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Now entering its eighth edition, Filming Italy Sardegna is gearing up for what looks set to be its buzziest event to date. Founded by Tiziana Rocca, the film and television event kicks off June 19, 2025, at Forte Village in Cagliari, Sardinia.

The festival will present more than 70 films, many of which are Italian or world premieres. Notable titles in the line-up this year include Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, starring Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan; Reflection in a Dead Diamond, the critically acclaimed spy thriller from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani; and Karate Kid: Legends, directed by Jonathan Entwistle. The festival will open with the film Poveri Noi by Fabrizio Maria Cortese, starring Paolo Ruffini on Thursday.

“The lineup is incredibly rich and diverse, spanning multiple genres, regions and perspectives,” says Rocca, who also returned this year as artistic director of the Taormina Film Festival, which wrapped June 14. She says that Sardegna...

“The Nanny” star and SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, Jane Seymour, Luke Wilson and Joe Manganiello are the latest additions to the robust roster of Hollywood stars set to attend the upcoming eighth edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna festival, which will be held June 19-22 on the island of Sardinia.

Sarah Michelle Geller, Andy Serkis and the “The O.C.” star Mischa Barton are also expected to make the trek to the event, which combines film and TV with an emphasis on women in the biz and creating a bridge between the Italian and U.S. film industries.

As previously announced, Alec Baldwin — who has recently been seen in the ill-fated Western “Rust” and in numerous appearances on “Saturday Night Live” — and Heather Graham are also headed to Sardinia, where they will be members of the fest’s jury dedicated to short films by female directors.

“From a practical standpoint, Filming...

The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, founded and directed by Tiziana Rocca, has laid out some of its plans for the upcoming 8th edition. The Sardinia-set fest, which combines cinema and television, runs from June 19-22 in Cagliari and at Forte Village.

The short film competition will be presided over by actress and director Micaela Ramazzotti. She will be joined by Heather Graham, Alec Baldwin, Rocío Muñoz Morales, Riccardo Milani, Aurora Giovinazzo and Giacomo Giorgio. Italian actress Martina Stella will act as the fest’s godmother.

Notable guests will include Simon Baker, who is due to receive the Filming Italy Excellence Award, and Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr., who will be honored with the Filming Italy Creativity Award. French actress Anouchka Delon will also attend, receiving an award in memory of her father Alain.

Steven Soderbergh’s horror film Presence, which debuted at Sundance in 2024, is among the films confirmed to screen.

Alec Baldwin, Heather Graham, Simon Baker and Cuba Gooding Jr. are among the Hollywood talents booked to attend the upcoming eighth edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna festival, which will be held June 19-22 on the island of Sardinia.

Baldwin, who has recently been seen in the ill-fated Western “Rust” and in numerous appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” and Graham will be members of the fest’s jury dedicated to short films. Also on the jury of the fest’s shorts competition – which is the event’s only competitive section – are Italy’s Micaela Ramazzotti (“Like Crazy”), who is the jury’s president; Spain’s Rocío Muñoz Morales; Italy’s Riccardo Milani, Aurora Giovinazzo and Giacomo Giorgio; as well as professor Massimo Arcangeli, Andrea Minuz and Tiziana Rocca, the marketing guru and current Taormina Film Festival chief who launched the Sardinia event eight years ago.

Among announced films premiering locally...

Director Terrence Malick rarely shows up for anything these days, but the “Tree of Life” and “Days of Heaven” filmmaker was in attendance at a screening of his new film, “A Hidden Life,” at the Vatican this past Thursday. Releasing from Fox Searchlight, “A Hidden Life” centers on the real-life story of conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter. While he refused to fight on the side of the Nazis during WWII, he was declared a martyr by the Catholic Church and was sentenced to death at 36.

The screening was held in the Vatican Film Library event space. Claudia Di Giovanni, Delegate of the Vatican Film Library, said, “It is an honor to present this film in this venue, as we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Vatican Film Library, where we have saved films which narrate the history of the Church but also remind us of important values. It is also...

Fox Searchlight’s A Hidden Life, Terrence Malick’s film that tells the true story of conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II, was screened at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Fox Searchlight chairmen Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula confirmed the private screening for dignitaries in the Vatican Film Library event space. It was introduced by Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery of Communications, and Malick was in attendance.

“We thank Terrence Malick for being here and sharing this moment with us,” he said. “The narrative of the film is at the same time beautiful and terrible, and it is a challenge because we are brought to face our souls, our consciences, our fears, our forgetfulness and our avoidance of responsibilities. This narrative overturns the rhetoric of heroism, because it tells of a hidden hero, in a film which speaks of love, of consistency,...