Below The Clouds

Source: Venice International Film Festival

‘Below The Clouds’

24 Italian films are in the running to represent the country in the Best International Feature Film category in the 98th Academy Awards.

Italian film organisation Anica revealed the 24-strong line-up on Monday (September 15), ahead of its selection committee meeting to vote and select the film on September 23.

The list includes several recent Venice premieres include Pietro Marcello’s stage diva biopic Duse, Leonardo Di Costanzo’s drama Elisa and Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds, which won the Special Jury Prize.

Mario Martone’s literary biopic Fuori, meanwhile, debuted in Competition at Cannes in May.

Other films in the running include Candidates Margherita Ferri’s local box office hit The Boy with Pink Trousers, as well as Andrea Segre’s political biopic The Great Ambition and Cristina Comencini’s post-WWII drama The Children’s Train which all world premiered at the Rome Film Festival.

The line-up also includes Madly by Paolo Genovese, which has hit an impressive $20.2m (€18m) at the Italian box office, surpassing his previous hit Perfect Strangers, as well as Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores’ Napoli — New York, about two Neapolitan children travelling to the US in the post-war years, starring Pierfrancesco Favino.

From 2024 festivals, Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond played in competition at Cannes, while The Flood by Gianluca Jodice opened Locarno and Diva Futura by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt played in Venice competition.

Italian films are eligible for nomination if their first theatrical release in Italy or another country, provided it is outside the US, takes place between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025.

It means Venice opener La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino is not eligible as it launches in early 2026. Sorrentino won the International Oscar in 2013 for The Great Beauty.

Last year, Italy selected Maura Delpero’s Venice Grand Jury prize winner Vermiglio as its Oscar submission.

Italian nominee longlist 2025

  • The Great Ambition, Andrea Segre
  • Wild Diamonds, Ferzan Özpetek
  • Diva Futura, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt
  • Duse, Pietro Marcello
  • Elisa, Leonardo Di Costanzo
  • Eterno Visionario, Michele Placido
  • Familia, Francesco Costabile 
  • Madly, Paolo Genovese
  • Fuori, Mario Martone
  • Hey Joe, Claudio Giovannesi
  • Joachim and the Apocalypse, Jordan River
  • Il Nibbio, Alessandro Tonda 
  • The Boy with Pink Trousers, Margherita Ferri
  • The Children’s Train, Cristina Comencini
  • The Sicilian Storyteller, Paolo Licata
  • The American Backyard, Pupi Avati
  • Siblings, Greta Scarano
  • The Tasters, Silvio Soldini
  • The Last One For The Road, Francesco Sossai
  • The Flood, Gianluca Jodice
  • Napoli – New York, Gabriele Salvatores
  • Below the Clouds, Gianfranco Rosi
  • Trifole, Gabriele Fabbro
  • Vittoria, Alessandro Cassigoli e Casey Kauffman

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