The shorter the better.
That’s the way the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington sees it.
Together with the Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio, the Italian Cultural institute presents the 2025 streaming edition of Dieci corti in giro per il mondo — Ten Shorts Around the World. This annual initiative brings the very best of contemporary Italian short films to audiences across the globe.
Among the 10 films featured this year are three documentaries, one animation, one comedy and five dramas. The overriding theme for many of this year’s shorts can be summed up in one word - modernity. Can Italy retain her soul in an age of rapid scientific shifts and technological innovations? Such a theme might have religious undertones in stories on screen. However, although Italy is a bedrock of Roman Catholicism, only one of the films featured attributes of faith.
The following movies make up this year’s Ten Shorts Around the World. Listed are the directors, the film lengths, summaries, and commentaries.
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Lisa, 29, drifts through jobs and romances when a long-lost figure calls her after 14 years. She faces a meeting with him that could change everything.
Commentary: The film was well-paced and well-acted yet suffered from ambiguity. A key scene only gave us a glimpse of the deeper conflict in the main character. We are left wondering what the film was all about.
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Valeria works her family’s food truck on the margins of Rome. Surrounded by neglect and absence, she suddenly finds herself at a crossroads — one that forces her to ask, chi sono davvero?
Commentary: The film gives us food trucks, highways, neon lights, and roadside trash. Welcome to Rome, the new Los Angeles.
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A tribute to the smugglers of Lake Como. Memories resurface when a sculpture paying tribute to a land pirate is escorted across the Swiss border by two retired police officers and a retired contrabbandiere.
Critique: The documentary offers a view of Northern Italy not often seen. Smuggling and other crimes of postwar Italy come across as quaint and innocent when compared to the violent, drug infused lawlessness of today.
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La notte (The Night)
Directed by Martina Generali, Simone Pratola, Francesca Sofia Rosso, 2023 – 6 minutes
Carnival in Venice, Vivaldi’s Concerto La Notte, and Pulcinella himself. The main character’s dream collapses into a nightmare, leaving him with only life’s simple truth—authenticity is wealth.
Critique: A stunning showcase of animation by the filmmakers. The story is ironic, slightly horrific, and bittersweet. One of the best films of the year, of any length or genre.
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A child’s game of hide-and-seek turns into a haunting reminder of how everything can change in the span of a breath.
Commentary: A cryptic plot leaves the viewer puzzled. What carries the film is the little girl who plays the main character.
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Fiorellina
Directed by Giorgia Ciraolo, 2024 – 8 minutes
On the Italian shoreline, a 71-year-old street vendor sells her wares with a smile. Children adore her, colleagues respect her — yet behind the warmth lies a touch of melancholy.
Commentary: In America, we have sugary slushes sold as refreshments at the beach. In Italy, they have grapes, bananas, and oranges. Which country is healthier?
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Padre (Father)
Directed by Michele Gallone, 2024 – 19 minutes
In a near future where emotions are bought and sold, one man parts with his greatest love — that for his daughter — in order to save her life.
Commentary: The film conveys a science fiction premise that is chillingly imaginative. However, an esoteric spirit, dulls the effects of the story leaving the audience more bored than intrigued.
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Love and Chewin Gum
Directed by Arianna Di Stefano, 2024 – 13 minutes
Riccardo is 13 and in love. How to win a kiss from the most beautiful girl in school? A lighthearted story of youth, courage, and primo amore.
Commentary: The film spends too much time on a rashly edited montage of teen angst history. Wait for the last few minutes to really embrace the character’s heartfelt quest.
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Ahinco
Directed by Simona Palmieri, 2024 – 23 minutes
Behind the façade of a busy newsstand lies Manolo’s solitude. Each passerby, each daily encounter, becomes part of a private theater of loneliness and longing.
Commentary: An excellent documentary about a man who seeks to authentically engage with the elderly of Italy.
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Dolci acque (Sweet Waters)
Directed by Luca Grazioli, 2024 – 20 minutes
At a villa by the lake, Renzo and Monica drift through summer, building a love story out of gestures and photographs.
Commentary: Superbly cast and directed. An unexpected ending brings the film together for an outstanding drama.
Editor’s Note: The web site of the Italians Cultural Society of Washington, D.C. is https://italianculturalsociety.org/#. To view the films, please log on to https://iicwashington.esteri.it/en/gli_eventi/calendario/streaming-ten-shorts-around-the-world/. The web site for Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio is https://www.centrodelcorto.it/en/home_en/