The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival returns to Perth this October

Presented by Palace in association with Luna Palace, the ST. ALi Italian Film Festival takes place across various venues: Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema.

Transporting audiences to Italy with a stunning selection of the best in contemporary Italian cinema, this year’s festival features award-winning dramas, comedies and documentaries perfectly timed for the start of Spring. The lineup boasts a film for all tastes, from war drama Comadante, to romance (the decades-spanning Parthenope), comedy (Marcello Mio), to true stories (Montessori, which will be shown on opening night along with servings of antipasti, Prosecco, Italian beer and gelato). There’s also the closing film The Conclave – with an all-star cast that includes Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci.

So far from the jam-packed schedule, I’ve seen the intense psychological thriller, Trust. Directed by award-winning Daniele Luchetti, Trust is based on Domenico Starnone’s acclaimed novel Confidenza, and explores dark themes of self-loathing and lust to expose the fragile duality of love and fear that resonates in human experience.

A beloved and successful high school teacher whose pedagogy is not based on teaching principles rather “pedagogy of affection” has an affair with former student, the rebellious and intelligent Teresa (Federica Rosellini). They share their deepest secret forever, bonding them in a complex relationship of love, lust and distrust. Eventually, Teresa threatens to reveal their secret, creating a simmering tension and unease in the possible unravelling of a respected, flourishing academic author.

Trust burns the question of affection over principles as life’s key motivation, and looks at the cost of protecting a dark secret. The teacher, Pietro (Elio Germano), who on surface appears to be a hero to everyone he “touches” as mentor, faces a life-long mental crisis, tormented by being exposed.

I enjoyed the quiet thrill of fear in this film. The director doesn’t push crime/thriller tropes and it was unexpected  in the way the story weaves further into the shadowy depth of intrigue as to what the ‘secret’ might be.

The women in the film are an interesting canvas, quietly progressing the ‘Me Too’ movement, as their conflict with sexual harassment by their professors is only scratched at surface level but enough to cast doubt over all the male antagonists. The story provides admiration and empathy for the women in their devoted role as wives and scholars who submit to the power of patriarchy, as the men take the glory at their sacrifice.

Annette McCubbin

The ST. ALi Italian Film Festival returns to Perth this October 3-23, 2024.

Full program and ticket purchases available at lunapalace.com.au.