The 2024 St. Ali Italian Film Festival presented by Palace returns to cinemas with a programme featuring the best new Italian films and classic gems.
The festival will screen in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Byron Bay, and Ballina from September 18.
Multi-talented Italian-Australian food writer, TV producer, and host Silvia Colloca will invite audiences to enjoy ‘la dolce vita’ as this year’s St. Ali Italian Film Festival ambassador, sharing her love of all things Italian with festival audiences.
St. Ali Italian Film Festival
- Sydney: 18 September – 16 October (Palace Moore Park, Palace Norton St, Palace Central, Chauvel Cinema)
- Canberra: 19 September – 16 October (Palace Electric Cinema)
- Brisbane: 19 September – 16 October (Palace Barracks, Palace James Street)
- Melbourne: 20 September – 16 October (The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, Cinema Nova)
- Byron Bay and Ballina: 26 September – 16 October (Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas)
- Adelaide: 2 October – 23 October (Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas)
- Perth: 3 October – 23 October (Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema)
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This year’s programme includes award-winning drama, documentary, comedy, and historical epics starring both new and iconic talent. The first highlights offer a glimpse into the festival, which celebrates Italian cinema and filmmakers at their best.
Special Presentations include the playful, meta comedy Marcello Mio, led by acting royalty and real-life mother-daughter duo Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. This film imagines the daily lives of a creative family, focusing on the legacy of the great Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, Chiara’s late, real-life father.
The festival’s second Special Presentation, and winner of the 2024 Sydney International Film Festival’s coveted Sydney Film Prize, is There’s Still Tomorrow (C’è ancora domani). Directed by Paola Cortellesi, who also stars in the film, it follows a woman in post-war Rome who dares to break with tradition. It was the highest-grossing film in Italy last year.
The 2023 Venice Film Festival opener Comandante is a gripping maritime thriller starring festival favourite Pierfrancesco Favino. Favino delivers a powerhouse performance as a naval captain who commands the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini in the Battle of the Atlantic and faces a moral dilemma when he defies orders to rescue Belgian Navy men.
Italo-French co-production Maria Montessori (La Nouvelle Femme) is a bold and illuminating drama set at the turn of the 20th century. The film stars Jasmine Trinca as the famed Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori, whose revolutionary methods are still used worldwide today.
For bambini and nonni alike, The War of the Nonni (La guerra dei nonni) is a fun family comedy starring Vincenzo Salemme and Max Tortora as competing grandfathers. When Nonno Tom returns from abroad, a series of hilarious challenges ensue as he and Nonno Gerri compete for the affections of their grandchildren.
The full programme will be announced, and tickets will go on sale in late August. For information and updates, please visit italianfilmfestival.com.au.
Find more details and book your tickets at italianfilmfestival.com.au
