Shoshana [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], the new political thriller set in the Thirties and directed by Michael Winterbottom, is set to open the 24th edition of the European Film Festival, which is unspooling in Lecce between 11 and 18 November. Jostling in the line-up of this traditional, annual gathering dedicated to European film, overseen as ever by Alberto La Monica in the Salentine capital, are ten films screening in national premieres and competing for the Golden Olive - Cristina Soldano Prize, not to mention the Cinema & Reality section which showcases a selection of Italian documentaries, the Mario Verdone Prize awarded to a new, young Italian filmmaker, and a line-up dedicated to the finalists of the European Parliament’s Lux Audience Award.

The 10 feature films set to battle it out in the official competition and selected by Alberto and Luigi La Monica are: Copenhagen Does Not Exist [+lire aussi :
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interview : Martin Skovbjerg
fiche film] by Martin Skovbjerg, Dead Girls Dancing [+lire aussi :
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interview : Katarina Stark
fiche film] by Anna Roller, I Don’t Love You Anymore [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Zdeněk Jiráský, Légua [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : Filipa Reis, João Miller G…
fiche film] by Filipa Reis and João Miller Guerra, Medium [+lire aussi :
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interview : Christina Ioakeimidi
fiche film] by Christina Ioakeimidi, Midwives [+lire aussi :
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interview : Léa Fehner
fiche film] by Léa Fehner, Remember To Blink [+lire aussi :
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interview : Austėja Urbaitė
fiche film] by Austėja Urbaitė, Solitude [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ninna Pálmadóttir
fiche film] by Ninna Pálmadóttir, Vasil [+lire aussi :
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interview : Avelina Prat
fiche film] by Avelina Prat, and Woman On The Roof [+lire aussi :
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interview : Anna Jadowska
fiche film] by Anna Jadowska. The films will be assessed by a jury led by Bulgarian producer Stefan Kitanov and further composed of Albanian director Gentian Koçi, Italian director Wilma Labate, Slovenian producer Ales Pavlin, and Italian producer Angela Prudenzi.

The European Film Festival will also present 6 titles soon to be released in Italian cinemas, namely Giorni felici by Simone Petralia, 8 Days in August [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Samuel Perriard
fiche film] by Samuel Perriard, Improvvisamente a Natale mi sposo by Francesco Patierno, I limoni d’inverno by Caterina Carone, and Toni [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Nathan Ambrosioni.

Worth a mention in the Cinema & Reality section, meanwhile, is the first ever premiere of After the Bridge, directed by Davide Rizzo and Marzia Toscano, which tells the tale of an Italian woman who converted to Islam and whose life was subsequently devastated by the death of her son who belonged to the Jihadi group which killed eight people in the London Bridge area. There’s also Le Spose di BB by Stelvio Attanasi, an investigative film whose protagonists are all men, which is aimed at fighting gender-based violence and in which testimonies are gathered from a handful of participants in workshops aimed at combatting violence against women.

The directors in the running for the 14th Mario Verdone Prize are Carolina Cavalli by way of Amanda [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : Benedetta Porcaroli
fiche film], Davide Gentile via My Summer with the Shark [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], Giacomo Abbruzzese with Disco Boy [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : Giacomo Abbruzzese
fiche film], Niccolò Falsetti with Margins [+lire aussi :
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interview : Niccolò Falsetti
fiche film] and Pilar Fogliati with Romantic Girls [+lire aussi :
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making of
fiche film]. This year’s Star of Italian Cinema is Micaela Ramazzotti, who’s the focus of a retrospective featuring five of the films she’s starred in, as well as her directorial debut Felicità [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film].

Two tributes are also set to be paid: one to Gianni Minà, with the presentation of Loredana Macchietti Minà’s docufilm Gianni Minà - Una vita da giornalista, and the other to the director who recently passed away Nico Cirasola, by way of a retrospective of his 6 feature films (Odore di Pioggia, Da do da, Albania Blues, Bell’Epoker, Focaccia Blues [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] and Rudy Valentino [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
fiche film]).

Last but not least, the closing slot of the 24th European Film Festival is entrusted to La chimera [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
fiche film] by Alice Rohrwacher.