Singapore, May 15 2026 – The Italian Film Festival returns to Singapore for its 24th edition, further strengthening its role as a leading cultural event in the local landscape and marking a new chapter in the presence of Italian cinema across the region.
Running from 12 to 21 June 2026, the festival will present eleven films reflecting the vitality, diversity, and ongoing evolution of contemporary Italian cinema, spanning genres from comedy and historical drama to coming-of-age stories, westerns, and horror.
This year’s edition marks a particularly significant milestone: for the first time, the Italian Film Festival in Singapore joins Italian Screens, the programme promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and coordinated by Cinecittà. Following editions in cities such as Paris, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Beijing, Singapore now becomes part of this international circuit, reaffirming its strategic role in the dissemination of Italian culture across Asia.
Italian Screens, conceived by Roberto Stabile, Head of the International Department at Cinecittà, was established to promote the global circulation of contemporary Italian cinema while creating opportunities for distribution, co-production, and collaboration across the audiovisual industry. Coordinated by Cinecittà’s International Department, the programme builds new connections between the Italian film industry and international cultural realities, contributing to the growing visibility of Italian cinema worldwide.
Curated by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore in collaboration with Cinecittà and partner cinema Filmhouse.
From the young athlete shaped by the complex guidance of his coach in My Tennis Maestro, to the couple confronting the illusions of rural life in Green Family, today’s Italian cinema continues to portray contemporary life with irony, emotional precision, and honesty. A Brief Affair and Five Seconds explore human relationships through stories where emotions rarely move in a single direction, while Buen Camino follows a father walking the Camino de Santiago in search of his missing daughter — only to rediscover himself along the way. Primavera transports audiences to eighteenth-century Venice, where a young woman discovers that music can change the course of her destiny.
Alongside these works are more daring and visionary films, including the folk horror The Holy Boy, which reimagines themes of happiness and suffering through unsettling imagery, and the dreamlike western Heads or Tails?, which revisits the mythology of the frontier through a distinctly European lens. The programme is completed by coming-of-age and identity-driven stories such as Unicorns and Sweetheart, together with a special screening of Dario Argento’s Deep Red, a tribute to one of the most iconic masterpieces of Italian genre cinema.
“The Italian Film Festival in Singapore is the result of a journey built over many years and of a clear commitment to making Italian cinema an increasingly recognisable presence within the cultural landscape of the city-state,” said Dante Brandi, Ambassador of Italy to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. “Joining the Italian Screens programme confirms the value of this work and reflects the growing interest that Italian cinema continues to generate in Singapore and across the region.”
This Festival takes place at Filmhouse, venue sponsor of the event and a dedicated cinema space within the historic Golden Mile Tower, in collaboration with the Singapore Film Society, whose longstanding support has helped foster a vibrant and engaged cinephile community. The initiative is also made possible thanks to the support of the Embassy’s Diamond sponsors.
All films will be screened in Italian with English subtitles.
Tickets and full programme details will soon be available at: filmhouse.sg/italianff
Screening times and film synopses are available in the appendix of the press release (available here)
ABOUT FILMHOUSE
Filmhouse is a cinema and film culture space located in the historic Golden Mile Tower, an iconic building that previously housed both the Golden Theatre and The Projector. Conceived as a “third space” for cinema in Singapore, Filmhouse offers a carefully curated programme dedicated to films that encourage reflection, dialogue, and discovery.
With a vision centred on quality and diversity of cinematic expression, Filmhouse provides audiences with a place where cinema can be not only watched, but also shared and discussed, contributing to the growth of a dynamic and engaged cultural community.
