Giornate degli Autori 2026 unveils its programme in tribute to Giorgio Gosetti

The 23rd edition of Giornate degli Autori will take place during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, scheduled for 2-12 September 2026. This year’s programme is dedicated to Giorgio Gosetti, who founded the independent section in 2004 and remained one of its central figures for more than two decades.

“Stay with me!”, the phrase Gosetti often addressed to the festival team during the most demanding days of the event, has become the guiding principle of an edition marked by his sudden death on 6 March 2026.

Promoted by ANAC and 100autori, Giornate degli Autori confirms its commitment to cinematic discovery, artistic freedom and dialogue among filmmakers, audiences and professionals.

Speaking to Chiara Nicoletti for FRED Film Radio after the programme presentation, artistic director Gaia Furrer reflected on the unity Gosetti built within the organisation.

“We were hit by everything we did not want and did not expect. Fortunately, Giorgio made the Giornate team incredibly close and united. Together, we managed to move forward and carry his legacy with us.”

Twenty-five world premieres and ten competition titles

The 2026 selection was chosen among 1,036 submissions representing 114 countries. It includes 25 world premieres, 14 films directed by women and 13 Italian productions or co-productions.

Ten films will compete for the GdA Director’s Award. The programme also features one closing film out of competition, five special events and nine titles in Notti Veneziane, organised in collaboration with Isola Edipo.

The competition includes works connected to Australia, Switzerland, Serbia, Mexico, Argentina, Ukraine and Nigeria, which enters the Giornate degli Autori competition for the first time. Balcanica by Nicola Sorcinelli is the only Italian title in competition.

The opening film is My Notes on Mars by Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát, who previously attended the section in 2020 with Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. Her first English-language feature stars Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend.

Notti Veneziane will open with Scarpe rotte by Roberta Torre, starring Barbara Ronchi. Torre returns after presenting Le favolose in 2022. The programme also includes Robert Guédiguian with Une femme aujourd’hui, while Peau d’homme by Léa Domenach, starring Karin Viard and Catherine Deneuve, will close the edition.

A selection about displacement and belonging

The programme embraces sentimental science fiction, melodrama, historical cinema, an anti-heroic western, musical comedy and works suspended between documentary and fiction.

According to Gaia Furrer, the films are linked by characters who must reconsider identity, roots and belonging after losing their place in the world.

“You will encounter a very eclectic journey, with films engaging with different genres. There is western, melodrama, science fiction and historical cinema, alongside an important geographical variety,” she said.

“These are often characters who have had to leave their place in the world and must search for a new one, redefining their identity through a new idea of belonging.”

An all-female jury

The GdA Director’s Award, worth €20,000 and shared between the filmmaker and the international distributor, will be assigned by a jury composed of Spanish director Carla Simón, Italian filmmaker and editor Sara Fgaier, and Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s Metropolis cinema.

Furrer explained that the jury’s composition was not planned as a symbolic gesture.

“We selected Carla Simón as president and then chose the other members. Only afterwards did we realise they were all women. Considering how many festivals have had all-male juries, it did not seem inappropriate.”

The Sala Perla audience will assign the Audience Award, while the Europa Cinemas jury will select the winner of its Label among the European titles.

Cinema, visual arts and public debate

The 2026 edition will pay tribute to Carla Lonzi, Natalia Ginzburg and Fernanda Wittgens, three major figures in 20th-century Italian culture.

The Miu Miu Women’s Tales project will present new short films by Claire Denis and Mona Fastvold, continuing a collaboration now in its fifteenth year. The official image has been created by Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi, whose work places the wonder of ordinary life at its centre.

Casa degli Autori and Sala Laguna will again host #confronti, a programme of screenings, debates and public conversations. Confirmed events include La Déclaration des Cinéastes, a session on film music organised with ACMF, a masterclass devoted to illustrator and poster artist Carlantonio Longi, and the second edition of Africa Chiama.

The collaboration with Isola Edipo will continue through events dedicated to memory, film education and industry development. Laguna Film Lab, a new year-long artistic residency named after Giorgio Gosetti, will support the creation of a collective film.

A new partnership with Venezia Cult will also bring Leo Ortolani and Dave McKean to Sala Laguna. McKean will be the subject of the exhibition Pictures that dream at La Villa.

The vitality of Italian independent cinema

Furrer also highlighted the strength of the Italian independent scene represented across the official selection and Notti Veneziane.

“This selection shows the great vitality of independent Italian cinema. There is an extremely lively creative ecosystem, with films made outside traditional structures that are able to speak about our present.”

For the artistic director, however, Giornate degli Autori remains more than a film selection.

“The films are the beacon, but they would not be enough. We need a family, we need a place. During the pandemic, we understood even more clearly how important it is to meet, exchange affection and share passions.”