Experience these celebrated short films on the big screen ahead of the Oscars®. The Oscar® Nominated Animated Shorts Program unites film lovers and the global filmmaking community in a shared cinematic experience.
FILMS
The Three Sisters | Dir. Konstantin Bronzit | Israel, Cyprus | 14 min Forevergreen | Dir. Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears | United States | 13min The Girl Who Cried Pearls (content warning) | Dir. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada | 17min Butterfly | Dir. Florence Miailhe | France | 15 min Retirement Plan | Dir. John Kelly | Ireland | 7min Éiru (shortlisted extra short) | Dir. Giovanna Ferrari | Ireland | 13 min
Some films may not be suitable for very young children.
Relased 2025
Rated PG-13
February 20, 2026 1:15 PM
Location: Theater 4 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
From writer/director Harry Lighton and starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling. A timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.
Relased 2025
Rated R
Directed by Harry Lighton
February 19, 2026 4:10 PM
Location: Theater 1 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
SPECIAL SCREENING AT THE HEIGHTS THEATER on Friday, March 20, in celebration of the Italian Cultural Center’s 20th Anniversary. “Stromboli” was the first film ever screened by the Center and we wish to dedicate this special event to Massimo & Anna Bonavita, cofounders of the Italian Cultural Center and the Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis / St. Paul. Ticket sales to open soon!
Ticket sales to open soon!
+Intro, post-screening analysis and Q&A with Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival
ABOUT THE FILM
The first collaboration between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman is a devastating portrait of a woman’s existential crisis, set against the beautiful and forbidding backdrop of a volcanic island. After World War II, a Lithuanian refugee (Bergman) marries a simple Italian fisherman (Mario Vitale) she meets in a prisoner of war camp and accompanies him back to his isolated village on an island off the coast of Sicily. Cut off from the world, she finds herself crumbling emotionally, but she is destined for a dramatic epiphany. Balancing the director’s trademark neorealism—exemplified here in a remarkable depiction of the fishermen’s lives and work—with deeply felt melodrama, Stromboli is a revelation.
Rossellini’s use of on-location shooting, natural lighting, and non-professional actors creates an immediacy and realism that immerses the audience in Karin’s emotional, physical and psychological struggles. The stark, rugged landscapes of Stromboli reflect her inner turmoil, turning the island into a living character whose unpredictability mirrors the challenges of human survival and resilience.
The film’s narrative is both a personal story and a social critique, exploring themes of displacement, gender roles, and the tension between individual desire and communal expectation. Ingrid Bergman delivers a masterful, restrained, empathetic performance, conveying both vulnerability and determination.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Roberto Rossellini
One of the founders of Italian Neorealism. Roberto Rossellini (1906–1977), originally trained as an engineer, began his career in film in the 1930s directing documentaries and short films, including works for the Italian government. His breakthrough came with “Roma città aperta” (1945, Grand Prize at Cannes, New York Critics Circle Award), which, along with “Paisà” (1946) and Germania Anno Zero constitutes the so called “War Trilogy”
Rossellini’s neorealist films often explored ordinary lives under extraordinary historical circumstances. “Paisà” (1946, Venice Biennale Award) portrayed the encounters between Italians and Allied forces during the liberation, while “Germania anno zero” (1948) examined the moral and physical devastation of postwar Germany. These powerful films contributed to the spiritual rehabilitation of an entire culture and people, and that of the very soul of Italy, through cinema.
The trilogy starring Ingrid Bergman, his wife at the time, composed by “Stromboli” (1950) “Europa ’51” (1952), and “Viaggio in Italia” (1954) constituted a not well received, major departure from his “war” films. The three films, in fact, focused on stories of people dealing with very intimate, personal journeys and spiritual experiences and audiences at the time found the films to be too experimental if not plainly dull melodramas; nonetheless, the films of this trilogy greatly influenced the future course of cinema, marking the very beginning of modern cinema.
Relased 1950
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
March 20, 2026 12:00 PM
Location: The Heights Theater 3951 Central Ave NE Minneapolis, MN 55421
Two siblings embark on one emotional and heartwarming journey… towards each other.
This film is recommended for audiences of all ages.
ABOUT THE FILM
Inspired by a true story. Irene (Matilda De Angelis) lives her life in Rome when her mother asks her to return for a few days to Rimini, the city where she was born and from which she fled, to take care of her older brother, Omar (Yuri Tuci, winner of the Best Actor in a Comedy Nastro d’Argento award), who is autistic.
Once together, Irene discovers that Omar has very “clear” ideas about his future: he has no intention of living with her when their parents are no longer around and he is ready to do anything to make his dreams come true: he wants to get married, he wants to have three children because three is the perfect number, and he wants to become a famous rap singer.
But for all these things to happen, Omar must first of all become independent.
Thus begins an intensive “life crash course” with Irene, aimed at helping him become an adult.
In their home full of memories, Irene and Omar face fears and hopes together, discovering that sometimes growing up takes two.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Greta Scarano is an Italian actress and director. She acted in numerous television and film productions such as “Romanzo criminale, la serie”, “Squadra antimafia” and “Suburra” for which she won a Nastro D’Argento. She has worked with some of the most important Italian directors, including Stefano Sollima, Sydney Sibilia, Paolo Genovese, and Ferzan Ozpetek. In 2023, she made her directorial debut with her short film “Feliz Navidad”, which was awarded the Silver Ribbon for Best Directorial Debut and selected for major Italian festivals. “ La vita da grandi” is her first feature film, for which she received a Nastro D’Argento for Best New Director and in January 2026 the prestigious European Young Audience Award.
Relased 2025
Directed by Greta Scarano
March 1, 2026 8:30 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
From Lina Wertmüller, the groundbreaking filmmaker who became the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in 1977 and opened doors for generations of women directors, comes a daring tale where, under Fascism, love itself becomes the most subversive act of all.
Part of the Honoring The Twin Cities Program
+ Intro and post-screening analysis with Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival.
+ Q&A moderated by Richard Peña with Tommaso Cammarano, IFF’s Artistic Director
ABOUT THE FILM
Set in 1930s Italy under Mussolini’s regime, “Film d’amore e d’anarchia” follows Tunin, a simple, idealistic peasant who arrives in Rome with a single mission: to assassinate the Duce. Hiding in a state-controlled brothel while awaiting his moment, he meets Salomè, a disillusioned prostitute who has long since learned how to survive in a world ruled by hypocrisy and fear. What begins as a political plot slowly transforms into an intimate, fragile bond between two unlikely allies.
Blending tragicomedy, political satire, and tender romance, Lina Wertmüller crafts a bittersweet, deeply humane story where grand revolutionary ideals collide with human vulnerability, revealing the everyday compromises of life under dictatorship while honoring the quiet dignity of those who resist in small, deeply personal ways.
Monica Vitti (1931–2022) was an Italian actress known for her starring roles in films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the early to mid-1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed focus and began making comedies, working with director Mario Monicelli on many films. She appeared with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Richard Harris, Terence Stamp, and Dirk Bogarde. She was known as the “Queen of Italian cinema.” Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Lina Wertmüller (1928–2021) was one of Italy’s most distinctive and provocative filmmakers, known for blending biting political satire with bold, emotionally charged storytelling. A former assistant to Federico Fellini, she emerged in the 1960s and 70s as a fearless voice in European cinema, tackling themes of class struggle, gender dynamics, power, and ideology with irreverent humor and theatrical flair.
Her international breakthrough came with a series of films starring Giancarlo Giannini, including “Mimì metallurgico ferito nell’onore” (1972), “Film d’amore e d’anarchia” (1973), and “Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto” (1974). In 1977, she became the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for “Pasqualino Settebellezze” (1975). Wertmüller’s work is marked by its operatic style, moral complexity, and sharp critique of social and political systems.
In 2019, she received an Honorary Academy Award for her lifetime contribution to cinema. Today, Wertmüller is celebrated as a pioneer who opened doors for generations of women directors and left an indelible mark on world cinema.
Relased 1973
Directed by Lina Wertmüller
March 1, 2026 5:30 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
Napoli – New York is the exhilarating, moving, fable-like, adventure of a film you get when a long-lost script by a young Federico Fellini lands in the hands of one of contemporary Italian Cinema’s most versatile and eclectic Academy Award winning storytellers.
This film is recommended for audiences of all ages yet some violent content could be considered inappropriate for children under 13.
ABOUT THE FILM
Set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, “Napoli – New York” follows the journey of Carmine (Antonio Guerra) and Celestina (Dea Lanzaro), two young Neapolitan street children struggling to survive amid the ruins of their city. With no family and little hope, they cling to each other, finding courage and friendship in a harsh world. One night, they secretly board a ship bound for New York, hoping to join Celestina’s sister who emigrated months earlier.
Upon arrival, the vast and mysterious metropolis overwhelms them, yet through resilience, resourcefulness, and the kindness of strangers and their encounter with Domenico Garofalo (Pierfrancesco Favino), they gradually discover that this alien city can become home. Their adventure is filled with challenges, small victories, and moments of wonder, capturing the mix of fear, excitement, and hope that accompanies every journey into the unknown.
Inspired by a story penned by Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli in the late 1940s, the film combines heartfelt realism with a touch of magic. Oscar winning director Gabriele Salvatores brings these characters to life using a child’s perspective to explore themes of migration, solidarity, and the resilience of the human spirit.
“Napoli – New York” has been recognized for its achievements in cinematic craft, winning the 2024 David di Donatello Awards for Best Visual Effects and the Young Audience Award, celebrating both its technical brilliance and its ability to captivate viewers of all ages.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Gabriele Salvatores is an Academy Award–winning filmmaker, celebrated for “Mediterraneo” (1991), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1992. He began in theatre, co-founding Teatro dell’Elfo, before transitioning to cinema with Marrakech Express (1989) and “Turné” (1990), and went on to direct acclaimed films including “Puerto Escondido” (1991), “Nirvana” (1997), “Io non ho paura” (2003), “The Invisible Boy” (2014 – written with Ludovica Rampoldi), “Volare” (2019). Known for blending realism with poetic imagination, Salvatores continues to create bold, emotionally rich cinema that resonates internationally.
Relased 2024
Directed by Gabriele Salvatores
March 1, 2026 2:30 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
A pulsing exploration of female solidarity and proudly anything but a biopic of rediscovered author Goliarda Sapienza, “Fuori” is a surprising, exhilarating, impossible to fully grasp work of cinematic art.
+ Intro and post-screening analysis with Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival.
+ Q&A with Mario Martone connecting live from Italy, moderated by Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival, together with Tommaso Cammarano, IFF’s Artistic Director.
ABOUT THE FILM
Rome, 1980. After her masterwork “L’arte della gioia” (The Art of Joy), ten years in the making, is rejected by every publisher, writer Goliarda Sapienza (Valeria Golino) ends up in prison for stealing jewelry. Inside, she meets younger inmates, and these encounters become life-changing. Upon release, she spends a sweltering summer with her former cellmates, forming a deep bond with Roberta (Matilda De Angelis), a repeat offender and political activist. Through this friendship, Goliarda rediscovers the joy of living and the impulse to write again.
Directed by Mario Martone and featuring Valeria Golino, Matilda De Angelis, and Italian pop superstar Elodie, “Fuori” is an intimate exploration of female solidarity, resilience, and reinvention. Shot with high aesthetic quality, the film captures the textures of Rome in 1980 without reconstructions, using authentic locations such as Rebibbia prison and Sapienza’s own home.
Goliarda Sapienza (1924–1996) is today recognized as one of the most powerful and radical voices of 20th century Italian literature. Writer, actress, and fiercely independent thinker, she was long overlooked in her lifetime. Only after her death was The Art of Joy published abroad – first in Germany, then France – before finally appearing in Italy in 2008, where it sparked a major rediscovery of her work. Her writing, driven by a radical aspiration for personal and collective freedom, remains strikingly modern and prophetic.
“Fuori” was awarded the Nastri d’Argento 2025, one of Italy’s most prestigious film honors, for Best Actress (Golino) and Best Supporting Actress (De Angelis and Elodie).
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Mario Martone is an acclaimed screenwriter, theater, opera, and film director. Since 1985, he has directed more than 30 films, been screened at the most important film festivals in the world, and has 40 wins and 47 nominations for several Italian and international film awards.
After the huge success of the U.S. Premiere of “Qui rido io” (IFF 2022) and the Midwest Premiere of “Nostalgia” (IFF 2023 Opening Film), we are thrilled and honored to bring “Fuori”, his latest film to Minnesota.
Relased 2025
Directed by Mario Martone
March 1, 2026 11:00 AM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
IFF is proud to offer you the chance to discover this “outsider” movie that looks and feels like nothing else in contemporary Italian cinema, that premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, continued on to the New York and the Toronto International Film Festival, became the most critically acclaimed Italian film of the year, was kept alive in theaters by word of mouth, and has possibly already reached cult status.
+ Q&A with IFF’s Artistic Director Tommaso Cammarano
ABOUT THE FILM
“Le città di pianura” follows Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano) and Doriano (Pierpaolo Capovilla), two aimless fifty-year-olds with a single obsession: chasing the last drink of the night. Their nocturnal wanderings across the endless Venetian plains take an unexpected turn when they encounter Giulio (Filippo Scotti), a shy architecture student. What begins as a chance meeting with these improbable mentors profoundly transforms Giulio’s view of the world, love, and the possibilities of the future.
Set against the vast, melancholic landscapes of the Veneto countryside, this road movie moves at the unpredictable pace of a hangover, blending humor, melancholy, and poetic reflection. Director Francesco Sossai’s vision captures a “lost generation”, exploring the tensions of men shaped by the economic boom of the 1970s yet disoriented by the crises of today. Carlobianchi and Doriano embody this generational drift, while Giulio represents a fading humanist ideal, navigating a world that offers few anchors. Together, their interactions explore friendship, longing, and the improbable ways life reshapes those willing to remain open to it. The original soundtrack by Krano, a Veneto singer-songwriter, enriches the film with fifteen tracks blending contemporary folk, post-rock, ambient textures, and lyrics in Veneto dialect, heightening its unique atmosphere.
We are delighted to invite our audience to experience this outstanding second feature, probably the most piercingly intelligent cinematic reflection Italy has offered on itself in years.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Francesco Sossai is an Italian director and screenwriter. After studying English and German literature at La Sapienza, he trained in directing at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin. His feature film debut, “Altri Cannibali” (2021) premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), winning Best First Feature. In 2023, his short film “Il compleanno di Enrico” premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section of the Cannes Film Festival. “Le città di pianura”, his second feature (2025) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and later screened at The New York Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.
Relased 2025
Directed by Francesco Sossai
February 27, 2026 8:45 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
The hysterically funny story of a man who had the courage to say “NO”. For 20 years in a row.
This film is recommended for audiences of all ages.
ABOUT THE FILM
Based on a true story. In an untouched, beautiful, stretch of coastline in southern Sardinia, Efisio Mulas (Giuseppe Ignazio Loi) is a solitary shepherd, a silent guardian of a time that seems to no longer exist. He has always lived in the small house where he was born. On the other side of the country, in Milan, is Giacomo (Diego Abatantuono), president of a powerful real estate empire. He is determined to transform that pristine coast into a luxury resort. Alongside him is Mariano (Aldo Baglio), his pragmatic construction manager, entrusted with convincing Efisio, an amazing cash offer after another, to give up that last piece of land standing in their way. Francesca (Virginia Raffaele), Efisio’s daughter, moves between these irreconcilable worlds, caught between the promise of change and the pull of her roots.
When Efisio refuses yet another million-dollar offer, pressure mounts and the community splits, getting closer and closer to a disastrous breaking point, between those who dream of new job opportunities and blame Efisio for making sure that they will live in misery forever, and those who fear losing their identity forever and find in Efisio their unorthodox spiritual leader.
Casting three of the best Italian comedians working today ( Diego Abatantuono, Virginia Raffaele and Aldo Baglio) and a large ensemble of local non-professional actors, Milani delivers another comedy that is bound to become a new favorite of our audience at large and stay/linger with many for a long time.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Riccardo Milani is an Italian screenwriter and film and television director behind some of the most successful films and tv series of the past two decades. He began his career in 1985 as assistant director to Mario Monicelli, later working alongside Nanni Moretti, Florestano Vancini, and Daniele Luchetti. In 1994, he made his feature debut with the comedy-drama “Auguri Professore”, followed in 2001 by his first television project, the miniseries “Il Sequestro Soffiantini”, and then by the innovative, cult TV series “Tutti pazzi per amore”.
IFF has previously showcased several of his major Italian box-office hits, making him, one movie after another, a favorite of our audience: “Come un gatto in Tangenziale” in 2020, “Corro da te” in 2023, and “Grazie Ragazzi” in 2024.
This year, we are particularly delighted and proud to have secured for the first time in IFF’s 17 editions the U.S. Premiere of his most recent film, “La vita va così”, which was the Opening Movie of the Festa del Cinema di Roma in October 2025 and opened in cinemas to the usual popular acclaim in December 2025.
Relased 2025
Directed by Riccardo Milani
February 28, 2026 7:45 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
Gianni Amelio’s “Lamerica” is a profoundly moving film that touches on questions of personal and national identity, on the shared desire of immigrants to better themselves somewhere, and on the devastating realization that their new land is painfully different from the earthly paradise they had always imagined.
Part of the Honoring The Twin Cities Program
+ Intro and post-screening analysis with Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival.
+ Q&A moderated by Richard Peña with Tommaso Cammarano, IFF’s Artistic Director
ABOUT THE FILM
“Lamerica” is a powerful exploration of identity, displacement, and the human cost of socio-political change. Set against the backdrop of post-communist Albania in the early 1990s, the film follows Fiore (Michele Placido), a small-time Italian entrepreneur, and his young partner Gino (Enrico Lo Verso), as they attempt to establish a business exploiting the chaos of a newly opened market. Their journey, however, becomes an unflinching encounter with poverty, corruption, and the lingering trauma of a society in transition. Amelio, also thanks to the faces and bodies of the hundreds of Albanian non professional actors, paints Albania with both documentary realism and lyrical poignancy.
Still widely unknown in the U.S., regardless of its premiere at the 1995 New York Film Festival, “Lamerica” won the European Film Award for Best Film. We are excited to give our audience an opportunity to finally discover this unforgettable film.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Gianni Amelio is a celebrated Italian film director whose cinema is marked by deep humanism, social engagement, and recurring themes of absence, family, and memory, shaped in part by the early loss of his father, who emigrated to Argentina soon after his birth. After studying philosophy in Messina and writing as a film critic, he moved to Rome in 1965, working as a camera operator and assistant director for figures such as Liliana Cavani and Vittorio De Seta, and directing documentaries and television dramas before breaking into cinema.
Amelio’s feature debut came in 1982 with “Colpire al cuore”. He gained international prominence with “Porte aperte” (1990), a powerful adaptation of Leonardo Sciascia’s story that earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 1991 Academy Awards, multiple David di Donatello and Nastro D’Argento awards, and wide acclaim.
His 1992 film “Il ladro di bambini” won the Grand Prix (Special Jury Prize) at Cannes, along with numerous national honors. “Lamerica” (1994) won the European Film Award for Best Film, the Golden Osella for Best Director at Venice, and the Goya for Best European Film. In 1998, “Così ridevano” took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Later works such as “Le chiavi di casa” (2004), earning additional Nastri D’Argento, and films like “La stella che non c’è” (2006), “La tenerezza” (2017), “Hammamet” (2020) and “Il signore delle formiche” (2022; Audience Award winner at the 2023 Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis/St Paul ), “Campo di battaglia” (2024) continued his acclaimed career. Amelio also served as director of the Torino Film Festival from 2009 to 2012 and has received lifetime achievement awards recognizing his enduring impact on Italian and European cinema.
Relased 1994
Directed by Gianni Amelio
February 28, 2026 4:15 PM
Location: Theater 3 115 SE Main Street Minneapolis, MN 55414
