– Unspooling from 5-15 June in Bologna, the 22nd edition of the festival presents 64 films from 34 countries, with 16 world premieres and a strong presence of European productions and co-productions
Broken English by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth
Personal stories, pressing political topics and reflections on the modern era are scattered throughout the rich programme of the 22nd Biografilm Festival, set to unspool in Bologna from 5-15 June. With 64 films hailing from 34 countries, including 16 world premieres, the 2026 edition, dedicated to the memory of Frederick Wiseman and Giorgio Gosetti, highlights a robust slate of European productions and co-productions, with works probing identity, memory, civil rights and social transformations.
Opening the festival is Broken English by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth, a freewheeling, unconventional portrait of British icon Marianne Faithfull, a symbolic figure representing a rebellious culture in a constant process of reinvention. The closing night on 14 June will instead feature the short The Revolution Against Death by Joshua Oppenheimer, a disquieting reflection on the modern desire for immortality.
In the International Competition (which boasts 11 titles), one particular highlight is Amílcar by Miguel Eek, which revisits the revolutionary figure of Amílcar Cabral in a visual essay intertwining politics and postcolonial memory. Everybody to Kenmure Street by Felipa Bustos Sierra charts the spontaneous mobilisation of Glasgow residents against a deportation, turning a local episode into a universal tale of civil resistance. Over the course of 12 years, The Winning Generation by Marco De Stefanis follows young Armenian activist Shahen Harutyunyan during his rise in the world of politics, sketching the portrait of a new generation committed to the country’s democratisation.
An intimate, autobiographical vein runs through works such as Little Sinner by Danes Daro Hansen and Thomas Papapetros, which reconstructs, through personal archives, the traumatic journey of a Syrian woman who has taken refuge in Denmark, and Something Familiar by Romanian director Rachel Taparjan, a family inquiry reflecting on trauma and on cinema’s ability to rewrite private narratives. Among the most highly anticipated titles is Burning Voice by Danish filmmaker Anna Bruun Nørager, devoted to Iraqi activist Tamara Amer and her fight for women’s rights, while This Is Not a French Film by Tom Adjibi uses irony and meta-cinema to interrogate racial stereotypes and representation in contemporary French cinema. On a lighter note, Soap Fever by Inka Achté recounts how Finland found an unlikely source of comfort in the US soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, against the backdrop of the 1990s economic collapse.
In the Biografilm Italia section, Il labirinto by Alberto Gemmi, set in the Futa Pass German military cemetery, will strike up an appropriate dialogue with The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, with which it shares the same kind of tension between horror and everyday life.
Some of the titles in the Contemporary Lives section include Christiania by Karl Friis Forchhammer, a portrait of Copenhagen’s historic libertarian community positioned at the crossroads of memory, politics and collective identity; Click the Link Below by Audun Amundsen, on the murky world of online money gurus; and Watching People Watching Birds by Michael Loeken, which, by following passionate birdwatching fans, including writer Jonathan Franzen, crafts a powerful metaphor for the state of our planet.
Biografilm Art&Music offers ten biographies spanning music, cinema, theatre, architecture, literature and photography, including bauhaus forever. by Nico Weber, a reflection on the modernist legacy of the Bauhaus.
Finally, tributes to casting director Bonnie Timmermann and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania will celebrate two central female figures in contemporary international cinema. The festival will pay tribute to Ben Hania in particular with screenings of her films Four Daughters and The Voice of Hind Rajab.
(Translated from Italian)
