Pompeii turns on the spotlight: the International Film Festival debuts with a red carpet opening night

A dream catwalk, exceptional guests and a program that combines cinema, art and culture: the Pompeii International Film Festival opens its doors from 3 to 8 June 2025 under the artistic direction of Enrico Vanzina and the presidency of Annarita Borelli.

Pompeii is preparing to become the beating heart of great cinema with the first edition of its International Festival, on stage from 3 to 8 June. Conceived and produced by Annarita Borelli, with the artistic direction of Enrico Vanzina, the festival was born to restore cultural centrality to one of the most iconic places in the world, blending local roots and global scope.

A red carpet premiere

The curtain rises on Tuesday, June 3 with an opening night dedicated to entertainment and elegance. Starting at 17:XNUMX p.m., the red carpet will come alive at the Moxy Marriott at MaxiMall Pompeii, with a parade of famous faces from the worlds of cinema, music and culture. Guests expected include: Marco Risi, Gianni Amelio, Neri Parenti, Luca Ward, Sergio Assisi, Amedeo Minghi, Alessandro Cecchi Paone, Maria Sole Pollio, Giovanni Esposito, Susie Del Giudice, and many others.

Fugitive drug lord Massimiliano Amato, former head of the Fedayeen, captured in Lima, Peru May 9, 2025 - 15:10 am

At 18 pm, in Room 7 of the Nexus Cinema, the opening ceremony will be held: introductory video, institutional greetings and presentation of the works in competition, with shorts and feature films compared with the juries. The evening's grand finale will be with the special screening of Stabat Mater, directed by Nazareno Nicoletti.

Identity Cinema and International Vision

Eight feature films from four continents give voice to the crucial themes of our time: memory, justice, generational conflicts, women's emancipation. From the comedy In the Nguyen Kitchen to the Japanese fairy tale Let's meet at Angie's bar, passing through the strong and visceral stories of nawi, Confident e Sally's Memory, the Festival composes a mosaic of languages ​​and sensibilities.

Alongside, thirteen Italian short films trace the portrait of an Italy in transformation, seen through the eyes of emerging authors. Out of competition, works such as Stabat Mater add depth and variety to the offering.

Six days of meetings, cinema and reflections

Each day of the Festival will be enriched by meetings with great protagonists of Italian cinema: Marco Risi (June 4), Enrico Vanzina (June 5), Gianni Amelio (June 6), Black Relatives (June 7). Also scheduled are four thematic panels on cinema and territory, language, customs and tourism, with the involvement of scholars, directors, institutions and companies.

The screenings will take place in the heart of the Nexus Maxi Mall Entertainment, a cutting-edge facility with six cinemas and a 364-seat auditorium. A cultural hub set in a complex of over 200.000 square meters, with hotels, restaurants, event spaces and a dancing fountain.

The grand finale at the Archaeological Park Theatre

On June 8, the Festival will end in a unique setting: the Theater of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. The final evening will be hosted by Sergio Assisi, supported by Vanzina and Borelli. The best works in competition will be awarded and the Lifetime Achievement Awards will be given to Neri Parenti and Luca Ward.

The ceremony will be enriched by the performances of the Italian Army Band Orchestra, the soprano Lucia Rubedo, the Soul Food Vocalists, and an artistic performance by the sculptor Domenico Sepe, in dialogue with the violin of Marta Pignataro: a moment of pure art between sound, gesture and matter.

The words of the protagonists

Annarita Borelli:
"We want to tell the world from Pompeii, through cinema. It is a necessary project, which looks far ahead. Pompeii returns to being a cultural crossroads, open to international dialogue."

Enrico Vanzina:
"In Pompeii I felt the need to protect cultural identity. Cinema remains one of the few languages ​​capable of defending diversity and countering homologation."

The Pompeii International Film Festival is not just cinema: it is an immersive experience, a crossroads of languages, generations and cultures. A place where the story of identity becomes a global vision.

"Pompeii becomes an international meeting point again", points out Annarita Borelli, "This festival is just the beginning of a journey that aims to last over time”.

"Cinema is the voice of diversity”, He concludes Enrico Vanzina, "and Pompeii is the perfect place to remind the world of this".

COMPLETE FESTIVAL CALENDAR

June 3 – Opening Night

• 17:00 Red Carpet – Hotel Moxy, MaxiMall Pompeii

• 18:00 Official Ceremony – Nexus Cinema (Hall 7)

  • Greetings from Annarita Borelli and Enrico Vanzina

  • Presentation of juries and films in competition

  • Projection Stabat Mater by Nazareno Nicoletti + meeting with the cast

June 4th – Cinema and Territory

• 09:30 – 10:50 🗣 1 Panel: Cinema as a tool for cultural valorization

• 11:00 – 13:00 🎬 Shorts: The Final Exposition, Holy Mitraglia, The first day of autumn, The Name of The rose

• 14:00 – 16:00 (I.e. Fortapasc by Marco Risi

• 16:00 – 18:00 Meeting with Marco Risi

• 18:00 – 20:00 🎥 Feature Films: One thing leads (Italia) Confident (Türkiye)

June 5 – Cinema and Language

• 09:30 – 10:50 🗣 2 Panel: The language of cinema and the Italian language

• 11:00 – 13:00 🎬 Shorts: Teach (Iran) Red, safari

• 14:00 – 16:00 (I.e. Life is a wonderful thing by Enrico Vanzina

• 16:00 – 18:00 Meeting with Enrico Vanzina

• 18:00 – 20:00 🎥 Feature Films: nawi (Kenya/Germany), Little Hands (France)

June 6 – Cinema and Costume

• 09:30 – 10:50 🗣 3 Panel: Cinema, visual identity and fashion

• 11:00 – 13:00 🎬 Shorts: Nura, The Justification, 154

• 14:00 – 16:00 (I.e. Hammamet by Gianni Amelio

• 16:00 – 18:00 Meeting with Gianni Amelio and Luan Amelio Ujkaj

• 18:00 – 20:00 🎥 Feature Films: the life is other thing (Mexico/Italy), Let's meet at Angie's Bar (Japan)

June 7 – Cinema and Tourism

• 11:00 – 12:30 🗣 4 Panel: Cinema as a tourist lever

• 12:30 – 14:00 🎞 Projection: My Kingdom for a Butterfly of Sergio Assisi

• 14:00 – 16:00 (I.e. Fantozzi by Neri Parenti

• 16:00 – 18:00 Meeting with Neri Parenti

• 18:00 – 20:00 🎥 Feature Films: In the Nguyen kitchen (France), Sally's Memory (China)

June 8th – Awards Ceremony

Teatro Grande of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii – 20:30 pm

• Hosts: Sergio Assisi, Enrico Vanzina, Annarita Borelli

• 🏆 Awards:

  • Best Feature Film and Short Film

  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Black Relatives

  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Luca Ward

• 🎻Performance:

  • Italian Army Band Orchestra

  • Lucia Rubedo (soprano)

  • Soul Food Vocalist

  • Domenico Sepe and Marta Pignataro in artistic dialogue between sculpture and music

Main Cast of Characters

• Annarita Borelli: President, creator and producer of the Pompeii International Film Festival. A lawyer, she moderates some of the thematic panels. She is the driving force behind the creation of the event, with a vision of restoring cultural centrality to Pompeii through cinema.
• Enrico Vanzina: Artistic Director of the Pompeii International Film Festival. Director and screenwriter, he offers his artistic vision to the festival program and moderates some of the meetings.
• Sergio Assisi: Actor and director. He will host the closing night of the Festival. He will also take part in a panel on the relationship between cinema and tourism, presenting his film “Il mio regno per una farfalla”.
• Marco Risi: Director. Among the guests expected on the red carpet and at the opening night. He will hold a meeting with the public on the topic of journalism and memory.
• Gianni Amelio: Director. Among the guests expected on the red carpet and at the opening night. He will hold a meeting with the public on political storytelling through cinema.
• Black Relatives: Director. Among the guests expected on the red carpet and at the opening night. He will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and will hold a meeting with the public on the character of Fantozzi.
• Luke Ward: Actor and voice actor. Among the guests expected on the red carpet and at the opening night. He will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Nazarene Nicoletti: Director. His film out of competition “Stabat Mater” will be screened during the opening night, with his presence and that of the cast.
• Alessandro Cecchi Paone: Journalist and popularizer. Among the guests expected on the red carpet and at the opening night. He will speak at the panel “Cinema and Language”.
• Corrado Cuccurullo: Mayor of the municipality of Torre Annunziata. Present for the institutional greetings at the panel “Cinema and Territory”.
• Paul Negri: CEO of MaxiMall Pompei. Present for a speech at the panel “Cinema and Territory”.
• Gabriel Zuchtriegel: Director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Present for a speech at the panel “Cinema and Territory”.
• Rosario Coluccia: Academician of the Crusca. He will speak at the panel “Cinema and Language”.
• Maria Luisa Iavarone: Professor at the University of Naples “Parthenope”. She will speak at the panel “Cinema and Costume”.
• Roberta Guidi from Bagno: Set and costume designer. She will speak at the “Cinema and Costume” panel.
• Romualdo Petti: Accademia Liliana Paduano. She will speak at the panel “Cinema and Costume”.
• Domenico Apicella: Professor at the University of Salerno. He will speak at the panel “Cinema and Tourism”.
• Domenico Sepe: Sculptor. Author of the festival awards. Will perform an artistic performance during the closing night.
• Marta Pignataro: Violinist. He will perform in dialogue with Domenico Sepe during the closing evening.
• Lucia Rubedo: Soprano. Will perform during the closing night.
• Soul Food Vocalist: Musical group. Among the guests expected on the red carpet. They will perform during the closing night.
• Orchestra of the Italian Army Band: He will perform a medley of soundtracks during the closing night.