ST. ALi Italian Film Festival returns
The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival returns in 2023, screening at Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema from Thursday, September 28 to Wednesday, October 25.
Presented by Palace, the festival will transport audiences to Italy with a stunning selection of the best in contemporary Italian cinema. This year’s festival features award winning dramas, comedies and documentaries timed perfectly to celebrate the start of spring.
The Festival is thrilled to welcome the wonderful and talented Italian-Australian food writer, TV producer and host Silvia Colloca as the 2023 Festival Ambassador. A great film lover, Silvia will be talking about her top picks plus her Italian heritage, and will be in attendance to open the Festival in Sydney and Melbourne.
Opening the 2023 Festival is exciting drama The Last Night of Amore (L’ultima notte di Amore) led by Italian superstar Pierfrancesco Favino (pictured above). The stylish, Milan set thriller follows a police lieutenant (played by Favino) who is drawn into a web of crime and corruption on the eve of his retirement and was a major Italian box office hit.
The first of two Special Presentations to be announced is the searing, intense crime story of love and revenge Burning Hearts (Ti mangio il cuore). Set in Puglia and shot in stunning black and white, it features singer Elodie in her first acting role, in which a forbidden love rekindles an old feud between two rival families.
Festival Special Presentation Caravaggio’s Shadow (L’ombra di Caravaggio), is an eagerly anticipated historical drama from writer/director Michele Placido, starring Riccardo Scamarcio and Isabelle Huppert. It explores the struggles of the notorious Renaissance painter as he is investigated by the Vatican.
Other unmissable highlights include the latest offering from the legendary Nanni Moretti, A Brighter Tomorrow (Il sol dell’avvenire). Featuring an all-star cast, Moretti’s new film direct from the Cannes Film Festival, where it screened in competition, is a meta-comedy in which a movie director struggles with his relationship and family during the production of his latest film.
Starring Toni Servillo, Strangeness (La stranezza) was declared Film of the Year at the 2023 Nastro d’Argento Awards and was a top box office performer in Italy. Inspired by true events, it follows playwright Luigi Pirandello on a trip to Sicily in the 1920s where he meets a pair of amateur actors – a meeting which brings great surprises.
The full programme will be released and tickets go on sale Thursday, August 24.
The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival 2023 presented by Palace screens at Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema from Thursday, September 28 to Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Tickets are on sale Thursday, August 24 from italianfilmfestival.com.au
