Lecce Film Fest 19

**From Tuesday, December 9 to Saturday, December 13,** the nineteenth edition of the Lecce Film Fest is set to illuminate the screens with the most intriguing independent films from the international scene. For five days, the **Convitto Palmieri in Lecce** will be a meeting place characterized by boundary-defying cinema that is surprising, intense, ironic, and sincere, revealing the invisible realities of "existential geographies," freed from digital platforms and commercial theaters. It's high-quality independent cinema, detached from market rules, speaking unfiltered to the mind and heart of the viewer. Twenty-seven short films and six feature films, winners of prestigious awards, whether in absolute premiere or for the first time in Lecce, will compete for the title of "Best Film 2025," spanning a variety of genres: from fiction to auteur documentaries, animations to experimental videos.

The mapping of our present is defined through the themes addressed in the films: **the dialogue between generations** (Back in baby arms, C’è da comprare il latte, My week with Maisy, Nachtgesichter, Idillio all’inferno), **dynamics between masculine and feminine** (Il re del panino, Burul, Ce qui appartient a Cesar, Frantumi), **the relationship between the artist and their creations** (Playing God, Vite d’artista, La notte della luna fertile, Deep in my heart is a song, L’occhio della gallina, Discesa libera, Una faccia da cinema, Wild hive), **the emotional adventures of adolescence** (Happy snaps, L’anossia, Such a lovely day, Two for the road), **masters of the recent past** (Berlinguer. A love story, Quale allegria, Un giorno in più, Italo Svevo. Scrivere nascosto a Trieste), **timeless conflicts** (Sniper Alley. To my brother, L’estate che verrà) and **anxieties towards a dystopian future** (Disturbia, Padre, Pinocchio reborn, Ryan can’t read, Un cane miagola un gatto abbaia). In addition to the customary **meetings with directors and casts**, screenings will be accompanied by the contemporary dance performance Femelle choreographed by **Annamaria De Filippi**, a musical meeting with the Uhuru Collective, action painting by **Mariella Rinaldi** and **Federico Marino Mercuri**, collective cinema by **Claudia Mollese**, and experimental photography by **Cosimo Savina**, who will present the exhibition Essere umano.

The festival is organized by the **Cineclub Fiori di Fuoco**, in collaboration with the **Unione Italiana Circoli del Cinema**, **Bernardini Library**, and the **Bibliomuseum Network of Lecce**, sponsored by the **Ministry of Culture** and the **Province of Lecce**, and directed by **Nicola Neto** and **Ornella Striani**. Daily entry: €5.00. Information: 348.7667033 - www.leccefilmfest.it.

The program:
**Tuesday, December 9**
The LFF19 opens at 5:00 PM with the inauguration of the photographic exhibition Essere umano by **Cosimo Savina**. Born in Veglie (Le) in 1955, Savina, a stubbornly analog photographer since 1977, has taught at the "Fellini" Institute of Cinematography in Turin and is a promoter of Gurdjieff's Sacred Dances; the dominant theme of his work is the lightness expressed through the search for harmony between light and shadows. At 5:30 PM, the film competition kicks off with the short films Burul by Kyrgyz director Adilet Karzhoev, arriving in Lecce after collecting awards worldwide, La notte della luna fertile by Agostino Gambino, and L’anossia by Zeno Castaldi, in a world premiere, the humorous Una faccia da cinema by Alberto Salvucci, and Ryan can’t read by Rhys Chapman, the experimental Frantumi by Mattia Biondi, and the documentary Vite d’artista - Trasfigurazioni by Raffaele Gemma, investigating contemporary artists operating in Salento. At 9:00 PM, the screenings conclude with the feature film Berlinguer. A love story by Pierpaolo Farina, a delicate portrait of the unforgettable leader of the Communist Party.

**Wednesday, December 10**
From 5:30 PM, eight short films, including those exploring feelings (Il re del panino by Giordano Toreti, Happy snaps by English director and writer Tyro Heath, Ce qui appartient a Cesar by French Violette Gitton), humor (My week with Maisy by Mika Simmons, Un cane miagola, un gatto abbaia by Alessandro Prato, with Loretta Goggi), and fears (Bulgarian animation Disturbia by Mira Yankova, Padre by Michele Gallone, starring Filippo Timi, Mascagni’s Symphony - Idillio all’inferno by the Vivarini brothers). At 8:00 PM, the meeting with the **Uhuru Collective** (Luca Longo, Federico Falco, Edoardo Celi), young composers and arrangers united by a passion for jazz and the goal of creating connections among local musicians, and in closing, the feature film Quale allegria by Francesco Frisari, a uniquely original memory of Lucio Dalla with previously unseen images of the Bolognese singer-songwriter.

**Thursday, December 11**
Among the short films scheduled from 5:30 PM, the Austrian Nachtgesichter by Martin Winter and Stefan Langthaler, an Oscar nominee, the nostalgic L’estate che verrà by Mauro Lodi, Such a lovely day by Simon Woods, Deep in my heart is a song by Jonathan Pickett, and C’è da comprare il latte by Pierfrancesco Bigazzi, with Alessandro Benvenuti, the amusing Back in baby’s arms by Jackson Giuricich and Pinocchio reborn by Matteo Cirillo, and the experimental video Wild hive by American choreographer Robin Bisio. At 8:00 PM, the **action painting** performance by **Mariella Rinaldi** and **Federico Marino Mercuri** and, at 9:00 PM, the screening of the feature film Discesa libera by Sandro Torella, an intelligent comedy focusing on disability.

**Friday, December 12**
The fourth day of the festival is entirely dedicated to feature films: at 5:30 PM the documentary Italo Svevo, scrivere nascosto a Trieste by Alessandro Melazzini, on one of the most important figures in Italian literature, followed by Sniper Alley - To my brother by Cristiana Lucia Grilli and Francesco Toscani, a film commemorating the victims of the conflict that bloodied Sarajevo in the 90s but resonates with bitter relevance, echoing the cruelties, innocent deaths, and senselessness of every war.

**Saturday, December 13**
The final day opens at 5:30 PM with four short films: the evocative animation Playing God by Matteo Burani, the experimental documentary Ch la recchia by Diego Monfredini and the fictional pieces Two for the road, a multi-award-winning Irish film by Lochlainn McKenna, and Un giorno in più that Fabio Bagnasco, a collaborator of Franco Battiato, dedicated to the late great friend. Following, the feature film L’occhio della gallina, a self-portrait by Antonietta De Lillo, recounting the unheard of vicissitudes of the director of Il resto di niente. Before the awards ceremony, scheduled for 9:30 PM, attention turns to female-focused topics: at 8:00 PM, the contemporary dance performance Femelle with the companies **Oro** and **Atto** choreographed by **Annamaria De Filippi** and at 8:30 PM, the meeting with Salento director **Claudia Mollese** who will present her collective cinema with the unreleased Fimmene, ancora fimmene! and the national premiere of La night au frioul.
Web: www.leccefilmfest.it