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ROME \u2013 The Saturnia Film Festival<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0returns for its ninth edition\u00a0\u00a0, 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,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>July 24<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0, before entering full swing\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>from July 30 to August 2, 2026<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0, once again transforming the squares of the Maremma’s most charming villages into a captivating open-air theater.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n 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\u00a0 Daniel Mann’s\u00a0<\/span>The Rose Tattoo\u00a0<\/span><\/em>\u00a0(1956), which established her as the first Italian actress in the history of the Academy Awards to win the Best Actress statuette. 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\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Anna<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0by and with\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Monica Guerritore<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0, an intimate and powerful account 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 last year’s film and festival season:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Le citt\u00e0 di pianura<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0by 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\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Il rapimento di Arabella\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by 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.<\/span><\/p>\n The ninth edition of the Saturnia Film Festival once again offers a Short Film Competition dedicated to the best shorts from around the world, divided into three sections: Italy, International, and Animation. Among the international titles competing are:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Choice\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Marko Crnogoroski, the story of a woman forced to confront the brutal reality when a new law bans scheduled abortion;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Normal\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Lara Panah-Izadi, in which a hypersensitive man is forced to confront the violence of his own emotions;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Rhubarb Rhubarb\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Kate McMullen, which centers on a family running a thriving rhubarb farm in Yorkshire.<\/span> The Women’s Views\u00a0<\/span><\/em>\u00a0section returns this year\u00a0 ,\u00a0produced in collaboration with\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Mujeres nel Cinema and the Olympia de Gouges Association,<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0with three short films directed by women and focusing on women’s issues:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Gente per bene\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Irene Girotti, in which the protagonist Luna, a middle-class student, tries to help Alina, a Ukrainian woman in Italy without a residence permit;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>La parola amore non esisteva\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Eva Dematt\u00e9, in which the director follows her grandfather’s daily life, imagining that his recently deceased grandmother is there with him;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Punti nascondenti\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by 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.<\/span>
\nAmong the Italian titles: the dystopian\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Arborea\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Letizia Zatti, in which vegetation has mysteriously stopped reproducing and a scientist monitors the sound frequencies of an oak tree until one day she hears a new sound;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Arca\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Lorenzo Quagliozzi, in which a group of Hollywood filmmakers fight to preserve cinema from the end of history;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Extra Time\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Matteo Mem\u00e8, in which a scooter trip allows a father and son to finally address their complex relationship. For animation:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Mud\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Caterina Salvadori and Mariasole Brusa, in which the \u201cmud\u201d of the title is told from a poetic, creative, and material perspective;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Retirement Plan\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by John Kelly, Best Animated Film at the 2026 Oscars, in which the protagonist Ray daydreams about his future in retirement;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Rukeli\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Alessandro Rak, a story dedicated to Johann Wilhelm Trollmann, who became middleweight champion in Nazi Germany, the first Sinto, or \u201cGypsy,\u201d to win this title in world boxing.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe festival program is completed by the\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Art Short School<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0section , 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.<\/span><\/p>\n