When the lights go down at the Queen Street Playhouse this weekend, Charleston will feel just a little bit like Rome.
The Nuovo Cinema Italiano Film Festival — now in its 19th year — returns Nov. 6–9 with a lineup that celebrates the bold, the beautiful, and the deeply human pulse of contemporary Italian filmmaking.
This isn’t a nostalgia trip. It’s a living, breathing showcase of what’s happening in Italian cinema right now — the love stories, coming-of-age moments, and unvarnished truths that define a new generation of directors.
A World of Italian Stories
This year’s festival packs 13 films into four days — a heady mix of screenings, Q&As, and cultural events, including a Jewish brunch and guest appearances from visiting filmmakers.
Among the highlights:
“FolleMente” by Paolo Genovese — an award-winning romantic comedy that unfolds inside the minds of its two protagonists.
“Il tempo che ci vuole” by Francesca Comencini — a layered father-daughter drama that just earned Italy’s prestigious Silver Ribbon for Best Film.
“Diciannove” by Giovanni Tortorici — a tender coming-of-age tale of a teen from Palermo leaving home for the first time.
And then there’s “Hey Joe,” directed by Claudio Giovannesi and starring American actor James Franco as a WWII veteran searching for his son in Naples — proof that the festival’s reach extends well beyond Italy’s borders.
A New Golden Age
“What makes Nuovo Cinema Italiano special,” festival founder and artistic director Giovanna De Luca told the Post & Courier, “is our focus on filmmaking in Italy today — remarkable for its quality, storytelling, and diversity of voices. This is a new golden age of Italian movie production.”
That diversity shines through in the festival’s collaborations and curations. Thanks to support from the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation and the Nathan and Marlene Addlestone Foundation, this year’s lineup includes two films with powerful Jewish themes:
“Liliana” by Ruggero Gabbai, the true story of Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre.
“La bicicletta di Bartali” by Enrico Paolantonio, an animated tribute to cycling champion Gino Bartali, who secretly aided the resistance during WWII.
Cinema With a Charleston Accent
Over the years, the festival has built something rare — a loyal community that gathers not just to watch films, but to feel them. “The top tier of Italian filmmakers is small but extraordinary,” De Luca told the Post & Courier. “We’re honored to showcase their newest work right here in Charleston.”
This year’s festival poster even nods to the past, paying homage to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 masterpiece The Conformist — a wink to the timeless artistry that continues to inspire Italian cinema today.
Tickets are $15 (with $5 off for students and veterans) and available online at nuovocinemaitaliano.com or at the Queen Street Playhouse box office, 20 Queen St.
Four days. Thirteen films. One city that knows how to fall in love with good stories — especially when they arrive subtitled in passion, pasta, and pure cinematic soul.
