The Contemporary Lives selection offers documentaries that shake consciences, spark debate, and show us contradictions and sometimes opposing points of view through powerful stories that speak to us of violence, oppression, and suffering, but also of life, desire, self-determination, and rebellion. Films that range from geopolitics, human rights, climate urgency, competitiveness, and the search for identity, crucial issues that are always presented through the valuable lens of universal life stories. Reflections on the community that invite us to take up the baton in an act of solidarity and collective responsibility.
Italian Premiere, First Film
(Doc / Italy, Poland / 2024 / 61')
In the heart of red Bologna, three young friends—Simone, Francesca, and Olivia—find in communist activism an answer to the precariousness, alienation, and capitalism that surround them. They join the local party, organize demonstrations, block evictions, and try to change things. But their initial enthusiasm is followed by generational clashes with older militants, personal difficulties, and disappointments. An empathetic time-lapse portrait that sketches a dream falling apart and shows how difficult it is to keep faith in what we believe makes sense.
Italian Premiere
(Doc / USA, UK, Norway / 2025 / 89')
We are in China, where the number of single men exceeds that of women by 30 million. Three bachelors turn to Hao, a highly sought-after dating coach, to find love. Between makeovers, strategic selfies, and awkward attempts at seduction, the three face the necessary challenges with irony. Hao shapes their appearance and behavior online and in real life according to his patented “strategic deception” method for bringing people together. In China's hyper-competitive society, we witness an extravagant courtship adventure in the digital age.
Italian Premiere
(Doc / Denmark, Sweden, Japan / 2025 / 82')
Isn't it ironic to feel lonely in a hyperconnected society? Tokyo is home to 38 million people, but for many, loneliness is so profound that it becomes dangerous. Every day, thousands seek help, but not everyone finds a listening ear. Dear Tomorrow tells the story of a silent encounter between two strangers through an emotional support chat. With elegant and touching images, the film delicately explores the human need to be seen, understood, and reached. A moving story that speaks to those who know the emptiness of isolation, reminding us that even in the dark, a voice can reach out and make a difference.
di Giovanni Trolio
World Premiere
(Doc / Italy / 2025 / 91')
For the first time in 30 years, a Democratic candidate is challenging the local power structure. Marlena Cooper is the first black woman to run for the Democrats in the Republican stronghold of Gregg County, in eastern Texas. Democracy in America chronicles her campaign and that of her Republican opponent Jay Dean, showing two communities that seem to live in different worlds. Through its protagonists, the film touches on powerful themes such as racism, abortion, guns, and, echoing Alexis De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, the fundamental role of religion. A journey into the heart of Texas, in search of the roots of the present and future of the United States.
Italian Premiere, First Film
(Doc / France / 2024 / 80')
Adolescents who are connected to their smartphones for more than 5 hours a day are 66% more likely to suffer suicidal symptoms than those who use it for 1 hour a day. 44 U.S. states are currently suing Meta, blaming it for being the main cause of the malaise of an entire generation. Is it possible to protect children, faced with powerful tech giants like Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Discord? For the first time, state legislators and parents in the USA and Europe are joining forces to fight the digital giants. Among them are 5 women who have chosen to turn their daily lives upside down to fight back against the Big 5.
Italian Premiere
(Doc / France, Italy, Paraguay, Sweden / 2024 / 107')
Is environmentalism really a Trojan horse for Marxist ideology? This is the question that De la guerre froide à la guerre verte seeks to answer, taking us on a revealing journey into the dark heart of Latin America. Here, for about 13 years, more than 1,500 environmentalists and land defenders have been murdered. The roots of this violence lie in “Operation Condor,” which in the 1970s eliminated tens of thousands of “subversives” and paved the way for impunity and land grabbing. A personal and collective account that, through the voices of the protagonists, reconstructs the genealogy of the current ecological disaster.
Italian Premiere
(Doc / Poland, Qatar / 2024 / 78')
In 2021, a three-kilometer-wide border area between Poland and Belarus becomes a military zone: migrants attempting to enter Europe are pushed back by guards. Maciek, who lives with his family on the Polish side, takes in an exhausted Syrian refugee, 27-year-old Alhyder. A tense and sensitive documentary that, without sensationalism, allows us to observe the emotions on the faces of the often silent family members and their grateful guest. The situation is disastrous, there is no solution, but the warmth of human contact contrasts with the brutality of a system that traps us all.
Italian Premiere, Second Film
(Doc / Poland, Germany / 2025 / 97')
A small street in downtown Warsaw, “Ulica Wilcza” (“Wolf Street”). Arjun Talwar, an Indian immigrant, arrived in Poland more than ten years ago. To feel less like a stranger in a country where he cannot really settle down, he starts filming his neighbors: a postman who delivers remedies for loneliness, a Syrian exile who recreates his hometown, and other hidden stories waiting to be told. Through the lives of others, Arjun reflects on his own search for belonging and reveals a kaleidoscopic vision of modern Europe, while Poland is reimagined with humor and tenderness through the lens of a foreign filmmaker who has chosen it as his home.
Italian Premiere, Second Film
(Doc / USA / 2025 / 99')
A gripping investigative documentary that exposes the tangled web of moral dilemmas and profit motives surrounding assisted dying. Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport uncovers shocking abuses of power while amplifying the voices of the disability community fighting for justice and dignity in an increasingly urgent matter. Davenport exposes the intersection of systemic failures and personal autonomy, challenging the idea that assisted dying always represents a free choice, when it can sometimes be seen as the only option.
Italian Premiere, First Film
(Doc / France, UK / 2025 / 93')
How do you connect with nature? A journey through UK landscapes and the communities within them. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s book The Lost Words, the film moves through the seasons following the tracks of some lost words like “acorn,” “otter,” and “bluebell”, removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary in 2007. From remote landscapes to museum archives and scientists’ labs, children, elders, artists, and activists share stories and emotions, inviting us to reflect on our own bond with nature. The climate crisis poses a pressing question: how do we restore our care and connection with the natural world?
Italian Premiere
(Doc / Slovenia, North Macedonia, France / 2025 / 91')
Every summer, three brothers spend several months in the Macedonian mountains tending their family's flock. The older brothers, Zekir and Zarif, herd the sheep in the high pastures, while the youngest, Zani, looks after the cows in a hut at a lower altitude. At an altitude of 2,400 meters, far from any community, the three live a free but precarious life of hard work and innocent joy. Their closest companions? Their sheepdogs, who protect them from danger and boredom. The youngest brother finds this lifestyle exciting, while the two older brothers begin to dream of a different future.
International Premiere, First Film
(Doc / Finland / 2024 / 51')
Just 18 years old, Passu is already an activist, podcaster, and vice president of the Finnish Feminist Party. She was born into a Uyghur family, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group of Islamic faith living in northwestern China, and her political struggle is intertwined with the pain of repression in China and separation from her loved ones. The documentary follows her daily life, which is filled with social activism, school, and new political challenges. Her thoughts and dreams emerge from her social media channels. The film recounts the strength and contradictions of someone who, while still very young, is trying to change the world without losing herself, with effort and hope.
Italian Premiere
(Doc / Germany / 2024 / 104')
Petra Kelly was a visionary pacifist and a leading figure in the international environmental movement. She fought for radical social change, disarmament, and a society in harmony with nature. For her, issues relating to the environment, peace, and human rights were one and the same. In 1980, she co-founded the German Green Party. At the age of 44, she was murdered by her partner and fellow activist. Influenced by the American civil rights movement, she campaigned to ban uranium mining and supported peace movements in East and West Germany. Friends and colleagues recount Kelly's personal and political life for the first time.
Italian Premiere, First Film
(Doc / Serbia, Croatia, Poland / 2024 / 66')
On the Croatian island of Vis, the power of money and politics clashes with the power of knowledge, memory, and community empathy. The water sources and cultural heritage built up over thousands of years will either be saved, or destroyed. A debate arises that makes us reflect on tradition and progress. The islanders—from fishermen to intellectuals, from the mayor to the wealthy foreign owner of the dilapidated former Neptun cannery—become a collective character that supports growth as opposed to environmental protection. The island is a world unto itself, and at the same time represents the whole world.
Italian Premiere, First Film
(Doc / Germany, Poland / 2024 / 89')
In contemporary Berlin, Sebastian and Alicja seem to have it all—a thriving business and a loving family. But when Sebastian yearns for more freedom, their seemingly perfect life begins to unravel. Alicja, a Polish woman shaped by traditional values and social expectations, is forced to question everything she knows about love and independence. As cracks form in their relationship, she must confront her own desires and redefine her identity beyond the roles imposed on her. Trust Me is a story of transformation, vulnerability, and emotional courage, exploring how the search for freedom can destabilize, but also awaken, a long-term relationship.
