The New Italian Cinema in Romania
The “Visuali Italiene” film festival is under way in Romania.
Corina Sabău, 22.03.2025, 14:00
The “Visuali Italiene” film festival is under way in Romania.
The “Visuali Italiane – Noua Cinematografie Italiană în România (The New Italian Cinema in Romania)” festival, now in its fourth edition, brings a remarkable selection of eleven feature films and four short films, offering the Romanian audience an authentic and fresh perspective on the present-day Italian film-making. The festival screenings are held in six cities in Romania, in Bucharest (March 3 – 9, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului), Cluj-Napoca (March 13 – 16, Cinema Victoria), Craiova (March 21 – 23, Cinema Patria), Timișoara (March 27 – 30, Cinema Studio), Iași (March 29 – 30, Cinema Ateneu) and Sibiu (May 28 – June 1), in a special section, within the ESTE Film Festival.
“We’ve come this year with an updated recipe for success of the previous editions, with established and debuting directors, increasingly present and more original female personalities, an incursion into the world of documentary film and the diversified world of short films. We aim to present to the Romanian public the best films produced recently, revealing the modernity of our cinematography through great stories and a creative and original film language”, says Laura Napolitano, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest. A reference moment in the festival is the preview of the film “Queer”, the latest project of the renowned director Luca Guadagnino, a bold adaptation of the cult novel by William S. Burroughs.
Simona Rădoi, the PR of the festival, has more: “Queer, distributed in Romania by Transylvania Film, will be present in cinema halls as of March 21. What turns the film into a hit is primarily the fact that the main part is played by Daniel Craig, whom you have never seen in such a role before. He plays an American expat in Mexico City in the 1950s, a man who leads a solitary life, marked by alcohol and disturbed by the meeting with a young student. The soundtrack of this film, signed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is also superb, it is actually the third collaboration of these musicians with Guadagnino. And there are many well-known songs included in the soundtrack, from Nirvana to Sinéad O’Connor. Obviously, Queer is also considered one of Luca Guadagnino’s most daring and personal films. Another film in the festival’s program is Io sono l’amore, the film thanks to which Guadagnino became known on the international market. It’s a combination of Luchino Visconti’s refined aesthetics and a powerful story about identity and desire. I will add that in the cast of this film you will find Tilda Swinton, who is the protagonist, but also a co-producer. The soundtrack of this film is also remarkable, the costumes are created by Raf Simons for Jil Sander, while the male characters wear Fendi. The festival selection also included a little gem, Diciannove/Nineteen, a bold debut by a young director, Giovanni Tortorici, who was very inspired by the well-known director. His film is actually co-produced by Gudagnino and tells the story of a young man who allows himself to wander, as we all did during our student days, to find our way in life. Besides being very moving and well-written, this film takes us through all kinds of gorgeous places, from Palermo to London.”
The “Visuali Italiane” festival goes beyond the boundaries of the classic fiction film, exploring other cinematic forms, such as the documentary, but also short films. Simona Rădoi, PR of the festival: “We have a warm-up for the 18th edition of One World Romania this year as well. It is about the creative documentary “Real” by Adele Tulli, a fascinating exploration of the digital world and the way technology changes our lives and asks us essential questions about the reality we live in. What I found very interesting about this documentary is the fact that the author was inspired by some images captured on CCTV cameras. The characters of the film are ordinary people, but who live entirely in the digital world, from streamers and professional gamers to people who build virtual worlds or live through AI.
The opening of the festival in Bucharest, at the Peasant Museum Cinema, was marked by the screening of the film “Vermiglio, the Bride of the Mountain”, directed by Maura Delpero. The film, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and Italy’s proposal for the 2025 Oscars, brings to the screen a moving story about survival and human connections from 1944 and impresses with the authenticity of the landscapes and the depth of the characters. The film has been distributed in Romania by Culoar Films, starting on March 7. (MI/EE)
