Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
CHARLESTON — Bringing a few films from the old country, the Nuovo Cinema Italiano Film Festival recently announced the schedule for its 19th annual fete celebrating contemporary Italian cinema and culture. The 2025 events in downtown Charleston are set for Nov. 6-9 at the Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St. The festival will present a packed marquee with 13 film screenings, presentations from guest directors and producers from Italy, a Jewish brunch and more tie-in events for film enthusiasts. Highlights from the schedule include: “FolleMente” by Paolo Genovese, a multiple award-winning romantic comedy centered on the inner thoughts of two protagonists. “Il tempo che ci vuole” by director and screenwriter Francesca Comencini, a drama about a father and daughter filmmaker duo. The film won the Silver Ribbon for Best Film at the 2025 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. “Diciannove” by Giovanni Tortorici, a coming-of-age drama centered on a teenager from Palermo leaving home for the first time. It won Best Feature Film at this year's Hamburg Film Festival. “What makes Nuovo Cinema Italiano Film Festival special is our focus on filmmaking in Italy today, which is remarkable for its high quality, compelling storytelling, creative production techniques and portrayal of diverse experiences and perspectives,” founder and artistic director Giovanna De Luca said in a press release. “This is a new golden age of Italian movie production.” One of the curated screenings from this year's schedule is "Hey Joe” directed by Claudio Giovannesi, a drama starring American actor James Franco ("The Disaster Artist," "The Interview," "Pineapple Express," "Spider-Man") who portrays an American WWII veteran in search of his son in Naples. "Hey Joe" premiered at the Rome Film Festival. Thanks to support from the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation and the Nathan and Marlene Addlestone Foundation, this year’s festival will include two movies with resonant Jewish themes: “Liliana” by Ruggero Gabbai, which tells the true story of Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, and “La bicicletta di Bartali” by Enrico Paolantonio, an animated film remembering the Italian cycling champion who secretly worked for the resistance during World War II. Many of the filmmakers involved will be familiar to festivalgoers, De Luca added. “The top tier of actors, directors and writers in Italy consists of a relatively small and versatile group of artists with familiar faces,” De Luca said. "We are pleased to be able to screen the latest works by important directors such as Francesca Comencini, Paolo Genovese, Roberto Andò, Claudio Giovannesi and Maura Depero.” A piece of Italian film history is also highlighted in the festival poster. This year, the festival’s poster pays tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 film “The Conformist.” Individual tickets cost $15 and can be purchased online in advance at nuovocinemaitaliano.com or at the theater. Students and veterans with valid ID can receive a $5 discount per ticket at the box office.
