The University of Richmond will host the inaugural Richmond Italian Film Festival March 21-24, featuring acclaimed contemporary Italian cinema and a restored classic.

The free, public festival will showcase five films, including “C’è ancora domani” (2023) by Paola Corellesi, “Parthenope” (2024) by Paolo Sorrentino, “La chimera” (2023) by Alice Rohrwacher, “Stonebreakers” (2022) by Valerio Ciriaci, and the restored 1962 film “Smog” by Franco Rossi.

Several films will make their Richmond debut. Most screenings will take place on the university campus, with the final event at the Byrd Theatre in Carytown.

“Italian cinema is going through an era of international rebirth, both from a critic and audience point of view,” said festival organizer Luca Peretti, an Italian and film studies professor at the University of Richmond. “It’s exciting to showcase some of Italy’s greatest contemporary filmmakers for the first time in Richmond, a city with a growing film culture.”

The festival also will feature panel discussions with experts from the university and special guests, including “Stonebreakers” director Valerio Ciriaci; independent film producer Ira Deutchman; Elettra La Duca, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C.; Damiano Garofalo, film studies professor at Sapienza University of Rome; and Isaak J. Liptzin, producer at Awen Films.

Peretti said the University of Richmond is an ideal venue for the festival because of its “strong international culture” and community interest in international films. For more information on screening times and locations, please visit filmstudies.richmond.edu.