“Ten works from across Europe that each, with their own distinctive voices, probe the cracks in love, family and personal identity.” This is how the 26th Lecce European Film Festival, set to run from 15-22 November in the Salento capital, presents this year’s Golden Olive Tree Competition, featuring films from France, Austria, Germany and the UK through to Iceland, also taking in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Balkans. The movies have been selected by director Alberto La Monica and Luigi La Monica.

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Many of the competing pictures question the contemporary family and its inherent silences. Among them are Out of Love [+lee también:
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entrevista: Nathan Ambrosioni
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entrevista: Hlynur Pálmason
ficha de la película] by Hlynur Pálmason and The Luminous Life [+lee también:
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entrevista: João Rosas
ficha de la película] by João Rosas. Other titles bravely address invisible wounds, such as The Pupil by Karin Junger; a look at the dramatic phenomenon of manipulation and abuse of minors, When a River Becomes the Sea [+lee también:
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entrevista: Pere Vilà Barceló
ficha de la película] by Pere Vilà Barceló; and What Marielle Knows [+lee también:
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entrevista: Frédéric Hambalek
ficha de la película] by Frédéric Hambalek. Several works then veer into the terrain of loneliness and alienation: Yugo Florida [+lee también:
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entrevista: Vladimir Tagić
ficha de la película] by Vladimir Tagić (Heart of Sarajevo Best Actor Award for lead Andrija Kuzmanović) and White Snail [+lee también:
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entrevista: Elsa Kremser y Levin Peter
ficha de la película] by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, as well as The Son and the Sea [+lee también:
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entrevista: Stroma Cairns e Imogen West
ficha de la película] by Stroma Cairms, and Vitrival [+lee también:
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entrevista: Noëlle Bastin y Baptiste B…
ficha de la película] by Noëlle Bastin and Baptiste Bogaert. Judging the feature competition will be a jury chaired by Danish producer Lene Borglum, and composed of Marco Giusti, Dubravka Lakic, Paolo Strippoli and Olena Yershova.

The star of European cinema at this edition is Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier, to whom a retrospective of his most representative movies is dedicated, while the star of Italian cinema is Saverio Costanzo, with screenings of his six features on the agenda. Both will receive the Golden Olive Tree Lifetime Achievement Award. Among the special out-of-competition events are a screening of Breve storia d’amore by Ludovica Rampoldi (opening film), 40 Seconds [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Vincenzo Alfieri, recently rewarded at the Rome Film Fest, and From Ground Zero [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Rashid Masharawi. The Lecce European Film Festival will also present the finalist films for the 2026 LUX Audience Award (read about the nominees here) and the short films nominated for the 2025 European Film Awards.

Also returning this year is the Cinema & Reality section, devoted to Italian documentary cinema that explores life, memory and the places of our time. Among the selected titles are Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Valerio Ciraci; We Are the Forest Enclosed by the Wall by Austrian filmmaker Oliver Ressler, which documents the civil struggle that led to the safeguarding of the last remaining forest in Salento; and Nyumba by Francesco Del Grosso, which follows the stories of five migrants who arrived in Cutro, amid pain, memory and a desire for the future. Rounding off the programme are the Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Showcase, with the presentation of Costanza Quatriglio’s documentary Note al centro, celebrating the foundation’s 90th anniversary; the Puglia Show short-film competition, reserved for young Apulian directors; and the Emidio Greco Award for Best Short Film, aimed at a young Italian filmmaker (aged up to 35).

Lastly, the five finalists for the 16th edition of the Mario Verdone Prize, dedicated to an Italian debuting filmmaker who has distinguished themselves over the past season, are Christian Filippi for My Birthday [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], Sara Petraglia for L’albero [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], Edgardo Pistone for Ciao bambino [+lee también:
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entrevista: Edgardo Pistone
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ficha de la película] and Giovanni Tortorici for Nineteen [+lee también:
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ficha de la película].