Academy Award-winning American director, playwright, and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan will preside over the jury awarding the best short film prize in the “Short Waves” section at the 2025 Alice nella città festival, scheduled for October 15-26, 2025.
Lonergan, director of the Oscar-nominated “Manchester by the Sea” and screenwriter of “Gangs of New York,” will also conduct a masterclass open to the public and accredited attendees during the festival.
Festival Directors Gianluca Giannelli and Fabia Bettini stated: “Being in Lonergan’s cinema means looking at life without psychoanalytic complications or moral judgments. His films produce incandescence that helps liberate our gaze from the symmetries with which adolescents and adults interact with the world. These encounters aren’t always easy, yet they are never indifferent. They define a highly personal cinematic style born from an Author’s attentive and honest listening, one never interested in making cinema without living. That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome him leading the short film jury, representing the first step for a generation of filmmakers seeking a practicable horizon in short cinema to experiment anew without fear of mistakes.”
Submission for short and feature films to the pre-selection of the next Alice nella città edition via the Filmfreeway platform (https://filmfreeway.com/alicenellacitta) remains open until August 22.