11:00 at the ANTICO CAFF\u00c8 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).<\/p>\n\n
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 Stojanovi\u0107 in conversation with Mitja Stefan\u010di\u0107 (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 \u201cmladinski centri\u201d) and rock venues (Metelkova Ljubljana, MKN\u017d Ilirska Bistrica, Mostovna Nova Gorica) and their importance in shaping alternative Slovenian music and art.<\/p>\n\n
The screenings start at the same time at the Cinema Ambasciatori with the first programme (runtime 71′) which inaugurates the retrospective \u201cThe Second Shift: Women Comrades at Work\u201d curated by cinema critic C\u0103lin 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.
At 14:00 at the Rossetti, for the Feature Film Competition, the Italian premiere of ELENA\u2019S SHIFT by Stefanos Tsivopoulos (GR, 2025, col., 101\u2019). 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\u2019); the Italian premiere of CH\u0141ODNO\/ Coldness by Lena Jaworska (PL, 2025, col., 30\u2019); TRAJE VELIKO FINALE\/ Gran finale by Luka Gale\u0161i\u0107 (HR, 2025, col., 16\u2019) – a world premiere, and, finally, LAST TROPICS by Thanasis Trouboukis (GR, 2025, col., 20\u2019).<\/p>\n\n
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 \u00c0 MAYERLING \u2013 UN PORTRAIT \/Paul a Mayerling \u2013 a portrait (I, 2025, col. & b-n \/ b-w, 78\u2019) Antonio Pettinelli\u2019s 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 \u00e0 Mayerling \u2013 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 \u00c0 MAYERLING \u2013 UN PORTRAIT \/Paul a Mayerling \u2013 a portrait (I, 2025, col. & b-n \/ b-w, 78\u2019) Antonio Pettinelli\u2019s 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 \u00e0 Mayerling \u2013 A portrait, his first feature film, was presented at the Pesaro Film Festival and the MedFilm Festival. <\/strong>At the Rossetti, for the Feature Film Competition, SBORMISTR\/ Broken Voices by Ond\u0159ej Provazn\u00edk (CZ \u2013 SK, 2025, col., 106\u2019). In the early 1990\u2019s Czech Republic, 13-year-old Karol\u00edna earns a place in a world-famous girls\u2019 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 \u2013 DE \u2013 NL \u2013 LV \u2013 RO \u2013 LT, 2025, col., 118\u2019). The film has already been in competition at Cannes and shortlisted at the EFA (Italian distribution: Lucky Red). After last year\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n 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 \u2013 F \u2013 QA, 2025, col., 104\u2019). 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 \u2013 NL, 2025, col., 94\u2019). In a decaying Soviet-era retirement home, a vibrant group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare. Yet loneliness lingers beyond the theatre\u2019s 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 \u2013 F \u2013 QA, 2025, col., 104\u2019). In a crumbling sanatorium in Tbilisi, refugee families fight to keep their home and faded dreams. <\/em>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 \u2013 NL, 2025, col., 94\u2019). In a decaying Soviet-era retirement home, a vibrant group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare. Yet loneliness lingers beyond the theatre\u2019s doors, until drama begins to blur with reality. Outliving Shakespeare premiered at the latest IDFA in Amsterdam. <\/p>\n\n The day closes at 22.15 at the Rossetti with BRAT\/ Brother by Maciej Sobieszcza\u0144ski (PL, 2025, col., 98\u2019) as part of the Feature Film competition. Dawid is 14 years old and practices judo. Now he fights for his family\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 11:00 at the ANTICO CAFF\u00c8 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n