The festival is held from 17th July to 26th July 2025 in Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy.
Both directors will be attending the festival.
SOFT LEAVES
by Miwako Van Weyenberg
World Premiere: IFFR 2025 – Big Screen Competition
Drama, Coming-of-age
“Soft Leaves highlights the emotional distance that a cultural gap and geographical remoteness can dig between a mother and her children. They have neither the same lives, nor the same habits or customs, which shows as much in small, everyday gestures as in their way of approaching life and intimate relationships” Cineuropa
Synopsis
Eleven year old Yuna lives in Belgium with her father, who ends up in coma after an accident. When Yuna’s mother rushes back from Japan to Belgium, along with Yuna’s little half-sister, the broken family reunites. Yuna is forced to face a new journey in her role as a big sister and her mother’s daughter.
Credits
Belgium // 2025 // 94 min
Directed by Miwako Van Weyenberg // Written by Miwako Van Weyenberg // Produced by Antonino Lombardo (Prime Time) // Starring Geert Van Rampelberg, Masako Tomita, Kaito Defoort, Lill Berleloot, Sara Yamasaki
🇮🇹🇮🇹ITALIAN PREMIERE🇮🇹🇮🇹 Sunday, 20th July 2025
YALLA PARKOUR
by Areeb Zuaiter
World Premiere: DOC NYC; European Premiere: Berlinale 2025
Documentary
“To watch Ahmed Matar and his parkour crew transform Gaza ruins into sites of athletic excellence is to witness the human spirit soar in the face of unspeakable horror…. A powerful and urgen tribute to the dignity and resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of annihilation.” – Juror’s statement at DOC NYC 2024
Synopsis
In her relentless pursuit of a memory that reinforces her sense of belonging, Areeb crosses paths with Ahmed, a parkour athlete in Gaza, sparking in a journey where conflicting aspirations intersect. Nostalgia meets with ambition, and the weight of a confined past meets with an unpredictable future.Credits
SW/QA/SA/PS // 2024 // 89 min
Written & Directed by Areeb Zuaiter // Produced by Basel Mawlawi (Kinana Films) // Co-Produced by Lisa Nyed (Film i Skåne) // Cinematographed by Ibrahim Al-Otla (Gaza), Marco Padoan (Sweden), Umit Gulsen (Turkey)