The Saturnia Film Festival returns for its ninth edition , an event dedicated to emerging cinema, organized by the cultural association Aradia Productions under the presidency of Antonella Santarelli and the artistic direction of director Alessandro Grande. The ninth edition will kick off with a special pre-opening evening on Friday, July 24th, before kicking off from July 30th to August 2nd, 2026, once again transforming the squares of the Maremma’s most charming villages into a captivating open-air theater.
Five days dedicated to the seventh art, featuring encounters and discoveries, where emerging international cinema takes center stage in a magical atmosphere in the squares of San Martino Sul Fiora, Saturnia, Montemerano, and, for the festival’s final evening, the evocative Terme di Saturnia spa. Two competitive sections dedicated to short and feature films will be featured, alongside special events involving various local municipalities, maintaining the itinerant nature that has always characterized the festival.
The 2026 edition of the Saturnia Film Festival will pay tribute to Anna Magnani , an absolute icon of Italian and international cinema, on the seventieth anniversary of her Oscar win for Daniel Mann’s The Rose Tattoo (1956), which established her as the first Italian actress in the history of the Academy Awards to win the statuette for Best Actress. Her talent and legacy will also be celebrated with the festival’s official image, designed by Davide Pompili and inspired by her. The tribute will continue with a screening of ” Anna ” by and starring Monica Guerritore, an intimate and powerful tale of the actress’s life and artistic journey. Monica Guerritore, director as well as the star of the film, will also be the guest of honor on Friday, July 31st for the screening of her film.
Rounding out the Feature Film Competition are two films that were protagonists of the last film and festival season: “ Le città di pianura ” by Francesco Sossai, an instant cult of this year’s Italian cinema and winner of the latest David di Donatello awards, a road trip tale across the Veneto plains starring three unlikely outsiders, and “ Il rapimento di Arabella ” by Carolina Cavalli, a road movie that sees the unexpected encounter between a young woman trapped by her regrets and a little girl determined to escape from it all, in a delicate and surprising tale about the desire to change the past.
The ninth edition of the Saturnia Film Festival once again offers a Short Film Competition dedicated to the best short films from around the world, divided into three sections: Italy, International, and Animation.
Among the international titles in competition: “ Choice ” by Marko Crnogoroski, the story of a woman forced to face the brutal reality when a new law bans scheduled abortion; “ Normal ” by Lara Panah-Izadi, in which a hypersensitive man is forced to confront the violence of his own emotions; “ Rhubarb Rhubarb ” by Kate McMullen, which centers on a family who runs a thriving rhubarb farm in Yorkshire.
Among the Italian titles: the dystopian “ Arborea ” by Letizia Zatti, in which the vegetation has mysteriously stopped reproducing and a scientist monitors the sound frequencies of an oak tree, until one day she hears a new sound; “ Arca ” by Lorenzo Quagliozzi, in which a group of Hollywood filmmakers fight to preserve cinema from the end of history; “ Tempi aggiuntive ” by Matteo Memè, in which a motorbike trip allows a father and son to finally address their complex relationship.
For animation: “ Mud ” by Caterina Salvadori and Mariasole Brusa, in which the “mud” of the title is told from a poetic, creative and material point of view; “ Retirement Plan ” by John Kelly, Best Animated Film at the 2026 Oscars, in which the protagonist Ray daydreams about his future in retirement; “ Rukeli ” by Alessandro Rak, a story dedicated to Johann Wilhelm Trollmann, who became middleweight champion in Nazi Germany, the first Sinto, or “Gypsy”, to win this title in world boxing.
The Sguardi di Donne section returns again this year , created in collaboration with Mujeres nel Cinema and the Olympia de Gouges Association, with three short films directed by women and focusing on women’s issues: “ Gente per bene ” by Irene Girotti, in which the protagonist Luna, a student from a middle-class background, tries to help Alina, a Ukrainian woman in Italy without a residence permit; “ La parola amore non esisteva ” by Eva Dematté, in which the director follows the daily life of her grandfather, imagining that his grandmother, who has just passed away, is accompanying him; “ Punti nascosto ” by Beatrice Baldacci, in which a seventy-five-year-old woman finds the strength to regain her freedom in an encounter with a young seamstress, trapped in a life of control.
The festival program is completed by the Art Short School section , directed by David Pompili, with videos by students from the Gandhi Institute of Narni that will remain on display at the Polo Culturale Le Clarisse in Grosseto for all days of the festival as well as at the Polo Culturale Pietro Aldi in Saturnia.
Source: cinemaitaliano.info
