A woman wanders through the streets of Florence: she is an explorer from a faraway place and she comes to meet the festival audience. Who is she and where does she come from? What message does she bring with her?

She is the protagonist of the poster for the 65th edition of the Festival dei Popoli (from 2 to 10 November in Florence), a pioneer from the future, an innovator walking the streets of Florence. The image created with the aid of generative artificial intelligence software is inspired by the great themes of the moment: between global fears and new local solutions, the word goes back to the cinema.

The festival has the artistic direction of Alessandro Stellino, the organisational direction of Claudia Maci, and the presidency of Roberto Ferrari.

"It will be a very political edition,’ said artistic director Stellino, ’and on the other hand with all that is happening around us it could not be otherwise. A gloomy atmosphere reigns and it is the task of cinema, especially documentary cinema, to bear witness to what is happening, to give an account of the tensions that are inflaming so many territories and to bring them out into the open. This is no time for reassuring images, even if only with regard to our conscience: a festival such as this must make us reflect and nourish debate, exchange, shed light on contradictions and help speed up the process of awareness. The explorer on our manifesto comes from a faraway place and brings to Florence the knowledge that images, even if they will not change the world, can help us understand it better".

The Festival has always observed with a critical spirit what is happening in the world, with the desire to analyse reality through the political lens of the documentary and with its eyes set on what is to come: this year the manifesto has a woman as its protagonist because the female component in the programme is significant, with more than half of the films proposed being shot by women, themes that explore and overturn prejudices and gender violence.

A festival that promises, once again, to stimulate profound reflections on topical and urgent issues, thanks to a rich programme of films and encounters that will guide us towards new perspectives.

As usual, the programme will be divided into: international competition and italian competition for feature films, while the new Discoveries section will be dedicated to shorts and medium-length films, for the works of filmmakers from all over the world grappling with the experimentation of forms; in Doc Highlights the films of great international resonance and then the Habitat sections, dedicated to the environment and the themes of sustainability and human rights; Let the Music Play for music documentaries, Kids and Teens for the youngest and the Future Camp, with surprising works from the best film schools from all over Europe. Last but not least, homages to auteur cinema, with the first Italian retrospective dedicated to Hungarian director Judit Elek and the selection of works never seen in Italy by Catalan director Albert Serra (Golden Leopard at Locarno in 2013 and Concha d'Oro at San Sebastian 2024).

The 65th edition of the Festival dei Popoli is realised with the contribution of Europa Creativa Media, MiC - Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, Regione Toscana, Comune di Firenze, Fondazione Sistema Toscana, Fondazione CR Firenze, Calliope Arts Foundation and Publiacqua.