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| Seven recent short films will be presented in one short film program lasting approximately 110 minutes. Each short is preceded by a director video. The audience will vote on their favorite short. |
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| TITLE: |
Viola |
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| PLOT: |
Viola and Carlo meet Elena, their son Ascanio’s fiancé, at a tense dinner. When Ascanio reveals a secret, ignoring Elena’s aspirations, economic power dynamics emerge. |
| DIRECTOR: |
Marco Lorenzo Masante |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
11’10” |
| GENRE: |
Comedy/Drama |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of ShortsFit Distribución |
|
| TITLE: |
Call Bait |
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| PLOT: |
Paolo is training at a call center. He has one shot at a phone call to convince the elderly Nando to give him his credit card information. A short film about the vulnerability of elderly people and jobs that sully the conscience, |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Giuseppe Cacace |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
13’30” |
| GENRE: |
Comedy/Drama |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of ASFF Distribution |
|
| TITLE: |
Monica’s Cat |
 |
| PLOT: |
Adele is a cat sitter who takes advantage of other people’s homes to meet up with Pietro, her friend with benefits. When the cat disappears, the fear of having lost the cat grows, while the two will be forced to deal with their responsibilities, |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Letizia Zatti |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
13’45” |
| GENRE: |
Comedy |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of Premiere Film Distribution |
|
| TITLE: |
Rukeli |
 |
| PLOT: |
Johann Wilhelm Trollmann becomes middleweight boxing champion in Nazi Germany. He is the first Roma boxer in the world to win the title. With the enactment of the racial laws, he is imprisoned in Wittenberg and Neuengamme concentration camps, where he decides to die as a champion. |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Alessandro Rak |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
5’38” |
| GENRE: |
Animation |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of Premiere Film Distribution |
|
| TITLE: |
Beyond the Hill |
 |
| PLOT: |
Matteo, a young illustrator nervous about an interview, stops for a coffee. When Sara gets stuck in the café bathroom, he uses his drawings to calm her. As the bartender struggles to help, an unexpected bond forms--one that might change his day, and maybe his career. |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Andrea Maddalena Bernardi |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
12’05” |
| GENRE: |
Comedy |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of ShortsFit Distribución |
|
| TITLE: |
We Are Running Out of Milk |
 |
| PLOT: |
Alfredo combs the shore every day with his metal detector until Carlo, a man with the same passion, arrives on the beach. A lively duel begins. The two are not only looking for objects but also for something buried in their past. |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Pierfrancesco Bigazzi |
| YEAR: |
2025 |
| LENGTH: |
16’55” |
| GENRE: |
Drama |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of Sayonara Film |
|
| TITLE: |
Twentyseven: Sister Portrait |
 |
| PLOT: |
Maria and Lucia, two elderly sisters, remember moments of their youth spent during World War II. The younger sister lived far from her family in a Vatican orphanage and did not suffer the poverty her elder sister endured, close to her loved ones, but beneath the rubble of bombed-out Rome. |
|
| DIRECTOR: |
Sara Schiavone |
| YEAR: |
2026 |
| LENGTH: |
20’ |
| GENRE: |
Documentary |
| SOURCE: |
Courtesy of Sayonara Film |
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| ORARIO: |
Cleveland: April 2, 7:00 p.m. |
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Detroit: April 11, 5:00 p.m. |
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Phoenix: April 12, 10:30 a.m. |
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St. Louis: April 12, 3:00 p.m. |
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Kansas City: April 27, 6:00 p.m |
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Chicago: May 7, 3:30 p.m. |
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Portland: May 14, 6:00 p.m. |
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The Short Program was curated by the 'Italian Film Festival USA.
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TWENTY-SECOND EDITION 
