St Ali Italian Film Festival 2024
Transport yourself to Europe via the big screen this spring at the annual St Ali Italian Film Festival. Screening across Australia at Palace Cinemas, Cinema Nova, Luna Palace Cinemas and Palace Nova Cinemas between September 18 and October 23, this year’s festival kicks off in Sydney and moves to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Ballina, Adelaide and Perth.
The festival opens this year with Gloria!, Italian actress and singer Margherita Vicario’s 2024 directorial debut. A music-filled masterpiece, Gloria! depicts the story of an overlooked maid at a Venetian refuge whose hidden talent inspires an uprising. Vicario, who also co-wrote the film, will be in attendance for the Opening Night Gala events in Sydney and Melbourne, along with festival ambassador Silvia Colloca, the Italian-Australian food writer, TV host, opera singer and author of the forthcoming Italian Home Cook, her sixth cookbook.
The centrepiece of this year’s festival is Parthenope, legendary Academy Award-winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s sprawling romantic drama about a Neapolitan woman named after the mythical siren whose name inspired the city of Naples. Another big-ticket screening is papal thriller and festival closing film Conclave, director Edward Berger’s adaptation of Robert Harris’s dramatic 2016 novel, with Oscar-nominated actors Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci leading a dynamic ensemble cast.
Elsewhere, festival Special Presentations include Italy’s biggest film of 2023, There’s Still Tomorrow, directed by and starring Paola Cortellesi, and Marcello Mio, a playful comedy from Christophe Honoré. Daniele Luchetti’s Trust is an award-winning psychological thriller scored by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, while 2023 Venice Film Festival opener Comandante stars Pierfrancesco Favino in a maritime thriller like no other.
Other highlights include a reprise screening of the festival’s inaugural opening film, Bread and Tulips; a 50th-anniversary screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II; and Laura Luchetti’s 2023 film The Beautiful Summer, starring Deva Cassel (daughter of legendary actors Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel).
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The program is packed with new Italian dramas, comedies, family-friendly titles and documentaries – including a special event screening in Sydney and Melbourne of The Rise of Espresso, tracking the expansion and evolution of espresso around the world.
Browse the full program and book tickets online.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the St Ali Italian Film Festival.