Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is the only screening series to offer North American audiences a diverse and extensive lineup of contemporary Italian films. This 22nd edition, as per the Festival’s tradition, strikes a balance between emerging talents and esteemed veterans; commercial and independent fare; outrageous comedies, gripping dramas, and captivating documentaries.
June 1-8, 2023
Film at Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th Street)
2023 Lineup: All films are in Italian with English subtitles unless otherwise noted
The Hummingbird: Adapted from Sandro Veronesi’s Strega Prize-winning novel, Francesca Archibugi’s latest feature is an at once epic and intimate chronicle of love and familial ups and downs that spans six decades and three generations. Thursday, June 1 – Wednesday, June 7
Q&A with Francesca Archibugi on June 1
Chiara by Susanna Nicchiarelli
The life of Saint Clare of Assisi portrayed by Margherita Mazzucco (of HBO’s My Brilliant Friend). Friday, June 2 – Wednesday, June 7
Q&A with Margherita Mazzucco on June 2
Delta, Michele Vannucci’s second feature is something like a backwater noir cum Western.
Sunday, June 4 – Tuesday, June 6
Q&A with Michele Vannucci on June 4
Dry, the latest by Paolo Virzì, is a satirical ensemble drama, with clever social critique, featuring a top-notch cast.
Friday, June 2 – Thursday, June 8
Q&A with Tommaso Ragno on June 2
Fireworks, Giuseppe Fiorello’s debut, chronicles the budding romance between teenagers Gianni and Nino.
Thursday, June 1 – Tuesday, June 6
Q&A with Giuseppe Fiorello, Gabriele Pizzurro, and Samuele Segreto on June 1
Little Turtles. Actress Monica Dugo makes her directorial feature debut in this tragicomic chronicle of a family’s dissolution.
Sunday, June 4 – Q&A with Monica Dugo
Lord of the Ants. The latest from a perennial Open Roads presence, the great director Gianni Amelio, about the life of poet/playwright Aldo Braibanti, jailed in 1968 under a Fascist-era anti-homosexuality law.
Monday, June 5 – Wednesday, June 7
Margins. A punk band finds itself in a sticky situation in Niccolò Falsetti’s charming and funny debut feature.
Sunday, June 4 – Q&A with Niccolò Falsetti
My Summer with the Shark. Davide Gentile’s debut feature is a surprising and original coming-of-age story.
Saturday, June 3 – Q&A with Davide Gentile.
Princess. The lives of immigrants who must do sex work receive an eminently surprising, by turns comic and dead-serious treatment, in Roberto De Paolis’s sophomore feature.
Friday, June 2 – Q&A with Roberto De Paolis.
Strangeness by Roberto Andò.
Toni Servillo stars as Nobel Prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello, and his encounter with a pair of gravediggers/aspiring actors (comedy duo Ficarra and Picone).
Sunday, June 4 – Thursday, June 8
Focus on Mario Martone
This year’s Open Roads pays homage to director Mario Martone (a perennial presence in the festival’s lineup) by showcasing his most recent fiction film, Nostalgia, (Saturday, June 3), alongside two essential works from earlier in his career: 1995 Troubling Love (co-written with Elena Ferrante-Tuesday, June 6) and 2014 Leopardi (Monday, June 5).
Open Roads is supported in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in NY and with the support of Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò NYU, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
