cinema > 2025 AFI European Union Film Showcase

Opening Night
LA GRAZIA
Wed, Dec. 3, 7:00*; Fri, Dec. 5, 2:00 *Post-screening reception sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute

Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino reunites with actor Toni Servillo in this parable-like tale of parliamentary politics and difficult decisions. Servillo, who previously starred for Sorrentino in ONE MAN UP, THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE, IL DIVO, THE GREAT BEAUTY, LORO and THE HAND OF GOD, here plays President Mariano De Santis of Italy, an office that plays an important role in finalizing parliamentary legislation but is cut off from the real power in government, which is controlled by the prime minister. Nearing the end of his term, and bereft at the loss of his beloved wife several years prior, De Santis has been going through the motions for some time, micromanaged by his daughter Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti), who, as his chief of staff, has become accustomed to doing her father’s thinking for him. Nicknamed “Cemento armato” (reinforced concrete) for his stolidity and caution, De Santis nevertheless remains a keen legal mind, even as he struggles with aging and depression. After years of coasting, he is finally roused to action when asked to make a series of potentially legacy-defining decisions: whether to sign a landmark bill to legalize euthanasia in Italy; whether to grant clemency on two complex murder cases, one a wife who murdered her abusive husband, the other a man who murdered his ill wife; and whether to support his old college friend and current economic minister, Ugo Romani (Massimo Venturiello), to be his successor. Working in a more subdued, less baroque register than usual, Sorrentino delivers a thoughtful and moving meditation on ethics, anchored by a commanding, emotionally resonant performance from Servillo. Official Selection, 2025 AFI FEST and Venice film festivals.

DIR/SCR/PROD Paolo Sorrentino; PROD Annamaria Morelli, Andrea Scrosati. Italy, 2025, color, 133 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

BELOW THE CLOUDS [SOTTO LE NUVOLE]
Sun, Dec. 7, 11:00 a.m.; Wed, Dec. 10, 9:00; Fri, Dec. 12, 2:20

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, documentary master Gianfrano Rosi’s (SACRO GRA, FIRE AT SEA) new film explores the city and surroundings of Naples, Italy, a place where thousands of years of history echo and resonate for its people every day. Dominated by the looming presence of Mount Vesuvius — a still-active volcano, whose eruption in 79 AD buried the nearby city of Pompeii — Neapolitans live in close proximity to the possibility of destruction, with occasional tremors and the tragic ruins of Pompeii as constant reminders. And yet, thousands of years of life and culture have persisted and thrived there. Rosi takes us deep inside the fabric of daily life in this place uniquely formed by its history — literally, in the case of the buried architecture and relics found beneath the ground in a network of tunnels, which we see visited variously by students, tourists, law enforcement officers, firefighters and archaeologists. The latter note the work of the grave robbers, or tombaroli, who have made off with priceless sculptures and frescos for hundreds of years, and reveal the thousands of fascinating antiquities that have been consigned to storage in Naples’ Archaeological Museum, in a sense remaining undiscovered for most people. Rosi intercuts these scenes with visits to an after-school tutor who gently chides his students, charged with reading Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables,” to take more interest in their schoolwork; a cargo ship in the port, where expat Syrian crew members deliver Ukrainian grain, only recently liberated from wartime blockade; and emergency line operators, who field calls ranging from domestic assault to tremor reports to a lonely voice simply asking for the correct time — a regular caller and a daily occurrence, the operator reveals. All taken together, Rosi’s mosaic portrait depicts a place where creation and destruction, reverence and desecration, and the past and the present all live side by side. Official Selection, 2025 AFI FEST, Venice and Toronto film festivals.

DIR/SCR/PROD Gianfranco Rosi; SCR Carmelo Marabello, Marie-Pierre Muller; PROD Paolo Del Brocco, Donatella Palermo. Italy, 2025, b&w, 115 min. In English, Italian, Syrian Arabic, Japanese and Neapolitan with English subtitles. NOT RATED

GEN_
Fri, Dec. 12, 4:15; Sun, Dec. 14, 11:00 a.m.

Dr. Maurizio Bini is a healthcare provider in Milan, Italy, whose congenial demeanor stands in contrast to the heated rhetoric often used to discuss his clinic’s specialties: in vitro fertilization and gender-affirming care. Through a cinema vérité approach, documentary filmmaker Gianluca Matarrese follows the day-to-day proceedings of Bini’s clinic as he counsels hopeful parents, anxious teens and confident adults alike about their individual needs with clear-eyed honesty. With only minor glimpses of Bini’s life outside of work, the focus of the portrait comes into view: This is a man defined by his compassion and empathy for others, who simply believes that everyone has the right to healthcare that improves their quality of life. At a time where personal autonomy is discussed in the political abstract, GEN_ is an up-close reminder that real people are affected by these issues, and they deserve to be treated with the same care and respect afforded to those with any other medical needs. Official Selection, 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

DIR/SCR Gianluca Matarrese; SCR Donatella Della Ratta; PROD Dominique Barneaud, Donatella Palermo, Alexandre Iordachescu. France/Italy/Switzerland, 2025, color, 104 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Special Presentation
DUSE
Sat, Dec. 13, 3:40; Tue, Dec. 16, 4:15

With her career on life support and her savings decimated by the end of World War I, legendary Italian actress Eleonora Duse (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, LIKE CRAZY) is at a crossroads. Her overlooked daughter Enrichetta (Noémie Merlant, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) rushes to her side, concerned about her failing health. But Duse refuses to wither away and instead decides to make a triumphant return to the stage. Taking a verité approach, filmmaker Pietro Marcello (MARTIN EDEN) masterfully blends handheld camera work with archival footage, crafting a one-of-a-kind biopic in the process. Bruni Tedeschi embodies the indomitable star in a powerhouse performance that finds nuance in Duse’s evolution as art, politics and Italy itself all verge on modernization. Official Selection, 2025 Venice, Toronto, London and New York film festivals.

DIR/SCR Pietro Marcello; SCR Letizia Russo, Guido Silei; PROD Benedetta Cappon, Carlo Degli Esposti, Marco Grifoni, Nicola Serra. Italy/ France, 2025, color, 122 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED