05/11/2024 - The 25th edition of the festival dedicated to new cinema from the Old Continent will unspool 9 to 16 November, with Ken Loach and Giovanna Mezzogiorno taking centre stage for European and Italian film

The 10 titles competing in the 25th edition of the Lecce European Film Festival - unspooling in the Salentine capital between 9 and 16 November - hail from Denmark, Luxembourg, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, Norway, Greece and Portugal. In addition to the movies competing for the Golden Olive, we’ll see works gracing the “Cinema and Reality" section for Italian documentaries, those selected for the “Puglia Show” competition for short films directed by young Apulian helmers under the age of 35, those battling it out for the Mario Verdone and Emidio Greco awards, and the protagonists of European and Italian cinema: Ken Loach and Giovanna Mezzogiorno.

Selected by director Alberto La Monica together with Luigi La Monica, this year’s films in competition are: B.O.Y. - Bruises of Yesterday [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Søren Green, Breathing Underwater [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eric Lamhène, Rae Lyn Lee
film profile] by Eric Lamhène, Clear Nights [+see also:
interview: Paulo Filipe Monteiro
film profile] by Paulo Filipe Monteiro, Drowning Dry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurynas Bareiša
film profile] by Laurynas Bareiša, Jim’s Story [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
film profile] by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, Martin Reads the Quran [+see also:
film review
interview: Jurijs Saule
film profile] by Jurijs Saule, Mother Mara [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Mirjana Karanovic, My Wonderful Stranger by Johanna Pyykkö, Three Days of Fish [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Hoogendoorn
film profile] by Peter Hoogendoorn, and Wishbone [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Penny Panayotopoulou. The jury assessing them is presided over by Luciana Castellina and further composed of Pascal Diot, Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, Hanna Slak and Heather Stewart.

Six titles feature in the “Cinema and Reality" section, dedicated to Italian documentaries in regional premieres and devised to lend visibility to crucial social and cultural themes: Real [+see also:
film review
interview: Adele Tulli
film profile] by Adele Tulli, Arte vs guerra - Banksy and C215 in Borodyanka, Ukraine by Michele Pinto, I santi di carta by Enzo Pascal Pezzuto, L’ulivo e il baobab by Serena Porta, The Erasmus Generation by Vincent Imperato and La cura della giustizia by Vito Palmieri.

Ken Loach will be the protagonist of European cinema, forming the focus of a tribute curated by Massimo Causo, consisting of a retrospective of the films which best represent his career, a conversation with Luciana Castellina, and the awarding of the Golden Olive Lifetime Achievement trophy. Eights of his films will be presented: Riff Raff (1991), Raining Stones (1993), Land and Freedom (1995), Bread and Roses (2000), The Wind that Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] (2006), The Angels’ Share [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
film profile] (2012), I, Daniel Blake [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2016), and The Old Oak [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2023).

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, for her part, will be the protagonist of Italian cinema and the focus of a tribute revolving around six films from her multifaceted career as an actress and a presentation of her short film Unfitting (2024), which is her directorial debut on the topic of body shaming. Mezzogiorno will also meet with the audience and receive the Golden Olive Lifetime Achievement Award. Other movies set to be screened besides Unfitting are: Il viaggio della sposa by Sergio Rubini (1997), Del perduto amore by Michele Placido (1998), The Last Kiss by Gabriele Muccino (2001), Facing Windows [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ferzan Ozpetek
film profile] by Ferzan Ozpetek (2003), Don’t Tell [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Cristina Comencini (2005), and Vincere [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cannes 2009 Marco Bellocc…
interview: Filippo Timi - actor
film profile] by Marco Bellocchio (2009).

The 5 titles which are finalists for the 15th edition of the Mario Verdone Prize, as selected by Lecce Film Festival Director La Monica alongside the board of the Union of Italian Film Journalists (SNGCI) presided over by Laura Delli Colli, are: Gloria! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margherita Vicario
film profile] By Margherita Vicario, An Endless Sunday [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Parroni
film profile] by Alain Parroni, True Blue [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Filippo Barbagallo, Oceans are the Real Continents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tommaso Santambrogio
film profile] by Tommaso Santambrogio, and Unbelievers [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alessandro Marzullo. As always, the winner is set to be announced by Carlo, Luca and Silvia Verdone. This year will also see the Mario Verdone Special Prize awarded to Brando De Sica for Mimì – Prince of Darkness [+see also:
film review
film profile].

Last but not least, Lecce will also host the showcase dedicated to the Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, boasting a selection of graduate films by students from various colleges within Italy’s National Film School, the regional premiere of a restored version of Nanni Moretti’s Ecce Bombo, and a tribute to Tyrone Power, 110 years since his birth.

(Translated from Italian)