San Luis Obispo Film Festival Collaborates with Noci for Italian Cinema Event
News related to:SLO Film Festival · 2 min read
The mini-Italian film festival, which will take place from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at the SLO Film Center at the Palm Theatre, will feature five short Italian films followed by a Q&A session with the films’ directors.
The event will also include an Italian Aperitivo, offering light bites and drinks, before the screenings and a Q&A session with the directors and the Noci Film Fest team. Refreshments will be provided by Café Roma, a local favorite sponsor.
The Noci Film Fest, now in its 13th edition, has established the Dolce Vita Award in 2026. This award recognizes an emerging American director whose short film the Noci Film Fest believes will resonate with Italian audiences, fostering artistic exchange and increased visibility for emerging voices between Puglia, Italy, and California. The winner of the 2026 Dolce Vita Award, "Everything Must Go," was announced on April 28 at SLOIFF’s closing night ceremonies. The director, Tiffany So, was invited to attend the Noci Film Fest in Italy as the festival’s guest in July of this year.
The Noci Film Fest/SLOIFF partnership is supported with funding from the Italian Government to promote Italian cinema and foster a transnational exchange of filmmakers and film festival professionals with California. Building on this support, the Noci Film Fest collaborated with Skye McLennan, executive director, SLOIFF; Dr. Antonio Iannotta, Professor of Italian Cinema at UC San Diego; and Valentina Cartareggia, executive director, San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF), to design and implement an international exchange program for young directors. The collaboration was initiated and coordinated by Dr. Teresiana Matarrese of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
As part of the exchange, the Noci Film Fest hosted a California jury including Randi Barros (Cal Poly), Jennie Tugend (American Film Institute), Skye McLennan (SLOIFF), Dr. Antonio Iannotta (UCSD), and Valentina Cartareggia (SDIFF) in July 2026. Two Cal Poly students, Reagan Bones and Riley Petrocco, were also invited to attend the festival where they made a short film about the collaboration and screened their film, "You Jump, I Jump," which premiered at SLOIFF 2026.
Celebrating its 33rd edition in 2027, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is a six-day annual event that showcases creative, diverse, and impactful works from around the world. It runs from April 22-27 and is named to MovieMaker Magazine’s “25 Coolest Film Festivals” list. SLOIFF is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Qualifying Festival in the category of “Best Documentary Short.”