by InTrieste
La Cappella Underground will present a program of international and independent cinema at the Ariston Theater from Feb. 6 through Feb. 11, featuring recent festival titles, documentary cinema, classics, and a focused series on contemporary Iranian film making. All screenings are in the original language with Italian subtitles.
The program opens Thursday, Feb. 6, with “Sorry, Baby,” written, directed by, and starring Eva Victor. The film, which addresses the aftermath of abuse through a restrained and ironic lens, won the Best Screenplay Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was later shown at Cannes.
Also screening during the week is “No Other Choice” by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, starring Lee Byung-hun as a factory worker whose sudden dismissal sets off a rapid personal and financial collapse. The film explores themes of labor, identity, and social pressure.
“My Father’s Shadow,” the feature debut by Akinola Davis Jr., will also be shown. The film received a Special Mention for the Caméra d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and was selected by the United Kingdom as its submission for the 98th Academy Awards. It stars Sopé Dìrísù in a performance centered on unspoken family tensions.
Italian documentary cinema is represented by “Giulio Regeni – Tutto il male del mondo,” directed by Simone Manetti, which reconstructs the judicial findings surrounding the 2016 kidnapping and murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Egypt. The film includes testimony from Regeni’s parents and their lawyer and follows the ongoing trial of four Egyptian security agents, which began in 2024 and is expected to conclude in 2026.
A restored screening of Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter” (Il portiere di notte, 1974) brings the controversial European classic back to the big screen.
On Sunday morning, the Ariston continues its Woody Allen at 90 retrospective with “Manhattan,” shown as part of the Ariston Sunday Morning series. Admission is €6, with a €10 ticket-and-breakfast option offered in partnership with MUG café.
Running concurrently is “R-Esistere – Contemporary Iranian Cinema,” a thematic focus dedicated to filmmakers working under Iran’s restrictive political system. Screenings include “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” by Mohammad Rasoulof and “A Hero” by Asghar Farhadi, winner of the Grand Prix at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
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