Carolina Cavalli and Monica Guerritore will be guests at the Saturnia Film Festival. Francesco Gheghi and Valentina Lodovini will be on the Short Film Competition jury.
ROME – Everything is ready for the ninth edition of the Saturnia Film Festival, an event dedicated to emerging cinema promoted by the cultural association ARADIA PRODUCTIONS , chaired by Antonella Santarelli and under the artistic direction of director Alessandro Grande . The festival will run from Thursday, July 30th to Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, with a special pre-opening on Friday, August 24th. The Saturnia Film Festival once again brings cinema to the most evocative locations in the Tuscan Maremma, with a program that combines screenings, meetings, and special events. From San Martino sul Fiora to Saturnia, passing through Montemerano, and finally to the Terme di Saturnia, the festival confirms its itinerant nature, combining the Feature Film Competition and the Short Film Competition with a series of events that will involve the entire territory.
For the 2026 edition, the Saturnia Film Festival welcomes Carolina Cavalli , director and screenwriter among the most original voices in contemporary Italian cinema. On Saturday, August 1st, in Montemerano’s Piazza del Castello, she will meet the public following the screening of her latest feature film, The Kidnapping of Arabella , competing in the Feature Film section of the festival’s ninth edition. After her acclaimed debut with Amanda , presented in 2022 at the Venice International Film Festival, Carolina Cavalli has established herself as one of the most interesting auteurs of her generation, bringing her cinema to major international festivals, from the Toronto International Film Festival to the BFI London Film Festival. The Kidnapping of Arabella , starring Benedetta Porcaroli, tells the story of the unexpected encounter and escape between a misunderstood young woman and a little girl determined to escape from it all.
Rounding out the feature-length program will be Francesco Sossai’s Le città di pianura (The Cities of the Plain), one of the most acclaimed Italian films of the recent film season, a road movie balanced between irony and melancholy that follows the journey of three marginalized characters through the Veneto region, and Monica Guerritore’s Anna , a powerful cinematic portrait of Anna Magnani that traces the private life and artistic journey of one of the greatest actresses in the history of cinema. Monica Guerritore will also be the guest of honor on Friday, July 31st, where she will meet with festival audiences.
In addition to the film guests, the Saturnia Film Festival also announces the official Jury of the Short Film Competition for the 2026 edition, chaired by Paolo Orlando , Director of Distribution at Medusa Film. He will be joined by actor Francesco Gheghi , who returns to Saturnia as a juror. Among the most promising talents of the new generation of Italian cinema, Gheghi has garnered accolades from his debut to his most recent work, 40 Secondi by Vincenzo Alfieri, about the story of Willy Monteiro Duarte, which earned him the Nastro d’Argento and a David di Donatello nomination. Also on the jury is actress Valentina Lodovini , one of the most celebrated and appreciated female figures of her generation, capable of deftly moving between comedy and drama, between auteur cinema, mainstream films, and television series, including the recent Rai series Uno sbirro in Appennino with Claudio Bisio.
Completing the jury are Manuela Rima , Marketing 01 Distribution, and Corrado Azzollini , film producer, cultural entrepreneur and communications and marketing expert, President of Confartigianato Cinema and Audiovisual Italy, founder and director of Draka Cinema.
They are responsible for awarding the prizes for the Short Film Competition, which includes international entries: Choice by Marko Crnogoroski, on the sensitive topic of abortion; Normal by Lara Panah-Izadi, featuring a man gripped by his own emotions; Rhubarb Rhubarb by Kate McMullen, about a family running a thriving rhubarb farm in Yorkshire.
Among the Italian titles: the dystopian Arborea by Letizia Zatti; Arca by Lorenzo Quagliozzi, in which a group of Hollywood filmmakers fight to preserve cinema from the end of history; and Tempi aggiuntive by Matteo Memè, focusing on a complex father-son relationship.
For animation: Mud by Caterina Salvadori and Mariasole Brusa, in which the titular “mud” is explored from poetic, creative, and material perspectives; Retirement Plan by John Kelly, winner of Best Animated Feature at the 2026 Oscars; Rukeli by Alessandro Rak, a story dedicated to Johann Wilhelm Trollmann, the first Sinto, or “gypsy”, to win in world boxing.
Three short films directed by women and focusing on women’s issues make up the Sguardi di Donne section, produced in collaboration with Mujeres nel Cinema and the Olympia de Gouges Association : Gente per bene by Irene Girotti, La parola amore non esisteva by Eva Dematté, and Punti nascondenti by Beatrice Baldacci. The festival program is rounded out by the Art Short School section , directed by David Pompili, featuring videos by students from the Gandhi Institute of Narni. These will be on view at the Polo Culturale Le Clarisse in Grosseto throughout the festival, as well as at the Polo Culturale Pietro Aldi in Saturnia. The Polo Culturale Le Clarisse in Grosseto will also host the photographic and digital exhibition by Pietro Aluigi entitled “Frame di Vita Selvaggia ,” a rich selection of animal portraits, created in collaboration with the ANIMANATURA foundation in collaboration with the Saturnia Film Festival. The exhibition will open on Friday, July 24th and will run until Sunday, August 2nd.
Fonte: Hot Corn Staff
