Italy’s Nòt Film Fest has set its 2023 festival lineup, highlighting the indie-est of indie films in line with its goal of creating a space for filmmakers who have experienced rejection in the movie industry.

Alize Latini and Giovanni Labadessa serve as artistic directors for this year’s fest, which will be held from August 22-27. Named as one of MovieMaker‘s 20 Essential International Film Festivals, this year’s 6th annual edition will be held, as always, outdoors and in-person in the dreamy village of Santarcangelo di Romagna. 

The village is nestled in the Italian countryside near the coast of the Adriatic sea, not far from La Dolce Vita director Federico Fellini’s hometown of Rimini. Up-and-coming filmmakers at the festival converge with seasoned veterans to enjoy a weeklong celebration of indie movies.

Started by a group of Italian filmmakers in Los Angeles in 2017, Nòt Film Fest reclaims the English word “not,” and gives it a double entendre with the Italian word “nòt,” which in the local Romagnolo dialect means “night.” The fest presents a platform and a community for independent filmmakers that value unique and innovative voices dedicated to making cinema indie again.

On this year’s program, Labadessa says: “Indie Cinema has always been able to create a conversation around themes often left behind by the studio. More than ever those conversations become relevant. From mental health to climate change to isolation to social justice, this year’s lineup couldn’t be more thought provoking..”

Jury members this year include Sundance programmer Toby Brooks, Academy Award-winning producer Kim Magnusson, Academy Award-nominated producer Rebecca Pruzan, and screenwriter Tommy Swerdlow, 

In addition to screenings, the festival also offers daily networking events, distribution opportunities, special awards, and free educational resources.

Nòt Film Fest 2023 will include 111 films. This includes 100 film premieres, 14 World Premieres across 10 competitive categories, 20 narrative features, 30 narrative shorts, 10 feature documentaries, 10 short documentaries, 10 experimental shorts, 10 music videos, 6 branded films and 5 special screenings.

MOONWALKER FEATURES

A PITY Kevin Barth & Alec Barth REGIONAL PREMIERE USA

B-SIDE FOR TAYLOR Christina YR Lim INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE South Korea / USA  

THE ANTARES PARADOX Luis Tinoco Pineda REGIONAL PREMIERE Spain

THE INVISIBLE GIRL Jaclyn Bethany INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

STEPPE Maxim Akbarov ITALIAN PREMIERE Kazakhstan

CINQUE STANZE Bruno Bigoni REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

ME, MYSELF & THE VOID Timothy Hautekiet INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE FUTURE: 2121 Serpil Altın REGIONAL PREMIERE Turkey

MADE IN DUBLIN Jack Armstrong WORLD PREMIERE Ireland

WOLVES Danny Dunlop ITALIAN PREMIERE Canada

SHOOTING STAR FEATURES

LE RAGAZZE NON PIANGONO Andrea Zuliani NO PREMIERE Italy

THE ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS Ann-Marie Schmidt & Brian Schmidt ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

SOLAR WIND ALLEY Anastasia Lobkovski REGIONAL PREMIERE Finland

FREE TIME Ryan Martin Brown EUROPEAN PREMIERE USA

INLAND Fridtjof Ryder REGIONAL PREMIERE United Kingdom

ROVING WOMAN Michal Chmielewski REGIONAL PREMIERE Poland

CIURÈ Gianpiero Pumo REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

NON CREDO IN NIENTE Alessandro Marzullo REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

ON THE LINE Oliver Pearn ITALIAN PREMIERE United Kingdom

FORNEVER ALONE Gabriel Alvim EUROPEAN PREMIERE Brazil

MOONWALKER SHORTS

GOOD CONDITIONS Frank Mosley ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

MÅNGATA Maja Costa REGIONAL PREMIERE Germany

FRIEND Andrey Svetlov NO PREMIERE Belarus

AGOSTO IN PELLICCIA Alessandro Rocca REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

HIF Daan Swinkels REGIONAL PREMIERE Netherlands 

TREMOR Rudolf Fitzgerald Leonard ITALIAN PREMIERE Germany

EL PORTAFOLIO Scottie Cameron ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

THE FIRST CIRCLE Maximilian Dobbyn & Anthony Le REGIONAL PREMIERE United Kingdom

SIR Maurizio Ravallese REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

FAIRPLAY Zoel Aeschbacher REGIONAL PREMIERE France

SHOOTING STAR SHORTS

MISS UNDERWATER Megan Cullen INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Australia

LEAVING YELLOWSTONE Kayla Arend INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

A NIGHT OF RIOTS Andreas Sheittanis REGIONAL PREMIERE Cyprus 

SEPARATION Aurélien Achache REGIONAL PREMIERE France

THE EXCHANGE Nimrod Raif ITALIAN PREMIERE Israel

KM 9 Filippo Valsecchi REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

POACHERS Tiffany Lin ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

UNDECIDED Sofia Kunz WORLD PREMIERE USA

ON POINT Christian Schifano REGIONAL PREMIERE USA

BURIAL Jerzy Czachowski ITALIAN PREMIERE Poland

YOUNG JURY SHORTS

RINGROAD Andrew Kose NO PREMIERE Indonesia

MEN IN BLUE Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda EUROPEAN PREMIERE USA

68.415 Antonella Sabatino & Stefano Blasi NO PREMIERE Italy

CHERUBS Anne-Sophie Bine ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

HOLLOW Allison Miller WORLD PREMIERE USA

RIDERS Andrea Russo REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

39 Martín Delfino Guevara ITALIAN PREMIERE Argentina / Spain

WHEN THE BEAT DROPS Amy Janna INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Netherlands

FAT GIRL Makez Rikweda ITALIAN PREMIERE United Kingdom

LOLLYGAG Tij D’oyen ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

ER FILMMAKERS

TRE RAGAZZI Gianfranco Boattini WORLD PREMIERE Italy

IL PROVINO Gregorio Sassoli REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

L’ARMADIO Matteo Macaluso NO PREMIERE Italy

FARFALLE Marco Pattarozzi REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

SEVEN KEYS Davide Mastrangelo WORLD PREMIERE Italy

DIRECTOR’S CUT

CINEMETA James Arterberry INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

SUPERBUHEI Josef Brandl ITALIAN PREMIERE Germany

BURN IT ALL Jack Hickey ITALIAN PREMIERE Ireland

AMY & I Bastiaan Rook REGIONAL PREMIERE Netherland

BLEED DON’T DIE Vitória Vasconcellos ITALIAN PREMIERE Brazil

SUPERDOCS FEATURES

A BUMP IN THE HEART Noé Reutenauer ITALIAN PREMIERE Belgium

MY FRIEND TOMMY Nem Stankovic ITALIAN PREMIERE Canada

I’M PEOPLE, I’M NOBODY Svetislav Dragomirović REGIONAL PREMIERE Serbia

IL FUTURO DI UN BAMBINO ADESSO Matteo Nicoletta WORLD PREMIERE Italy

PESO MORTO Francesco Del Grosso NO PREMIERE Italy

VITA TERRENA DI AMLETO MARCO BELELLI Luca Ferri REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

SOSPESI Martina Dall’Ara ITALIAN PREMIERE Italy

CHILDREN OF PEACE Maayan Schwartz REGIONAL PREMIERE Israel

COCORICÒ TAPES Francesco Tavella NO PREMIERE Italy

IN THE MIND’S GARDEN Matteo Balsamo REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

SUPERDOCS SHORTS

QUEEN MOOREA Christine Fugate ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

A FERRYMAN Pablo Poletti NO PREMIERE Italy

I FEEL PERFECT Mayar Alanis & Alfonso Sjogreen REGIONAL PREMIERE France

OSSATURA Brett Chapman REGIONAL PREMIERE United Kingdom

THE ABSENCE OF MEMORY Brian Yulo Ng ITALIAN PREMIERE Singapore

CRATER Adina Camhy ITALIAN PREMIERE Austria

MEMERIE DI UNA LAVANDERIA AD ACQUA Filippo Maria Cariglia REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

FROM FISH TO MOON Kevin Contento ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

THE CITY OF HUMAN CHESS Cecilia Albertini WORLD PREMIERE Italy

A PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS AN OLD WOMAN Alessandro Amico REGIONAL PREMIEREItaly

EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS

BEFORE AND AFTER Filip Bojarski INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Poland

A GUITAR IN THE BUCKET Boyoung Kim REGIONAL PREMIERE South Korea

EROICA Nathan De Pas Habib REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

MEDEA Lucia Senesi INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Italy

I AM WHOLE Bianca Poletti INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

INTRO Anne Isensee REGIONAL PREMIERE Germany

EDIBLE MUSIC Michael J. Munoz & Lorenzo Romano EUROPEAN PREMIERE Italy

LUCID ROOM Chiara Caterina REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

ENTROPY OF THINGS Sean Wirz NO PREMIERE Switzerland

PLAY THIS AT MY FUNERAL Ray Smiling INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE USA

MUSIC BOMB

ADRIANA HAMILTON _ KABOOM Samuele Apperti WORLD PREMIERE Italy

UNIVERSO Giuseppe Lanno WORLD PREMIERE Italy Italy

ILLUMINAMI Simone Salmaso & Andrea Puopolo WORLD PREMIERE Italy

L’AVVOCATO DEI SANTI – PERSO PER PERSO Mattia Mari & Daniele Gregori REGIONALPREMIERE Italy

CRISTINA STROE – DISPERATA Vonjako NO PREMIERE Romania

TOM NEWTON – I’M BURNING Francesco Moroni Spidalieri WORLD PREMIERE Italy

LA VIDA ES FRIA Estevan Oriol ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

SMASHED Jean Michel Sinisterra Munoz, Federica Marchese  REGIONAL PREMIERE USA

SHOW UP JENNY SOMETIME Zoe Map WORLD PREMIERE USA

SAMANTHA URBANI – MORE THAN A FEELING Jimmy Giannopolis & Caris Kuhn REGIONALPREMIERE USA

BRANDED POP CORN

L’AMOUR Victor Claramunt ITALIAN PREMIERE Spagna

ODE TO PROCRASTINATION Aleksandra Kingo ITALIAN PREMIERE United Kingdom

FUTURI APRILI Enrico Bellenghi REGIONAL PREMIERE Italy

CHANGE YOUR MIND Chris Keener EUROPEAN PREMIERE USA

THE SOUND OF WATCHMAKING Gilad Avnat & Stav Nahum ITALIAN PREMIERE Italy

IN BETWEEN LINES Leone ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

SPECIAL SCREENING OUT OF COMPETITION

COMMEDIA Riccardo Vannuccini ITALIAN PREMIERE Italy

ONE THOUSAND JUNKIES Tommy Swerldlow ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

BOBBY Henry Burge ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

LUCY Mojean Aria ITALIAN PREMIERE USA

MIA Giovanni Labadessa Fassina WORLD PREMIERE Italy