We’re very excited to be giving away five in-season double passes to the 2024 St ALi Italian Film Festival. Presented by Palace Cinemas, the programme features a mix of the best new Italian films and classic gems. A national festival, the Brisbane component runs from September 19 to October 16.
Opening the festival is GLORIA! the directorial debut of dynamic Italian singer, songwriter and actor Margherita Vicario, who also co-wrote the film which depicts the ebullient, music-filled story of a maid at a Venetian refuge whose hidden talent helps inspire an uprising.
Closing the 2024 festival is the Papal thriller CONCLAVE. Oscar nominees Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci lead a brilliant ensemble cast including Sergio Castellitto in director Edward Berger’s stunning adaption of Robert Harris’ high-stakes drama, in which Cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new Pope.
The Festival Centrepiece is PARTHENOPE, the new film from Academy-Award winner Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, Youth, The New Pope) is a visually and aurally stunning, decades-spanning romantic drama about a Neapolitan woman named after the mythical siren who once lent her name to the city of Naples.
Festival Special Presentations include the playful comedy from acclaimed writer/director Christophe Honoré, MARCELLO MIO, led by acting royalty and real-life mother-daughter duo Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni, focusing on the legacy of the great Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni; plus Italy’s biggest film of 2023, THERE’S STILL TOMORROW (C’è ancora domani), the directorial debut of Paola Cortellesi who also stars in the film. Set in post-war Rome, it follows a woman breaking traditional family patterns and aspiring to a different future.
In celebration of 25 years of the festival, there will be special screenings of the much-loved, inaugural Opening Night festival film, BREAD AND TULIPS (Pane e Tulipani). Enjoying an extended run during its original release in 2000, the film tells the heartwarming story of Rosalba, a neglected housewife who starts a new life in Venice and finds romance and self-discovery against the city’s charming backdrop.
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic, Academy-Award winning THE GODFATHER PART II, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film continues the Corleone family’s saga, exploring Michael Corleone’s consolidation of power and moral struggles, alongside Vito Corleone’s rise from immigrant to crime lord and will be shown in a lavish 4k restoration, including intermission.
The 2024 lineup features a strong selection of new Italian dramas including the gripping and emotionally charged MIA starring Edoardo Leo as the protective father of fifteen-year-old Mia, whose world is forever altered when she crosses paths with an enigmatic older boy; ensemble drama FAMILY MATTERS (Seifratelli), led by Riccardo Scamarcio, which explores the relationships in an extended and dysfunctional family; Italo-French co-production MARIA MONTESSORI (La Nouvelle Femme) starring Jasmine Trinca as the famed Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori, whose revolutionary methods are still used across the globe today and GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARY (Vangelo secondo Maria), a fascinating tale of love, destiny, duty, and rebellion, starring Benedetta Porcaroli and Alessandro Gassmann as the biblical couple Mary and Joseph. Check the Festival’s website for more
To be in the running to win one of the five in-season double passes to the festival first – follow ‘timeoff’ on instagram at “timeoffmagazine” then send an email to
prizes@timeoffmedia.com.au with “IFF” in the subject line. Winners will be notified by return email.
QLD addresses only. One entry per person. Please include your best postal address. QLD addresses only. Comp closes September 21, 2024.
Australian Competitions Club
