The Italian film sector faces a period of transition and continuity as the 23rd edition of the Giornate degli Autori—one of the Venice Film Festival's most respected independent sidebars—prepares to unfold from September 2 to 12, 2026. This year's program, unveiled at a press conference in Rome in July, carries an emotional weight: every screening, every award ceremony, and every conversation in the festival's informal Villa degli Autori will honor the legacy of Giorgio Gosetti, the founder and general delegate who died in March at age 70.
Why This Matters
• 25 world premieres will screen, with 14 directed by women and 13 bearing Italian nationality—an exceptional gender balance and domestic presence.
• The competition includes Nigeria's first-ever entry, reflecting the section's expanding global reach.
• The event remains a critical platform for independent and emerging filmmakers within Italy's tightly competitive cinema landscape.
• Gosetti's absence marks the end of an era for Venice's parallel sections, which he helped shape for over two decades.
The Ghost at the Banquet
Artistic director Gaia Furrer acknowledged the profound sense of loss during the Rome announcement. "It's clear that all these months and all our work are dedicated to Giorgio," she said, her voice betraying the strain of organizing a festival while mourning its architect. Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, president of the Giornate, put it more bluntly: "Giorgio wasn't just part of the Giornate degli Autori—he was the Giornate degli Autori. He was a friend and a guide. When he passed, our community was thrown completely off balance. But together with 100Autori and ANAC [the Italian authors' associations that organize the event], we've moved forward with great cohesion."
That cohesion will be tested. Gosetti's death removed not just a skilled curator but a bridge between generations of filmmakers, a journalist with four decades at ANSA, and a man who had helped launch the Rome Film Fest and run the Casa del Cinema in the capital. His fingerprints are on nearly every significant Italian film initiative of the past 25 years.
A Festival Within a Festival
The Giornate degli Autori has always occupied an unusual space: officially independent, yet nested within the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Modeled on Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, the sidebar was established in 2004 by Italian filmmakers' guilds seeking a less hierarchical alternative to the main competition. Over 22 editions, it became the place where emerging voices debut before—sometimes instead of—climbing to the Lido's red carpets.
This September's selection, drawn from 1,036 submissions spanning 114 countries, reinforces that mission. The 10 competition slots range from Hungary's "My Notes on Mars" by Lili Horvát (opening the competition) to Nigeria's "Dear Ajayi" by Damilola Orimogunje, marking the first time a Nigerian feature has competed in this section. Italy's sole competition entry, "Balcanica" by Nicola Sorcinelli, will face works from Argentina, Australia, Switzerland, Serbia, and Mexico—a lineup that underscores the festival's refusal to privilege national quotas over quality.
Additional competition titles include "A veces me entra tristeza, otras veces rebelión" from María Aparicio (Argentina-Spain), "Agata the Writer" from Kuba Dorabialski (Australia), and "Camouflage" from Swiss director Mykyta Gibalenko. France's Robert Guédiguian contributes "Une femme aujourd'hui", while Serbia-based collaboration "I Plant My Hand in the Garden" by Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri rounds out a geographically diverse slate.
What This Means for Italian Cinema
For filmmakers and industry professionals based in Italy, the Giornate degli Autori serves a practical function beyond prestige. The festival's GdA Director's Award splits €20,000 between the winning director and their international sales agent—modest by Hollywood standards, but meaningful for independent producers navigating distribution. The Europa Cinemas Label, awarded to European co-productions, guarantees screenings across the network's theaters, effectively ensuring a film won't vanish after its festival run.
This year's jury, led by Spanish director Carla Simón (known for "Alcarràs") and including Italian editor Sara Fgaier and Hania Mroué, will determine those winners. The Audience Award remains another critical accolade, often signaling commercial viability beyond the festival circuit.
The Notti Veneziane section, created in partnership with Isola Edipo, showcases nine Italian features that occupy the fringes of conventional storytelling. Opening with "Scarpe rotte" by Roberta Torre, this sidebar-within-a-sidebar reflects the Giornate's founding ethos: championing innovation over formula. For Italian directors struggling to secure theatrical releases in a market dominated by American franchises and a handful of local comedies, Notti Veneziane offers visibility that can translate into distribution deals or streaming acquisitions.
The Theme of Displacement
Furrer has framed this edition around the concept of "déplacés"—the uprooted, the displaced, the exiled. It's a theme that resonates across contemporary European politics, from migration debates to the war in Ukraine, and it appears throughout the program. Special events include "Even If Hell Came" by Samuele Rossi, a drama set during Italy's World War II Resistance, and "Man's Skin" by Léa Domenach, described as a feminist musical comedy screening out of competition.
Whether intentional or not, the theme also captures the state of the Giornate itself—an institution built by one person now navigating its future without him. The Villa degli Autori, the informal gathering space where filmmakers, distributors, and critics have mingled since the festival's founding, will undoubtedly feel different this September.
Broader Industry Context
Venice's parallel sections—Giornate degli Autori, Critics' Week, and the Venice Immersive strand—have grown in importance as the main competition becomes increasingly starry and risk-averse. For buyers and sales agents attending the festival, these sidebars function as discovery zones, where the next Palme d'Or contender or arthouse breakout might emerge. Films that premiered in the Giornate have gone on to win the Leone del Futuro (Venice's best debut prize) and secure international distribution.
The gender balance this upcoming edition—14 of 25 world premieres directed by women—places the Giornate ahead of many larger festivals. Italy's film industry has historically lagged on gender equity, making this programming choice both a statement and a challenge to the broader sector.
A Living Memorial
The decision to dedicate this edition to Gosetti is more than ceremonial. His approach—favoring auteur-driven storytelling, international co-productions, and films that resist easy categorization—remains embedded in the selection. Whether the Giornate can sustain that vision without its founder is the question hanging over September's screenings.
For now, the Italian film community is doing what it knows how to do: putting films on screens, debating them in the Villa, and hoping the work itself becomes the best tribute. As Martinotti put it, the community may have lost its balance, but it hasn't lost its direction. The films—25 world premieres, 10 competition titles, and countless hours of argument, celebration, and discovery—will proceed this September. Gosetti would have expected nothing less.
