Michele Riondino will be honored with the Golden Panther Award, present his latest leading role in La valle dei sorrisi, and hold a masterclass at Cinema Astra.
The actor, director, and screenwriter Michele Riondino will be one of the guests of the 21st edition of the Lucca Film Festival, taking place in the Tuscan city from September 20 to 28, 2025, under the artistic direction of Nicola Borrelli and with the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca.
Riondino will meet the audience at Cinema Astra with a masterclass, receive the Golden Panther Award on the festival stage, and present – in collaboration with Vision Distribution – his latest film as leading actor, La valle dei sorrisi, a horror directed by Paolo Strippoli, co-produced by Italy and Slovenia (Fandango, Vision Distribution, Nightswim, and Spok).
The film will premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in the coming days, before being released in Italian cinemas on September 17, 2025, distributed by Vision Distribution, and programmed at Lucca’s Cinema Centrale.
La valle dei sorrisi is set in Remis, a secluded village hidden in the mountains, whose inhabitants appear unusually happy. It seems the perfect destination for new physical education teacher Sergio Rossetti (played by Riondino), a man tormented by a mysterious past. Through Michela, a young innkeeper, he discovers that beneath the village’s surface serenity lies a disturbing ritual: once a week, the townspeople gather to embrace Matteo Corbin, a teenager capable of absorbing the pain of others. Sergio’s attempt to save the boy awakens the darkest side of the one everyone calls the angel of Remis.
Over the years, the Lucca Film Festival has hosted great names of international cinema, paying tribute to the likes of Oliver Stone, David Lynch, Susan Sarandon, Isabelle Huppert, Rutger Hauer, George Romero, Paolo Sorrentino, Willem Dafoe, Chiara Mastroianni, Paul Schrader, Matthew Modine, Ruben Östlund, Ethan Hawke, and Gaspar Noé, becoming a cultural reference point in Tuscany.
The event is made possible thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca. With the participation of the City of Lucca and Vivi Lucca Eventi, and with the co-participation of Lands of Giacomo Puccini and the Chamber of Commerce Toscana Nord – Ovest. Banca Generali Private Wealth Management (Paolo Tacchi) and Banca Pictet are the Main Sponsors of the festival and exhibitions.
The initiative is carried out as part of the National Plan Cinema and Images for Schools, promoted by MiC and MIM. The festival is also supported by the Ministry of Culture – Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual, Regione Toscana, Fondazione Sistema Toscana, Manifatture Digitali Cinema, Sofidel, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondazione Giacomo Puccini and Puccini Museum – Casa Natale, Audi Center Terigi, Lions Club Lucca Le Mura, Tenuta del Buonamico, Martinelli Luce, Naturanda, Futuro3D, in collaboration with SIAE – Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori, and co-produced with Tecno Servizi, Ristorante Giglio, Palazzo Pfanner, Over The Real, Teatro del Giglio di Lucca, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, Liceo Artistico Musicale e Coreutico Augusto Passaglia, Liceo Classico N. Machiavelli, ISIS Pertini, Associazione 50&PIÙ, ACLI Lucca.
Special thanks to ANSA, Rai Toscana, Rai Radio 3, Movieplayer.it, Film4 Life, Festival Scope, A.C.S.I. – Associazione Centri Sportivi Italiani, FITA – Federazione Italiana Teatro Amatori, Trenitalia, FIC, UICC, Cinit, UCCA, ARCI, Fedic, Corte Tripoli, Circolo del Cinema di Lucca, Cineforum Ezechiele 25:17, Cinema Centrale, Astra and Moderno, Cinema Arsenale, University of Pisa, University of Florence, Fondazione Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Pisa al Cinema, Cineteca di Bologna, Cineteca Nazionale, Istituto Musicale Luigi Boccherini, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Italia, Associazione Donne all’Ultimo Grido, SPAM! Rete per le arti contemporanee, Lucca Comics & Games, Photolux Festival, Lucca Classica Music Festival.
For more information
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www.youtube.com/c/LuccaFilmFestivalEuropaCinema
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