The 25th edition of the Incontri del Cinema d'Essai, one of the most eagerly awaited and significant events in Italian cinema, which was presented yesterday at a press conference in Rome, will take place in the very heart of Europe. From 30 September to 3 October 2025, for the first time, the event will take place between two cities and two nations, in celebration of the title of European Capital of Culture 2025 shared by Gorizia and Nova Gorica.

Promoted and organised by the Federazione Italiana del Cinema d'Essai (FICE) and the Associazione Palazzo del Cinema - Hiša Filma, the initiative is realised thanks to the support of MIC - Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, Comune di Gorizia, GO! 2025 and EGTC GO, with the patronage of ANEC and AGIS Triveneto.

Having reached the milestone of a quarter of a century of activity, the Incontri del Cinema d'Essai are a point of reference for the entire operating chain of Italian cinema: producers, distributors, exhibitors, authors, journalists, festival organisers and institutional representatives meet every year to exchange views, discover a preview of the new season's titles and reflect on the sector's transformations.

The programme of the 2025 edition will consist of four intense days dedicated to cinema, with preview screenings, moments of in-depth analysis, events with authors and actors, and discussion spaces open to the public and sector operators. The activities will mainly take place at the Kinemax in Gorizia, the Mediateca ‘Ugo Casiraghi’, Casa Krainer and the UGG - Unione Ginnastica Goriziana, which for the first time will host both the award ceremony and the gala dinner. Appointments aimed at citizenship will enliven the two Kulturni Dom of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, while the closure of the event is scheduled in Ljubljana, between institutional meetings and cross-border culture.

"The Meetings of the Cinema d'Essai are a unique moment for the film industry and to have the opportunity to be part of it in a special edition for GO! 2025 in Gorizia and Nova Gorica makes us very proud - commented the director of the EGTC GO Romina Kocina -. A confirmation of how our cross-border territory is an inspiration for many artists and is also chosen for artistic residencies under the banner of dialogue and confrontation without barriers and borders. A territory that can also be a good laboratory and example for other realities'.

"For me, as a film critic at heart, Italy is that moment when, in Fellini's Rome, the frescoes vanish on contact with the air; it is that moment when, in Rossellini's Journey to Italy, Ingrid Bergman is shocked at the petrified lovers of Pompeii; it is the moment when we are forced to look away from the unbearable tortures of Pasolini's Salò. And then, thanks to the European Capital of Culture, you suddenly find yourself with I pugni in tasca (Fists in the Pocket) with Marco Bellocchio, watching Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (New Cinema Paradiso) with Giuseppe Tornatore and judging short films with Gabriele Salvatores! Precisely because Friuli Venezia Giulia has invested so ambitiously in the European Capital of Culture, the FICE Meetings now take a further step forward in connecting two cinematographies and two cinema countries," said GO! 2025 programme director Stojan Pelko.

The press conference was also attended by FICE President Giuliana Fantoni, the President of the Palazzo del Cinema - Hiša Filma Association and Director of Kinemax Giuseppe Longo, Vice-President and Regional Councillor for Culture Mario Anzil and the Mayor of Gorizia Rodolfo Ziberna.

During an official ceremony, the meetings will also see the symbolic handover of the baton from the mayor of Lucca, Mario Pardini - who hosted the event in 2024 - to the mayors of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, Rodolfo Ziberna and Samo Turel, marking a new chapter of the FICE meetings in the sign of european cooperation.

Like every year, the event will also be an opportunity to strengthen the link between auteur cinema and citizenship, through free screenings, activities for schools, and moments of dialogue that enhance the theatres of the territory as living places of culture and participation.