Ten of the best new feature films of this past year, a selection of documentaries and short films, for a total of 25 films all with Turkish subtitles, many guests, business encounters between professionals of the film and audiovisual sector: the Italian Film Festival organized by MedFilm returns for the second consecutive year to Istanbul between December 4th to 10th. This is a regular event designed to facilitate cultural dialogue and mutual understanding between Italy and Turkey, to increase and boost the distribution of Italian films in Turkey and to encourage cooperation between the companies of both countries that work in the film industry and beyond. The event, which enjoys the collaboration of the Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, will be held in two locations: the Pera Museum and the Cinema Alkazar. The wonderful cinema built in the 1920s will screen feature films, with Turkish subtitles, whereas documentary and short films will be screened in the Auditorium of the prestigious Pera Museum to emphasize the continuity of cooperation with Turkish institutions.

Italian cinema raises its 'head up'. The title of Alessandro Angelini's film, chosen as the closing film of the festival, helps us to summarize in a few words the age of a revival. A kaleidoscopic modern day Italy, made up of micro-stories and dialects, secondary characters and heroes, great writers, talented newcomers, an explosion of points of view that describe the complexity of our times.
Whether it be through the sharp lines of comedy, or through the dismal interiors of a personal drama, what always emerges is the filmmaker's quest to portray with authenticity, the sentimental and political state of a country which draws the strength to rediscover itself from its situation of historical uncertainty.

Ivano De Matteo's The Beautiful People, the opening film of the Festival, shows how, with acute, yet modern, simplicity, it is the bourgeoisie and intellectual world who come out the worst from this harsh analysis, which reveals their hypocrisy, their lack of courage and the fear and confusion created by their loss of identity. Whereas the common man, instead, comes out from this analysis with flying colours. He is in credit with life and, now more than ever, in every corner of the globe, he is no longer afraid to shout out his desire for redemption, and his will to grab on to his dreams, for a moment or for the rest of his life.

The journey allows us to sail through the folds of our intimacy, or to march through 'the red shadows' of ideology, or to ride a car through the cobwebs of our personal or universal past. And in this journey into the human labyrinth, the geography of a country slowly takes form; it is a country that from north to south reiterates its nostalgia for the future.
There are many ways to change one's life for the better and one does not necessarily have to go far away to make the wish come true. This is what these directors tell us. They show a deep and total complicity with their characters, brought to life by wonderful actors, and they impress their sometimes profoundly simple and sensitive stories with their personal style.

This snapshot of Italian reality is reinforced by the documentaries and by the very effective short films that confirm the fabric of a country that for centuries has drawn its strength from its complexity; just like Turkey, the wonderful and diverse country which hosts this festival.