If 2024 was the yr celebrating 140 years of diplomatic ties between Italy and Korea, 2025 has been named the Cultural Alternate 12 months between Korea and Italy. After the success of its Seoul debut, Italian Screens – New Italian Cinema returns stronger than ever. From November 1 to 4, Seoul’s Cinecube Gwanghwamun hosted the occasion’s second version, inaugurated by Her Excellency Emilia Gatto, Ambassador of Italy to Korea. Now, the showcase travels south to the Busan Cinema Middle from November 13 to 16, extending its attain and affirming a shared imaginative and prescient between two nations that view tradition as a type of dialogue.
How Italian Screens 2025 Turns Cinema right into a Diplomatic Language
Born from an thought by Roberto Stabile of Cinecittà and supported by Italy’s Ministry of Tradition (DGCA-MiC) and Ministry of International Affairs (MAECI), Italian Screens stands on the intersection of creativity and diplomacy. The initiative, carried out in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul and the Italian Commerce Company, is a part of Italy’s broader effort to advertise its up to date audiovisual trade via the “Sistema Italia” framework, the place tradition, enterprise, and innovation work hand in hand.
As Erika Sfascia, Deputy Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul, defined, “The primary purpose of this second version is to advertise up to date Italian cinema amongst Korean audiences and to strengthen audiovisual cooperation between Italy and Korea.” She highlighted that increasing the competition to Busan — certainly one of Asia’s main movie capitals — “doubles Italy’s presence in Korea and consolidates each cultural and industrial dialogue between our international locations.”
4 Movies, One Imaginative and prescient — Showcasing Italy’s Modern Creativity
This yr’s choice included 4 acclaimed titles — FolleMente by Paolo Genovese, La Valle dei Sorrisi by Paolo Strippoli, Gioia Mia by Margherita Spampinato, and Familia by Francesco Costabile, Italy’s 2026 Oscar submission. Every movie was chosen for its vital acclaim, worldwide competition presence, and its reflection of Italy’s up to date artistic panorama.
“The response from the Korean viewers was very optimistic. The screenings have been offered out, and round 200 individuals attended extra showings. Business professionals — producers, distributors, competition administrators, and institutional representatives — joined as effectively, confirming the fixed curiosity in Italian cinema.”
Erika Sfascia, Deputy Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul.
That enthusiasm is tangible. Following its Seoul screening, La Valle dei Sorrisi was picked up for Korean distribution — an actual end result of cultural cooperation that goes past celebration and into tangible trade connection.
Past Pop: Leisure as Mushy Energy
The Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul maintains regular collaboration with main Korean cultural establishments and movie festivals, together with Venice in Seoul, Venice in Gwangju, the Ulju Mountain Movie Competition, the DMZ Documentary Movie Competition, and the Seongdong Range Movie Competition. These partnerships, as Sfascia described, “strengthen Italy’s cultural presence in Korea via a system-based strategy that values long-term change relatively than one-off occasions.”
This spirit suits inside a broader motion the place leisure — from cinema to Okay-pop — has turn out to be a world language. As each nations spend money on artistic industries as instruments of connection and understanding, Italian Screens stands as proof that cultural diplomacy will be emotional, visible, and deeply human.
The Street Forward
Wanting ahead, the initiative goals to increase Italian Screens to new Korean cities and broaden collaboration with native festivals, municipalities, and museums. “The purpose,” stated Sfascia, “is to help the presence of Italian movies in Korean festivals and promote cinema as an integral a part of the cultural dialogue between Italy and Korea.”
From Seoul’s packed theaters to Busan’s coastal vitality, Italian Screens 2025 celebrates greater than cinema — it celebrates a shared perception in storytelling as a bridge between worlds.
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