Adonella Marena Award by Michele Vicenti, Italy, 2025, 20 min. - In competition, regional premiere In the arid landscape of the Alta Murgia, Raffaele—a farmer and guardian of the land—faces recurring wildfires that threaten the fields and biodiversity. His daily role as a sentinel reveals the fragility of a land undergoing desertification and the impact of the climate crisis on the lives of those who live there. #ClimateChange #Desertification #EnvironmentalCrisis Michele Vic

by Teresa Juksaar, Estonia, 2025, 14 min. – In competition, regional premiere A small Estonian family, who has moved into the city’s most prestigious neighborhood, unexpectedly receives a goat as a gift through a charity program. Someone thinks they’re doing a favor for a distant stranger with a single click. Amid the moving boxes of a house still in the process of being packed up, a little goat wanders about. The father takes it upon himself to solve the problem, since the c

by Niccolò Donatini, Italy, 2024, 12 min. – In competition, regional premiere Alma is twenty years old and has ADHD. In the world of beehives, Alma feels perfectly at ease; over time, she has learned to manage the inattention associated with her neurodiversity. The bees symbolize the safe haven that Alma shares with her father, Pietro. The day of the college entrance exam arrives. What appears to be chaotic and unmanageable actually conceals an intrinsic order. #inclusion #so

by Stefania Accettulli, Italy, 2024, 16' – In competition, regional premiere   Aura, a fighter who rejects emotional contact, tries to teach the art of judo to Miriam, a traumatized girl with a phobia of physical contact.   #sexism #culturalviolence #feminism #machismo   Assistant director and recently director, Stefania Accettulli has produced, written, and directed several documentaries, music videos, and short films, including "Deerstalker," a project selected at sever

by James Andrews, USA, 2025, 12 min – In competition, national premiere by James Andrews, USA, 2025, 12 min – In Competition, National Premiere   An American Vietnam War veteran returns a precious memento to the daughter of an enemy combatant, 50 years later. The film stars Elyse Dinh, a war refugee, and Brian Delate, a war veteran.   #reconciliation #war #forgiveness #interpersonalrelationships   James Andrews is a freelance filmmaker based in Seattle, Washington. “The Jou

by Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí, Colombia, 2025, 12 min – In Competition, Regional Premiere   Deep in the Emberá jungle of Colombia lives Kari, a young girl whose smile has been stifled by fear. The discovery of an ancestral myth from her community awakens an unstoppable force within her: laughter, as an act of freedom and courage. The short film stood out at the latest Berlinale for the originality of a story that blends fiction with surprising animation techniques.   #feminism

by Malu Jannsen, Netherlands, Belgium, 2024, 20' – In competition, regional premiere The final days of young Heylken, accused of witchcraft just as she is about to leave her village for good. Her free spirit and powerful voice will inspire twelve-year-old Griet. #ethniccleansing #balkans #war Malu Janssen (born 1989 in Eindhoven) is a screenwriter and director living in Amsterdam. After studying theater and film at Utrecht University, she enrolled at the Netherlands Film Aca

by Maryam Khodabakhsh, Iran, 2023, 13' – In competition, regional premiere Negar, a young woman with a visible scar on her cheek, begins to struggle to cover it during her engagement ceremony, tackling social norms and her identity. #violenceagainstwomen #womensissue Maryam Khodabakhsh was born in 1987 in Iran; she is a director, screenwriter, and editor. She has received 50 awards for her work. She believes that each of us has a voice, and that our mission as human beings i

by Filippo Ciccone, 20', Italy, 2024 - In competition, regional premiere A journey through four communities in Ecuador and Colombia who have chosen to radically change their lifestyles to live in harmony with nature. Through faces, everyday gestures, and lush landscapes, the film presents a possible model of sustainability, where caring for the environment becomes a collective choice and a shared dream. Yo vivo aquÍ fits into the contemporary environmental film genre, but wi

by Hamed Nobari, 1', Iran, 2024 - In competition, national preview A minute of visual poetry celebrating the wonder of childhood. Through the contrast of red and blue, the film follows a child immersed in the magic of the sea and its fish, transforming a simple gesture into a small ritual of discovery. #ecology #CinemaDArte #NatureToProtect Hamed Nobari is an Iranian director working in short films and audiovisual production. He is the founder of Elixir Image, a production a

by Farnoosh Abedi, Negar Fardiah, Iran, 2025, 25' – in competition, national premiere The unbearable lightness of the death of loved ones... There are wounds in life that eat away at you like the plague. The weight of the death of loved ones sometimes becomes so oppressive that another birth is inevitable to free oneself from it. #endoflife #parents #biology #accompanyingdeath Farnoosh Abedi was born in 1985 in Isfahan, Iran. A graduate of the Faculty of Arts and Architectur

by Marco Di Gerlando and Ludovica Gibelli, Italy, 13' - regional premiere, in competition On Holocaust Remembrance Day, a professor proposes an experiment to his class that highlights the dynamics of exclusion and responsibility. Through the students' eyes, the film questions the present and invites reflection on how the mechanisms of discrimination arise—and how to counteract them. #DayOfRemembrance #AgainstDiscrimination #CivicEducation #CollectiveResponsibility #NoToExclus

by Antoine Chapon, France, 2025, 23' – In Competition, Regional Premiere Ten years after the demolition of the Basateen al-Razi neighborhood in Damascus, two former residents reconstruct, using their memories, what no longer exists. Through testimonies, archival materials, and the very 3D animations created by the regime to promote the new "Marota City," the film explores the violent erasure of a place and the resistance of the stories that inhabited it. A work that intertwin

Pace Preventiva Award by Gabriele Gravagna, Italy, 2023, 15' – In competition Three Nigerian girls were killed in Palermo in 2011. The public will say they were just “prostitutes,” but the woman who tells us this story, looking us straight in the eye, reminds us that Loveth, Favour, and Bose were human beings. Osas Egbon is the president of the first Italian association against the exploitation of prostitution, made up entirely of Nigerian women who were former victims of tra

by Benjamin Hindrichs 2024, 14' – Spain/Brazil/Germany - In Competition, Regional Premiere Lucila, an elderly indigenous healer living in the Amazon rainforest, watches the fires approach her home and community. As the threat grows, an ancient desire resurfaces, a lifelong dream, and she asks a question that is both intimate and cosmic: "What will happen when we die—me and the forest?" The film intertwines intimacy, spirituality, and the climate crisis, revealing the fragilit

gli occhiali di Gandhi Award by Amir Zargara, Iran, 2025, 25' – In Competition, Regional Premiere The story follows Arash, a dedicated professional wrestler who strives to win gold medals for his country, but who ends up caught up in the turmoil of political instability and social unrest. He is faced with a choice: stand up to tyranny or pursue his personal ambitions. The film is inspired by the life of Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler who was executed under controversial ci

by Danilo Stanimirović, Serbia, 2024, 13' – In Competition, National Premiere Miša is a quiet boy living in a Serbian immigrant neighborhood in Zurich. One day, he finds an abandoned kitten and puts it in his backpack. #deeprelationships, #affection #innerpeace Danilo Stanimirović is a young film student living in Belgrade, Serbia. He was born at the end of the 20th century in a small town, where he attended elementary and middle school. He currently studies film and digita