Torino Film Festival

Overview

The Torino Film Festival is Italy's most important festival for adventurous and genre cinema. Founded in 1982 and held annually in November in Turin -- Piedmont's industrial and cultural capital, a city of extraordinary Baroque architecture and one of Italy's most sophisticated film cultures -- the festival presents competitive international films with a distinctive commitment to formally challenging and genre-inflected cinema.

Torino's programming philosophy has historically embraced the intersection of art cinema and genre, programming horror, science fiction, and thriller films alongside formally radical work in a way that most European festivals would not. This philosophy reflects the Italian cinema tradition's own deep engagement with genre filmmaking, from the Spaghetti Western through giallo horror to the poliziesco crime film.

The festival's position in November, after Venice and ahead of the awards season, allows it to discover films that the major festivals may have overlooked.

Key Sections

• Official Competition -- films competing for the Grand Jury Prize
• Festa Mobile -- retrospectives and tributes
• Italian Films -- new Italian features and shorts
• Documentary Competition -- nonfiction features
• Short Film Competition -- competitive short programs

What Filmmakers Should Know

Torino accepts open submissions. The festival's willingness to program at the intersection of art and genre creates specific opportunities for filmmakers who work in hybrid forms. For Italian filmmakers, Torino provides an important north Italian platform alongside Rome and Venice.

Major Awards

• Grand Jury Prize -- Best Film
• Special Jury Prize
• Best Italian Film
• Audience Award

Festival History

Torino Film Festival was founded in 1982 and has operated for over four decades as Italy's most genre-engaged festival.

See Also

For Italian cinema, see International Film Markets. For the Venice Film Festival, see Venice Film Festival.