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