIT /Paul a Mayerling – a portrait (I, 2025, col. & b-n / b-w, 78’) Antonio Pettinelli’s personal account of the director and screenwriter Paul Vecchiali. A stubborn and passionate filmmaker, Vecchiali stayed on set until the bitter end, in an encounter beyond time. Antonio Pettinelli was a volunteer assistant director to Fellini and is an author and director of documentaries and reports. Paul à Mayerling – A portrait, his first feature film, was presented at the Pesaro Film Festival and the MedFilm Festival.
At the Cinema Ambasciatori, always at 18:00, as part of the Corso Salani Award, PAUL À MAYERLING – UN PORTRAIT /Paul a Mayerling – a portrait (I, 2025, col. & b-n / b-w, 78’) Antonio Pettinelli’s personal account of the director and screenwriter Paul Vecchiali. A stubborn and passionate filmmaker, Vecchiali stayed on set until the bitter end, in an encounter beyond time. Antonio Pettinelli was a volunteer assistant director to Fellini and is an author and director of documentaries and reports. Paul à Mayerling – A portrait, his first feature film, was presented at the Pesaro Film Festival and the MedFilm Festival. At the Rossetti, for the Feature Film Competition, SBORMISTR/ Broken Voices by Ondřej Provazník (CZ – SK, 2025, col., 106’). In the early 1990’s Czech Republic, 13-year-old Karolína earns a place in a world-famous girls’ choir, joining her older sister. Her voice soon catches the attention of the admired and enigmatic choirmaster. Being singled out feels like a triumph, until she begins to understand the unsettling price of that privilege. The winner of Best Actress at Karlovy Vary makes its national debut at the TSFF.
Still at the Rossetti but for the Out of Competition section, at 20:00 the Italian premiere of TWO PROSECUTORS by Sergei Loznitsa (F – DE – NL – LV – RO – LT, 2025, col., 118’). The film has already been in competition at Cannes and shortlisted at the EFA (Italian distribution: Lucky Red). After last year’s participation (with the documentary The Invasion), which earned him the Eastern Star 2025 award, the Ukrainian director returns to fiction, specifically to the Soviet Union in 1937. Thousands of letters from prisoners falsely accused by the regime are burned in a prison cell: against all odds, one of these letters reaches its destination, landing on the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor Alexander Kornev, who will do everything possible to meet the prisoner, a victim of the corrupt agents of the secret police – the NKVD.
Back to the Documentary Competition at 20:00 at the Cinema Ambasciatori with the screening of the national premiere QARTLIS TSKHOVREBA/ The Kartli Kingdom by Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel (GE – F – QA, 2025, col., 104’). In a crumbling sanatorium in Tbilisi, refugee families fight to keep their home and faded dreams. Through Tamuna, Irma, and others, the film explores exile, trauma, and shared resilience, showing that nothing remains the same within Kartli. It premiered at IDFA 2025, winning Best Directing in the International Competition and a Special Mention for Best First Feature. Also in the category, at 22:00, the Italian debut of OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan (AM – NL, 2025, col., 94’). In a decaying Soviet-era retirement home, a vibrant group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare. Yet loneliness lingers beyond the theatre’s doors, until drama begins to blur with reality. Outliving Shakespeare premiered at the latest IDFA in Amsterdam.
Back to the Documentary Competition at 20:00 at the Cinema Ambasciatori with the screening of the national premiere QARTLIS TSKHOVREBA/ The Kartli Kingdom by Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel (GE – F – QA, 2025, col., 104’). In a crumbling sanatorium in Tbilisi, refugee families fight to keep their home and faded dreams. Through Tamuna, Irma, and others, the film explores exile, trauma, and shared resilience, showing that nothing remains the same within Kartli. It premiered at IDFA 2025, winning Best Directing in the International Competition and a Special Mention for Best First Feature. Also in the category, at 22:00, the Italian debut of OUTLIVING SHAKESPEARE by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan (AM – NL, 2025, col., 94’). In a decaying Soviet-era retirement home, a vibrant group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare. Yet loneliness lingers beyond the theatre’s doors, until drama begins to blur with reality. Outliving Shakespeare premiered at the latest IDFA in Amsterdam.
The day closes at 22.15 at the Rossetti with BRAT/ Brother by Maciej Sobieszczański (PL, 2025, col., 98’) as part of the Feature Film competition. Dawid is 14 years old and practices judo. Now he fights for his family’s survival after his father is sent to prison, among complex family relationships and maybe the birth of a new family. After its premiere at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Brother was presented at festivals in Warsaw and Cottbus.
