Milano Film Fest: from screens to squares, the tenth muse in the city. Dates, guests, events, ticket prices
Milan, May 21, 2025 – The tribute to Enzo Jannacci . The soundtrack selected by Manuel Agnelli . An in-depth look at Milan as portrayed in Italian crime films of the 70s. The amarcord of the 90s hip-hop scene. Two quality juries, led by James Franco and Valentina Lodovini. Shake it all up, top it off with the umbrella of the artistic direction of actor Claudio Santamaria and you will have the first edition of the Milano Film Fest.
After challenging Turin and the Salone del Libro, Milan is trying to compete with Venice (and Rome) for the role of the tricolor flag of the tenth muse. They are joking, of course. It is impossible to compete with a historic event like the one organized in the lagoon. Also because the horizon, choices and objectives are completely different.
The first takeThe festival was presented today, Wednesday 21 May, at Palazzo Marino , in the presence of the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, the councillor for culture of the Municipality of Milan Tommaso Sacchi, the artistic director of the festival Claudio Santamaria, the president of the Fondazione Milano Film Fest Laura Boy, the director of programming Agata De Laurentiis and the curator of the musical programming of the MFF Manuel Agnelli.
Basic information, first of all. The festival will be held from June 3 to 8 under the artistic direction of Claudio Santamaria, in places of culture, such as the Piccolo Teatro Strehler in Milan and the Anteo cinema, and in the streets of the city . It is a project of the Fondazione Milano Film Fest, which unites four city entities - Il Cinemino, Esterni, Fondazione Dude and Perimetro - together with the Municipality of Milan - Culture.
Previews and special events will land on the screen and in the squares: from the homage to the Milan of yesterday to the one that will be, from those who have been able to tell the story of the city to the voices of today, from current events to fiction, to imagine realities to be built, together with the citizens and a soundtrack to be experienced (with the care of the musical section of Manuel Agnelli and his laboratory Germi).
The opening day will also be the 90th anniversary of the birth of a great Milanese like Enzo Jannacci , who will be celebrated in the company of his son Paolo, his friends Paolo Rossi, Cochi Ponzoni, Gino & Michele and many friends.
From laughter to the dark times experienced in the city, the MalaMilano section will bring the focus on cult poliziotteschi films : from the restored versions of Fernando di Leo's titles to the masterclass of the Manetti bros., up to the chronicle of those cursed '70s and '80s, narrated by the journalist Stefano Nazzi in his show "Canti di guerra".
Jump forward twenty years or so, to dive into a celebration of the 90s: how can we not mention hip hop, recounted in the preview of the documentary Vai Bello - Storia della Spaghetti Funk , with unreleased material in the wake of various J-Ax, Dj-Jad and many others.
And then cinema, with a rich program and two international competitions, and two juries headed by James Franco and Valentina Lodovini : the festival opens with the preview of the film by the French Luc Besson, June & John, shot with an iPhone, and closes with The Ugly Stepsister by Emilie Blichfeldt, a disconcerting body horror, a dystopian portrait of a Cinderella with mascara.
From black to the red carpet: the famous faces of Italian showbiz will be the protagonists of special events out of competition: from Alessandro Gassman who brings to Milan with Francesco Gheghi Mani nude by Mauro Mancini, a work that investigates the male universe of different generations, to The Jackal , who present in the theater the first episodes of the second season of Pesci Piccoli, the behind the scenes of their factory.
There will be no lack of crossover with other arts. The festival's guest will be the famous photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin , who will retrace his life and that of Italy shot after shot, in the documentary Il ragazzo con le Leica. Up to, indeed, the squares: the real novelty of the first edition is “Scintille”, the program that brings the films (with free admission) to the neighborhoods, during the days of the event
Voices from the Municipality"The Milano Film Fest - comments the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala - is an initiative that reflects the liveliness of the cultural panorama of our city, starting from the ability to welcome and promote different forms of art, from cinema to music, from TV series to photography. We are happy to host an event like the Milano Film Fest, capable of enhancing the international vocation of Milan in these fields . Following the red thread of the many stories that are part of our city, the festival will tell the richness of the Milanese cultural scene, now paying homage to artistic personalities such as Enzo Jannacci, now looking at the history of the city through the extraordinary lens offered by cinema".
"From June 3 to 8, Milan will transform into a true epicenter of stories, visions and talents, hosting a festival that aims to explore the contemporary audiovisual panorama in all its facets – underlines the councilor Tommaso Sacchi – We are particularly enthusiastic to support an initiative that is not limited to the big screen, but that intends to create a fruitful dialogue between cinema, television series, photography and music . This interdisciplinarity is a distinctive trait that reflects the richness and complexity of our time, where the boundaries between the different expressive forms are becoming increasingly blurred and porous."
Organizers and managementArtistic director Claudio Santamaria is ready to start shooting. "We are excited and can't wait to get started, welcome the public and see beautiful films on the big screen with the great performers who will come to visit us - he says - This first edition wants to be a cultural manifesto for the city , and not only, with a clear political and urban message: a spark of the future can be born in every place, every citizen can create culture, from the neighborhoods furthest from the center to the places of entertainment. It is no coincidence that one of the new features bears this name, Scintille, a project that will bring cinema for free to the nine municipalities of Milan , with evening screenings and meetings with protagonists. We are convinced that cinema, like the arts and mastery that create magic in the theater or on all the screens we use, can create community bonds. For this reason, the festival intends to relaunch a collective vision , which arises from surprise and amazement to arrive at dialogue between the parties. The program will have films, concerts, meetings, talks with professionals and young students, thanks to the many organizations that have participated: all that remains is to turn off the lights and let the show begin."
"The ambitious idea from which our work is born is to celebrate cinema in its expressive plurality and create a dialogue with music, television series, photography and all forms of visual narration that shape our contemporary imagination - concludes the president of the Fondazione Milano Film Fest, Laura Boy - It wants to be much more than a film festival, it is a crossroads of languages: the festival will come to life in some of the most iconic and significant places in our city, with the Piccolo Teatro as its headquarters, passing through Castello Sforzesco, Anteo and other spaces that will become the theater of screenings, meetings and special events. It is a project that is born from the synergy of different cultural realities of the city - Il Cinemino, Esterni, Fondazione Dude and Perimetro - united by the desire to offer Milan an event of international scope, capable of involving a wide audience and leaving a lasting mark on the cultural panorama of our city".
“We have built a program that pulsates to the rhythm of contemporary creativity - says Agata De Laurentiis, director of film programming - with the ambition of offering the Milanese public a 360-degree cinematic experience , capable of ranging between genres, formats and languages with a very precise artistic coherence. The selection will feature international competitions for feature films and short films , a hotbed of emerging talents and established authors who will bring powerful stories and original perspectives to Milan as national previews. Our festival is an open dialogue with the multiple forms of visual storytelling.”
The ticketsTickets are on sale on a dedicated circuit . They range from season tickets to 40 euros (25 euros for students and with the MFF agreement). Cinema tickets to 8 euros, reduced 6 euros. The event “Canti di guerra” with Stefano Nazzi costs 22 euros. Free entry for the Milano Film Fest Industry - Academy.
Il Giorno
