28/11/2025 - The 35th edition of the gathering dedicated to noir film and literature is unspooling between 1 and 6 December in Milan

The 35th edition of the Noir in Festival is set to unfold in Milan between 1 and 6 December. The event will be opened by a world premiere of the Sky Original Series Amadeus - based on the play by Oscar-winner Peter Shaffer – which is directed by British talents Julian Farino and Alice Seabright and respectively stars Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany as Mozart and Salieri. This year’s official film selection is composed of 7 titles in competition, 1 screening out of competition and 4 special events including a tribute to contemporary Italian noir literature (featuring the RAI documentary Chi è senza colpa, written by Katiuscia Magliarisi and directed by Riccardo Alessandri), a wonderful, restored 4K version of Angel’s Egg (Mamoru Oshii’s anime masterpiece), and one of the most talked-about titles from the most recent Venice Film Festival, No Other Choice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Park Chan-wook.

“It’s always a fascinating and unique adventure”, directors Marina Fabbri and Giorgio Gosetti enthused, “among the increasingly numerous cultural and genre-focused events which are so prolific in our country, spanning the parallel yet harmonious fields of writing and film, and comic books and journalism, which the Noir in Festival has been exploring for 35 years with undiminished passion. We’ve never been so proud of our line-up, which makes choices, prioritises quality over quantity, and offers a diverse and disorienting perspective on the world we live in”.

The films in competition (all screening in Italian or international premieres) revolve around a multiethnic and uneasy version of Europe and the selection extends its gaze as far as Cameroon in Untamable [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Ngijol
film profile], directed by Thomas Ngijol (previously shown in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight), and the Maldives in Hell in Paradise, by director and activist Leila Sy. The other French productions consist of the thriller In the Name of Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akaki Popkhadze
film profile] by Georgia’s Akaki Popkhadze, following the Russian mafia wars in Nice; Vultures by second generation Parisian Peter Dourountzis, which explores the world of crime reporters in search of their next scoop, and Unsubmissives [+see also:
film review
interview: Mélissa Drigeard
film profile] by Mélissa Drigeard, a female-style gangster story unfolding in the province of Avignon in the Nineties. The Netherlands, meanwhile, is the setting for Pablo Hernando’s neo noir A Whale [+see also:
film review
film profile], revolving around a ruthless contract killer. The only Italian film in competition is Ferine, Andrea Corsini’s feature film debut starring Irish body horror star Carolyn Bracken and the first production by EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani. The eighth and final title in the running is Rafael Cobos’ mega-tense Spanish film noir, Golpes, which is released in Spanish cinemas on 5 December.

Out of competition, the Noir in Festival is hosting a premiere of the long-awaited “natural horror film” Primate, directed by British filmmaker Johannes Roberts (The Other Side of the Door [+see also:
trailer
film profile], 47 Meters Down [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and due for release in January 2026. Last but not least, the British academic and CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission Adrian Wootton will be returning for another masterclass, dedicated this time round to the historical relationship between the noir genre and musicals.

(Translated from Italian)