BFFB 39 |
April 10 – 19, 2026

The best auteur cinema produced or co-produced today in Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Slovenia: works of fiction, hybrids, documentary forms and/or animation with a commitment to quality and courage in contemporary cinema. The discovery of young talent will be accompanied by the presentation of the latest works of established directors. Particular attention will be given to hybrid forms, to ‘contaminated’ cinema, to cinema on geographical, political and formal borders, and to the cinema of minorities and the periphery.

• 17 by Kosara Mitic

  MKD/SRB/SVN 2025, 90 min. – Italian premiere

• 18 Buracos para o Paraíso(18 holes to paradise) by João Nuno Pinto

  PRT/ITA/ARG 2025, 108 min. – Italian premiere

• Dry Leaf by Alexandre Koberidze

  DEU 2025, 186 min. – Italian premiere

• Elon Musk Unveiled - The Tesla Experimentby Andreas Pichler

  DEU 2025, 90 min. – Italian premiere | Opening Film

• Etwas ganz Besonderesby Eva Trobisch

  DEU 2025, 116 min. – Italian premiere

• The Loneliest Man in Town by Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

  AUT 2026, 86 min. – Italian premiere

• Melt by Nikolaus Geyrhalter

  AUT 2025, 127 min. – Italian premiere

• Romeríaby Carla Simón

  ESP/DEU 2025, 110 min.

• Safe Exit by Mohammed Hammad

  EGY/LBY/TUN/QAT/DEU 2026, 113 min.

• Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen by Julian Radlmaier

  DEU 2025, 90 min. – Italian premiere

• Tristan Forever by Tobias Nölle, Loran Bonnardot

  CHE 2026, 90 min. – Italian premiere

• White Snail by Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter

  AUT 2025, 115 min. 

Section dedicated to nonfiction, and the most diverse hybrid and documentary forms. As in the case of the Competition, attention will be paid to the more non-conformist films of great masters and new talents, but also to works that are more politically engaged and attentive to the contemporary topical issues of their society.

• Elephants & Squirrels by Gregor Braendli

  CHE 2025, 115 min. – Italian premiere

• Heart of Light – eleven songs for Fiji by Cynthia Beatt

  DEU/FRA 2026, 166 min. – Italian premiere

• Im Umkreis des Paradieses by Yulia Lokshina

  DEU 2026, 120 min. – Italian premiere

• Teresa's Body (Teresas Körper) by Magdalena Chmielewska

  AUT 2026, 76 min. – Italian premiere

• Was an Empfindsamkeit bleibt by Daniela Magnani Hüller

  DEU 2026, 91 min. – Italian premiere

Five works that have deeply moved us through their narrative structure, their content, their historical context, their emotional intensity and their creative power. 

• Elvira Notari. Oltre il silenzio (Elvira Notari: beyond silence) by Valerio Ciriaci

  ITA/USA 2025, 90 min.

• Giulio Regeni. Tutto il male del mondo (Giulio Regeni: all the evil in the world) by Simone Manetti

  ITA 2025, 105 min.

• Toni, mio padre by Anna Negri

  ITA 2025, 109 min.

• Un anno di scuola (A year of school) by Laura Samani

  ITA/FRA 2025, 103 min.

• Waking Hours by Federico Cammarata, Filippo Foscarini

  ITA 2025, 78 min.

Every year, the BFFB dedicates a prominent section to a region that, in some way, resonates with the identity of South Tyrol: border regions or worlds with diverse identities and/or complex histories that are not without conflict. Or simply places where this complex identity serves as a source of great cultural enrichment. This year, we are focusing on a region that embodies all of this: Catalonia. A region with a strong identity, a language spoken by millions of people, a robust economy and a remarkable cultural output. Devoting a section to Catalan cinema means focusing on one of the most dynamic regions in the European film industry in terms of production and international strategies. This year, we also wish to highlight a particular aspect of Catalan cinema: the often hybrid nature of documentary film production, which has flourished thanks in part to the training initiatives of numerous institutions. We present seven works – and various guests – which, in our view, best represent the world of documentary film we wish to highlight (works by Andrés Duque, Virginia García del Pino, José Luis Guerin and Neus Ballús) and further feature films by directors who are even more established internationally (such as Carla Simón) and/or those that are also the result of Catalan institutions’ commitment to filmmakers from other countries (such as Lav Diaz). We will also be joined by Marta Andreu, a Catalan cosmopolitan, shaman and philosopher of documentary film, who will give a performance.

Curated by Vincenzo Bugno with the support of Ricardo Apilánez and Isona Admetlla Font.

• Carelia: Internacional con monumento (Carelia: Interantional with moument) by Andrés Duque

  ESP 2019, 90 min.

• La estafa del amor (The romance scam) by Virginia García del Pino

  ESP 2023, 73 min. – International premiere

• Historias del Buen Valle (Good Valley Stories) by José Luis Guerín

  ESP/FRA 2025, 122 min. 

• Magalhães (Magellan) by Lav Diaz

  PRT/ESP/PHL/FRA/TWN 2025, 163 min. 

• Sis dies corrents by Neus Ballús

  ESP 2021, 85 min. 

• Tardes de soledad by Albert Serra

  ESP/PRT/FRA 2025, 125 min. 

“Ulrike Ottinger never ceases to surprise us. Her artistic career is of inestimable richness and spans the history of the 20th and early 21st centuries. She moved from Germany to Paris, where she spent the formative years between the early and late 1960s. She then moved to West Berlin and continued a career that defies categorisation. As a gallery owner, photographer, set designer, and director of theatre, opera, documentary, hybrid and feature films, she has created an avant-garde Gesamtkunstwerk that can be described as multifacetedly queer across all genres. In her latest film, she offers us an entertaining (and funny) vampire story. Her decades of research are not only original but also rigorous. Her work as a documentary filmmaker takes us far beyond the borders of the West and brings us closer to things that go far beyond our taken-for-granted knowledge. Germany, Berlin, reunification. Certainly. But also – or perhaps above all – Asia. China, Japan, Mongolia. Africa. Ulrike Ottinger, a shaman? “Cinema is an animistic medium for me,” she often says. In Bolzano, we are presenting two films by Ulrike Ottinger: Paris Calligrammes from 2019, which traces the years in France that were fundamental to the director’s training, and Johanna D’Arc of Mongolia (1989).” - Vincenzo Bugno

“We have the deepest admiration for Ottavia Piccolo. She remains an integral part of the history of Italian and European cinema, television and theatre. Since the start of her career at the age of eleven, she has left a lasting impression on everyone who has seen her perform. It is difficult to list all the directors and writers with whom she has worked over the course of more than sixty years. To name but a few: in theatre, Squarzina, Strehler and Ronconi; in cinema, Visconti, Bolognini and Sautet. On television, she played roles in series based on great literary classics, further boosting her already considerable popularity. In Bolzano, we are presenting a film of particular importance to her career: Metello by Mauro Bolognini, for which she won the Best Actress award at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. We are also screening 7 minuti by Michele Placido from 2016. Ottavia’s work continues tirelessly, particularly on stage. Equally impressive, however, is her civic engagement and her active presence in the world: she is a critical voice. She comforts us in these often dark and painful years. Thank you, Ottavia!” – Vincenzo Bugno

Claudia Cardinale (1938–2025) was one of Italy’s most prominent actresses and an icon of 1960s European cinema. Best known for Once Upon a Time in the West and 8½, she appeared in over 175 international films and served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

The screening of La ragazza con la valigia (1961) by Valerio Zurlini, organised in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, marks the official opening of the BFFB’s new premises at the Teatro Cristallo and is dedicated to her memory. The film tells the story of the young Aida, who has been abandoned by her lover and finds refuge with his sixteen-year-old brother Lorenzo. A tender, compassionate relationship develops between the two, but it meets with resistance from the family.

“As one of the most beloved actresses of Italian and international cinema, Claudia Cardinale brought to life characters who have enchanted generations of audiences,” emphasises Carlo Chatrian, Director of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. “The actress, who was equally at home in arthouse and genre films, was an icon of elegance and beauty. Endowed with a powerful stage presence, coupled with the carefree spirit that always distinguished her, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin wished to commemorate her on the occasion of her recent passing with a selection of photographs by Angelo Frontoni, the ‘photographer of the divas’, who knew how to capture that natural empathy which the actress was able to inspire.“

Young talents meet established names, documentary works meet fictional material, classic narrative styles meet experimental forms, short films meet medium-length and feature-length films: the Local Heroes section presents a diverse panorama of cinematic styles from the Euregio (Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino) and invites viewers to adopt different and unfamiliar perspectives. The selected films are always close to our hearts and a highlight for audiences at the festival. And: an ideal meeting place to strike up a conversation with local filmmakers.
 

• The Guardian of Stories by Claudia Bellasi, Markus Steiner Ender

  ESP 2025, 74 min. – Italian premiere

• Lois Weinberger – Ruderal Society by Markus Heltschl

  AUT 2025, 96 min. – International premiere 

• Non c’è casa in paradiso by Federico Scienza, Manuela Boezio

  ITA 2026, 68 min. – World premiere

• Oltre il confine. Le immagini di Mimmo e Francesco Jodice by Matteo Parisini

  ITA 2025, 75 min.

• Il Rospo e il Diamante(The toad and the diamond) by Beniamino Casagrande

  ITA 2025, 75 min.

• Tracce Urbane(Urban traces) by Armin Ferrari

  ITA 2026, 58 min. – World premiere

• Dentro Paesaggi di Luce(Inside landscape of lights) by Michele Trentini

  ITA 2025, 11 min. – World premiere

• Far Finta Che (Pretend play) by Anna Ciju

  ITA 2025, 20 min. – World premiere

• Fossa Santa by Paolo Vinati

  ITA 2025, 15 min. – World premiere

• Mais in Festa! Rituali per la Decolonizzazione Agricola by Elda Isavelina Ortiz Rivas

  AUT/ITA 2025, 19 min. – International premiere 

• Memento Muri by Jonathan Bugiel

  ITA 2025, 32 min. – World premiere

• Seïda(Seïda – Borders/Bristle/Silk) by Silke Müller

  AUT/ITA 2025, 2 min. – Italian premiere 

• Tuifl by Adina Barth

  DEU 2025, 7 min. – Italian premiere

• Wolkenfabrikby Hannes Lang

  DEU 2025, 30 min. – Italian premiere

Piccole Lingue DOC, organised in collaboration with the Free University of Bolzano and the La Fournaise association, is the section that the BFFB dedicates to the theme of linguistic minorities; it accepts works of various genres – ranging from documentary forms to fiction and other hybrid forms – of any duration and origin. With Kleinsprachen DOC, we aim to build a bridge between South Tyrolean multilingualism and the numerous contexts in which languages other than those of the majority society are used today. Edited by Silvia Dal Negro, Daniele Ietri, Eleonora Mastropietro and Daniela Veronesi.

• Pilije by Samira Fux

  AUT 2026, 77 min. – Italian premiere

• Som Doma by Luca-Els Mauritz, Lukas Mutschler

  DEU 2024, 30 min. – International premiere

• La Battaglia delle Spazzole (The battle oft he brushes) by Lorenzo Fabbro

  ITA 2025, 20 min. 

• Deme ke pelê gozan benî zer(When the walnut leaves turn yellow) by Mehmet Ali Konar

  TUR 2024, 91 min. 

• Capa De Honras, La Cuonta De L Garotico I L Bielho by Rui Falcão

  PRT 2023, 20 min. – Italian premiere

• El pütì pèrs (The lost child) by Paolo Baiguera

  ITA 2025, 13 min.

• Until the Orchid Blooms by Polen Ly

  FRA/KHM 2024, 103 min. 

BFFB’s section dedicated to films for children and young people, open to feature films, documentary forms and animations. At the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen, we believe that it is of fundamental importance to work and invest in the film education of future generations: it will be a continual source of entertainment for young people, it will contribute to the formation of critical personalities who are attentive to the social and cultural reality around them, and it will be one of the most effective ways of contributing to the development of a new audiovisual audience.

• Gioia mia (Sweetheart) by Margherita Spampinato

  ITA 2025, 93 min. 

• Sciatunostro (Ebb and Flow) by Leandro Picarella

  ITA 2025, 87 min.

• Zirkuskind by Anna Koch, Julia Lemke

  DEU 2025, 86 min. – Italian premiere

Becaària, by Erik Bernasconi

CH 2026, 108' – Italian Premiere