EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE LOVE AFFAIR, THE ST. ALi ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS
Presented by Palace Cinemas, the 2025 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival’s annual Spring escape to Italy, is now one step closer, with the announcement of the full programme. From 17th September 2025 for four weeks, a bellissimo selection of box office hits, and award-winning films will dazzle screens in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Ballarat, Byron Bay and Ballina.
The 2025 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival. opens with Paolo Genovese’s record-breaking hit SOMEBODY TO LOVE (FolleMente), a romantic comedy with an all-star cast including Edoardo Leo, Pilar Fogliati and Vittoria Puccini. Following the global success of Perfect Strangers (IFF 16), writer/director Genovese’s latest film reveals the innermost thoughts and uncertainties of a modern Italian couple on their awkward first date.
Following its World Premiere at the Opening Night of the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film LA GRAZIA is the 2025 Festival Centrepiece. The highly anticipated drama stars Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti and Massimo Venturiello.
Ciao film lover, Palace Cinemas are pleased to invite you to the 2025 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival, for the screening of the stunning, female led drama DIAMONDS, (Diamanti), the Italian box-office hit from award-winning filmmaker Ferzan Özpetek. An ode to the beautiful craftsmanship of film costume designers and seamstresses, with Luisa Ranieri and Jasmine Trinca star as sisters running a couture costume design house in 1970s Rome.
Festival tickets are now on sale.
2025 FESTIVAL DATES –
SYDNEY: 18 September 2025 – 15 October 2025
MELBOURNE: 19 September – 16 October
CANBERRA: 17 September – 15 October
ADELAIDE: 17 September – 14 October
BALLARAT: 20 September – 16 October
BRISBANE: 24 September – 22 October
BYRON BAY & BALLINA: 25 September – 15 October
PERTH: 25 September – 22 October
Please visit the Festival website for more information –
https://italianfilmfestival.com.au/
The festival opens with Paolo Genovese’s record-breaking hit SOMEBODY TO LOVE (FolleMente), a romantic comedy with an all-star cast including Edoardo Leo, Pilar Fogliati and Vittoria Puccini. Following the global success of Perfect Strangers (IFF 16), writer/director Genovese’s latest film reveals the innermost thoughts and uncertainties of a modern Italian couple on their awkward first date.
Following its World Premiere at the Opening Night of the 2025 Venice International Film Festival later this month, Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film LA GRAZIA is this year’s Festival Centrepiece. The highly anticipated drama stars Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti and Massimo Venturiello.
This year, the festival showcases migrant stories from two different sides of the globe with SIGNORINELLA: LITTLE MISS (from the team behind LYGON ST – Si Parla Italiano) and NAPOLI – NEW YORK. Celebrating the tenacity and spirit of Italian women who helped shape the Italian-Australian community, SIGNORINELLA: LITTLE MISS, narrated by Greta Scacchi, profiles their incredible life stories. NAPOLI – NEW YORK, from Academy Award-winner Gabriele Salvatores, is based on an original screenplay by Frederico Fellini and Tullio Pirelli. Featuring festival favourite Pierfrancesco Favino and a stellar cast, it is a compelling and hopeful account of the migrant experience, the search for identity and pursuit of a better life that follows two Neapolitan children as they journey from Naples to New York in 1949.
Closing the festival and celebrating its 25th anniversary this year is the Australian coming-of-age classic LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI starring Pia Miranda, Greta Scacchi and Kick Gurry. Audiences new and old can delight in the stunning 4K restoration of the much-loved film whose themes still resonate over two and half decades later.
The Festival Special Presentation is the critically acclaimed, 2024 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury prize winner THE MOUNTAIN BRIDE – VERMIGLIO (Vermiglio). Maura Delpero’s atmospheric, visually breathtaking film portrays a family caught between tradition and modernity in the final year of WWII.
From acclaimed filmmaker Ferzan Özpetek comes the stunning, female led drama DIAMONDS (Diamanti). An ode to the beautiful craftsmanship of film costume designers and seamstresses, Luisa Ranieri and Jasmine Trinca star as sisters running a couture costume design house in 1970s Rome.
Elio Germano delivers standout performances in dramas SICILIAN LETTERS (Iddu) and THE GREAT AMBITION (Berlinguer. La grande ambizione). Toni Servillo joins Germano in a story of dangerous liaisons set in early 2000s Sicily in SICILIAN LETTERS, during Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro’s three decades as a fugitive from Italian justice. In the meticulous biopic THE GREAT AMBITION Germano transforms into Enrico Berlinguer, the former leader of the Italian Communist Party between 1973 and 1978. His performance won him Best Actor at the David di Donatello Awards.
A box office sensation in Italy, moving drama THE BOY WITH PINK TROUSERS (Il ragazzo dai pantaloni rosa) features rising star Samuele Carrino in a powerful performance. Exploring the real story behind Italy’s first publicised case of online bullying, the film garnered much attention in Italy and sparked important discussions about the issue.
From acclaimed writer/director Mario Martone comes FUORI, an elegant biopic drama that follows a decisive event in the life of renowned Italian feminist writer Goliarda Sapienza. A brilliant Valeria Golino stars as Sapienza in an inspiring story of friendship, female solidarity and freedom in the early 1980s. And in thoughtful drama MY PLACE IS HERE (Il mio posto è qui), set during the aftermath of WWII in a rural village in southern Italy, a single mother befriends the local wedding planner and begins to understand her rights as a woman. The film stars Ludovica Martino and Marco Leonardi (Cinema Paradiso) and is based on the eponymous novel by Daniela Porto.
The common thread of family lies at the heart of a number of this year’s films – THE LIFE APART (La vita accanto), a music-imbued drama set in the beautiful Italian art city Vicenza that follows a wealthy family whose daughter must contend with profound rejection; VITTORIA, the story of a hairdresser from Naples with three loving sons and a devoted husband who risks everything to pursue her dream of having a daughter: Ivano de Matteo’s compelling drama MY DAUGHTER (Una Figlia) starring Stefano Accorsi as a widowed father whose 16-year-old commits a serious crime: THE TIME IT TAKES (Il tempo che ci vuole) from filmmaker Francesca Comencini pays homage to her father Luigi Comencini and their connection with cinema; plus the debut feature from director and writer Sara Fgaier, WEIGHTLESS (Sulla terra leggeri) a sensitive drama about the power of memory, love and the search to find someone you have lost. and SIBLINGS (La vita da grandi), about a sister helping to realise her brother’s dreamof becoming a singer in this fun dramedy from Greta Scarano.
Highly anticipated Italian comedies, include popular comic duo Ficarra & Picone and festival favourite Toni Servillo in THE ILLUSION (L’Abbaglio), a re-imagining of Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860 campaign that unified Italy; the adventures of the Rovelli family continue in WHEN MUM IS AWAY…WITH THE IN-LAWS (10 Giorni con I suoi) with a trip to Puglia in the hit comedy directed by Alessandro Genovesi and starring Fabio De Luigi and Valentina Lodovini; and set in 1980s-1990s Italy, DIVA FUTURA an entertaining reimagining of Riccardo Schicchi’s agency Diva Futura that revolutionised mass culture by turning free love into porn, making stars of Ilona Staller (Cicciolina), Moana Pozzi and others in an intoxicating story of private and widespread desire.
Story of fashion icon Gianni Versace, from his youth in Reggio Calabria in the 1960s to his rise in the world of fashion design is explored in GIANNI VERSACE – EMPEROR OF DREAMS (Gianni Versace: L’Imperatore dei sogni). The stylish biopic from director Mimmo Calopresti intertwines fiction and documentary, reconstructing the world, life and creativity of the famous designer. In HOLD TIGHT, MISSY! ISABELLA DUCROT UNLIMITED (Tenga Duro Signorina! Isabella Ducrot Unlimited) 90-year-old artist. the fim follows Isabella Ducrot over two years as her artistsy and success grows. Ducrot is sought after by leading galleries the world over after devoting herself to art at the age of 55.
Historical drama BATTLEGROUND (Campo di Battaglia) two military doctors, who work at a clinic in Northern Italy in the final year of WWI, must face the devastating Spanish flu as it strikes the city. Inspired by true events that remain powerfully resonant 20 years on, dramatic thriller THE NEGOTIATOR (Il Nibbio) stars Claudio Santamaria as Nicola Calipari, deputy director of operations of the Italian secret service who sacrificed his life to save journalist Giuliana Sgrena.
Special encore screenings, gripping historical drama THE TASTERS (Le assaggiatrici), from multi award-winning writer/director Silvio Soldini and adapted from Rosella Postorino’s bestselling novel, At The Wolf’s Table, is inspired by the incredible true story of Margot Wölk, a woman who was conscripted to be one of Hitler’s food tasters.
Unforgettable plunge into the dark heart of cinema, the festival retrospective this year focuses on Italy’s Giallo cinema. Born from Italy’s yellow jacketed crime paperbacks, this selection of classic thrillers are not for the faint of heart! Showcasing a stunning new 4K restoration of DEEP RED (Profondo Rosso), widely regarded as one of Dario Argento’s greatest films and a cornerstone of Italian horror cinema, it blends mystery, artistry, and psychological terror in unforgettable fashion. Also included is A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN (Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) Lucio Fulci’s surreal giallo that blends psychedelic visuals and an Ennio Morricone score to create a truly unique experience; BLOOD & BLACK LACE (Sei donne per l’assassino) a founding classic of the genre that follows a masked killer stalking fashion models and said to have pioneered the modern slasher aesthetic; Pupi Avati’s THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (La casa dalle finestre che ridono) renowned for its slow-burn suspense and shocking finale; and the hypnotic ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK (Tutti i colori del buio) which follows a traumatised woman who is drawn into the occult, starring Edwige Fenech and featuring a Bruno Nicolai score.
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A Tapestry of Time, Talent, and Texture. Why Ferzan Özpetek’s “Diamonds” is THE Generation-Defining Masterpiece. In the hushed, reverent atmosphere of a cinema, there are rare moments when a film doesn’t just play out on screen but seems to breathe, to live, to reach out and weave itself into the very fabric of the audience’s collective consciousness. Ferzan Özpetek’s “Diamonds” is one of those seismic cinematic events. This is not merely a movie to be watched; it is a world to be inhabited, a feeling to be absorbed, and a monumental love letter to the art of cinema itself, stitched together with threads of memory, passion, and unparalleled feminine power. From the powerhouse collaboration of Greenboo Production and Vision Distribution emerges a film that is at once Özpetek’s most personal memoir and his most ambitious universal statement, with this flawless, breathtaking, and emotionally resonant masterpiece that shines with undimmed brilliance.
The film’s premise is deceptively simple, yet it contains multitudes. An Oscar-winning director, played with understated, magnetic gravitas by Stefano Accorsi, gathers a constellation of his favorite actresses. They are his muses, his collaborators, the women he has worked with and loved throughout his career. He proposes a film about women, but offers no script, no concrete plot. He is a conductor without a score, an architect without a blueprint. He simply observes. Through the sheer force of his imagination, and Özpetek’s directorial genius, this film performs its first act of magic. The soundstage of the present dissolves, the chatter of modern pre-production fades, and we are transported, heart and soul, to the vibrant, cacophonous, and soulful world of a 1970s Roman tailor shop.
This is the “sartoria,” a secular sanctuary humming with the music of sewing machines, buzzing with gossip, and animated by a sisterhood of artisans. Here, men are peripheral figures: husbands, porters, investors: all only exist on the margins of this woman-dominated universe. The actresses are no longer actresses; they are reborn as seamstresses, cutters, dyers, and designers. Luisa Ranieri’s Alberta is a force of nature, her emotional depth charting the tumultuous waters of ambition and vulnerability. Jasmine Trinca’s Gabriella provides a radiant, grounded heart, her performance a masterclass in subtlety and strength. And they are but two jewels in a crown that includes the likes of Elena Sofia Ricci, Kasia Smutniak, Milena Vukotic, Vanessa Scalera, and Geppi Cucciari, each given moments to shine, and a character to sculpt with exquisite detail.
The genius of “Diamonds” lies in its fluid, seamless dissolution of boundaries. The line between the actress and the character she is destined to play becomes intentionally, beautifully blurred. Their personal anxieties about age, love, career, motherhood, also seep into the anxieties of their characters. Their real-life camaraderie, which Özpetek notes in his director’s statement was genuine on set, translates into an authentic portrayal of feminine solidarity. We see the competition, the petty jealousies, the sharp tongues, but underpinning it all is an unbreakable bond, a shared understanding of what it means to create, to struggle, and to triumph together. This is not an ensemble cast; it is an ecosystem, a living, breathing organism where every performance, no matter how brief, is essential to the whole.
The Director as a Tailor: Özpetek’s Personal Stitchwork. To fully appreciate “Diamonds,” one must understand it as the culmination of Özpetek’s personal and artistic journey. As he reveals in his poignant director’s note, “Fabrics, Buttons and Diamonds,” the film is drawn from the deep well of his own memory. As a young assistant director in the 1980s, he found himself enchanted by the tailor shops of Rome, particularly the legendary Tirelli. He describes them as “secular sanctuaries of beauty,” and this sense of sacred wonder permeates every frame of the film.
Özpetek isn’t just telling a story; he is resurrecting a feeling, a time, a world that has largely vanished. The sartoria represents a lost era of craftsmanship, where garments were built from scratch with “strong diligence and dedication,” not merely readjusted from existing pieces. This nostalgia is not rose-tinted; it is clear-eyed and heartfelt, a tribute to a forgotten art form. The film is dedicated to Mariangela Melato, Virna Lisi, and Monica Vitti, THE icons Özpetek never got to work with, but clearly reveres. In making “Diamonds,” he hasn’t just made a film; he has built a bridge to the past, connecting his present-day collaborators to the pantheon of Italian cinema’s great women.
His method is profoundly meta-cinematic. The director-within-the-film (Accorsi) is clearly Özpetek’s stand-in, and his process mirrors Özpetek’s own. He doesn’t dictate; he observes, curates, and inspires. He understands that the best stories are often found, not forced. This creates a fascinating dynamic where we are simultaneously watching a film being made and the film that is being made, a Russian doll of narratives that celebrates the creative process itself.
The Fabric of Dreams: Stefano Ciammitti’s Costumes as Characters. The actresses are the soul of “Diamonds,” moreover the costumes are the beating heart. It is rare that a film’s wardrobe becomes a central character, but costume designer Stefano Ciammitti’s work is nothing short of revolutionary. As he details in his section, this was far more than a job; it was a passion project built on “great enthusiasm and creative freedom” granted by Özpetek.
Ciammitti was involved from the writing stage, imbuing the script with the authentic “anecdotes, tics, and superstitions” of real-life costume houses. The production’s access to the archives of Tailor Boutique Tirelli Trappetti was a coup that lends the film an unimpeachable authenticity. The actresses didn’t just wear the clothes; they learned from the seamstresses themselves, absorbing the “hand gestures and words” of these artisans.
This dedication culminates in the film’s centerpiece: the creation of a magnificent red dress. A garment of mythical proportions, it required over 160 meters of fabric, all doubled with black crinoline. Watching this dress come to life, starting from a bolt of cloth to a conceptual sketch to a tangible object of breathtaking beauty, becomes one of the film’s most powerful narrative arcs. It becomes a symbol of the collective endeavor: imperfect, fraught with tension, but ultimately triumphant. It is, as Ciammitti beautifully notes, “a great collective architectural work that will finally unite them in perfect harmony.”
The film serves as a moving tribute to the history of Italian costume design. The inclusion of original pieces from Piero Gherardi’s sculptural dresses for Mina, Piero Tosi’s iconic work for Visconti’s The Leopard and Ludwig, and Danilo Donati’s creations for Fellini’s Casanova, is a move of profound respect. These aren’t Easter eggs for cinephiles; they are sacred relics, placed in the film to acknowledge the giants whose shoulders today’s artists stand on. It deepens the film’s theme, connecting the fictional sartoria to the very real, glorious history of Italian cinema.
A Symphony for the Senses: Sight, Sound, and Soul. A film of this grandeur demands a technical crew operating at the peak of their powers, and “Diamonds” is a masterclass in every department.
Gian Filippo Corticelli’s cinematography is sumptuous. He films the past sequences with a warm, textured, almost tactile quality. The light in the sartoria is golden, catching the dust motes dancing in the air and the rich sheen of silk and satin. He lingers on hands that are: sketching, cutting, sewing, caressing fabric, fully elevating these actions to a kind of sacred ritual. The contrast with the cooler, more sterile present-day film set is deliberate and effective, highlighting the warmth and organic humanity of the past.
The editing by Pietro Morana is seamless in every sense. The transitions between time periods are not jarring cuts but elegant dissolves, dreamlike and fluid, mimicking the way memory itself works. The 135-minute runtime flows effortlessly, each scene layering emotion upon emotion without ever feeling rushed or bloated.
And then there is the music. Composers Giuliano Taviani and Carmelo Travia have crafted a score that is both epic and intimate, sweeping and subtle. It underscores the emotional currents without overwhelming them. The original song, “Diamanti,” performed by the mighty Giorgia, is a soaring anthem that perfectly captures the film’s spirit of resilience and brilliance. The curated soundtrack, featuring iconic Italian artists like Mina and Patty Pravo, along with Nino Rota’s sublime “Valzer Brillante” from The Leopard, roots the film firmly in its cultural and emotional landscape. This is not just a soundtrack; it is the film’s heartbeat.
A Chorus of Voices: The Unforgettable Ensemble. Almost impossible to overstate the achievement of assembling this cast, and giving each performer their due. This is not a film with one or two leads; it is a tapestry of interconnected stories.
· Luisa Ranieri (Alberta) is the fiery, troubled core of the sartoria. Her performance is a raw nerve, full of volcanic emotion and fierce pride. She is the artist whose soul is poured entirely into her work.
· Jasmine Trinca (Gabriella) is her perfect counterbalance—the calm, the compassion, the steady hand. Trinca speaks volumes with a glance, her quiet strength providing the film’s moral and emotional anchor.
· Elena Sofia Ricci (Elena) brings a regal, seasoned grace, a woman who has seen it all and carries her wisdom with a hint of melancholy.
· Kasia Smutniak (Sofia Volpi) exudes a glamorous, almost untouchable aura, yet reveals flickers of profound vulnerability.
· Geppi Cucciari (Fausta) provides much of the film’s warmth and humor, her comic timing impeccable, but never at the expense of her character’s humanity.
· Milena Vukotic (Aunt Olga) is the living memory of the shop, a gentle, enduring presence connecting the past to the present.
Vanessa Scalera, Nicole Grimaudo, Paola Minaccioni, and each woman is a vital thread in the tapestry. Stefano Accorsi, as the lone central male figure, performs a delicate dance. He is not a savior or a patriarch; he is an observer, a catalyst, a man wise enough to know he is there to witness and facilitate genius, not to claim it for his own.
The Final Stitch: More Than a Movie. “Diamonds” arrives at a time when the discussions around authorship, female agency in cinema, and the value of artistic craftsmanship are more pertinent than ever. Özpetek’s film argues, passionately and elegantly, for a cinema that values the invisible hands that build its dreams. It is a film that shifts the point of view, as the synopsis notes, “to the one of costume.” From this new vantage point, we see everything differently. We understand that a character is built from the inside out, that a hemline can tell a story, that a choice of fabric can reveal a hidden desire.
This is a film about the ghosts that haunt us, the ghosts of missed opportunities, of lost loves, of icons who paved the way, of the people we used to be. But it is also a film about embracing those ghosts, learning from them, and weaving them into the ongoing story of our lives. It is about the unbreakable bonds between women, and not as rivals, but as sisters, mothers, daughters, and collaborators. It is about the beautiful, maddening, and ultimately sacred pursuit of creating something perfect, even if only for a moment.
Ferzan Özpetek has not just directed a film; he has orchestrated a miracle. “Diamonds” provides a monumental achievement in storytelling, a celebration of Italian cinema’s past and present, and a profoundly moving experience that will linger long after the credits have rolled. It is generous, intelligent, flawless, and with every frame, brimming with a love for its craft that is utterly contagious. This is more than a five-star film; it is a diamond, formed under pressure, cut with precision, and destined to shine forever.
