The concept of resistance, in its various declinations, is the common thread that unites many of the films in the section dedicated to special events at the Festival dei Popoli. Resisting to continue making art and defending the right to freedom of expression; resisting under bombing to continue studying, to survive and help others survive—to continue living; resisting to assert one's gender or ethnic identity where regimes do not allow it; resisting the normalization of thought and behavior, among individuals and in the community; resisting the passing of time to ensure it is not forgotten; Resisting returning fascisms.

In different ways, this is the underlying theme of some of this edition's most anticipated films, such as the documentary Post Truth, entirely created by experimenter Alkan Avcıoğlu with the help of generative artificial intelligence, and Ai Weiwei's Turandotby Maxim Derevianko – dedicated to the renowned Chinese dissident artist's operatic directorial debut and all the vicissitudes that marked its making. The importance of persevering in the face of adversity recurs in three inextricably linked films: Sergei Loznitsa’s short film Paleontology Lesson, Joshua Zeman’s Checkpoint Zoo, and Gar O’Rourke’s Sanatorium, all set in recently conflict-scarred Ukraine. Giving life to a human being and returning it to a territory are equally acts of resistance when they challenge conventions, customs, or laws, as demonstrated by Mala Reinhardt's Familiar Places and Ruedi Gerber's Tatti, Country of Dreamers.

Going against the grain to ignite spirits, in late '70s New York with artists of the caliber of Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, and Allen Ginsberg gathered to celebrate William Burroughs in Nova 78, or in the effervescent Florence of the '80s as told by Stefano Pistolini and Bruno Casini. in We went out a lot at night. And if it's true that, as Ai Weiwei reiterates, art can only be political, then politics must be done for the common good: in an era of crumbling ideals like the one we are living in, it's right to pay homage to someone who has been a point of reference for entire generations, like Sandro Pertini, recounted in The Seventh President by Daniele Ceccarini and Mario Molinari, because "there can be no true freedom without social justice, just as there can be no true social justice without freedom."

Alessandro Stellino