IFF26 Sweetheart | Palace Nova

IFF26 Sweetheart

IFF26 Sweetheart

IFF26 Sweetheart

Today's sessions
Eastend Today: Not screening today
Prospect Today: 19:00
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Gioia mia

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Written and directed by Margherita Spampinato in her feature film debut, this award-winning drama follows a young boy who discovers ancient mysteries, love and superstition when he is sent to spend his summer holidays with an aunt in Sicily.

A lively, cheeky boy, Nico's (Marco Fiore) family lives a modern, technological and hyper-connected lifestyle. He is sent to spend the summer in Sicily, as a guest of an elderly aunt, Zia Gela (Aurora Quattrocchi), a religious and grumpy woman. She lives alone in the house where she was born and raised, a place untouched by technology, without wi-fi, and suspended in time. Nico's aunt welcomes him with annoyance, introducing him to her mysterious world inhabited by angels and spirits, dominated by a magical sense of religion and steeped in superstition.

But, as modernity clashes with tradition and science with faith, a reluctant summer together transforms into a spellbinding adventure when Nico learns that the mysterious Sicilian house is full of secrets.

[Italian, Sicilian dialect with English subtitles]

"A delicate generation gap drama." - Variety

WINNER - Best Actress, Best New Director, David di Donatello Awards 2026

WINNER - Special Jury Prize CINÉ+, Pardo for Best Performance, Locarno Film Festival 2025

WINNER - BNL BNP Paribas Special Award, Nastro d'Argento Awards 2026

Rating: PG
Runtime: 92 mins

Session Times

Eastend Cinemas
Mon, Sep 28:
20:20

Thu, Oct 1:
16:00

Sun, Oct 4:
16:20

Mon, Oct 5:
13:30

Sat, Oct 10:
20:30

Prospect Cinemas
Sun, Sep 27:
19:00

Tue, Sep 29:
13:30

Sat, Oct 3:
13:45

Tue, Oct 6:
18:10

Sun, Oct 11:
16:20

Festival Highlights

M Directed by and starring Fabio De Luigi this tender romantic comedy about parenthood and making a fresh start explores what it means to fall in love after one has already
M The fates of two couples, thirty-somethings Lea and Andrea, and Rocco and Cecilia, twenty years older, collide by chance one night when Lea and Rocco meet by chance in a
M In 2010 best friends Valerio De Simoni, Jamie Kenyon and Kris ‘Ted’ Davant embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a 50,000km quad bike journey across three continents to
M A box office smash hit in Italy, Separate Beds is a clever romantic comedy starring Edoardo Leo and Claudia Pandolfi.
CTC ST. ALi Italian Film Festival 2026 [September 16-October 13]
CTC ST. ALi Italian Film Festival 2026 [September 16-October 13]
MA15 On the scenic Pontine Islands archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea, amidst the wild beauty of an island owned by an immensely wealthy marquis, the enigmatic Elena’s arrival
M Witty, romantic and smart, this film from beloved Italian satirist Pierfrancesco ‘Pif’ Diliberto - adapted from his own bestselling novel - is a hugely entertaining and g
PG From Academy Award winning director Giuseppe Tornatore and scored by Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani, this inspirational documentary delivers an intimate portrait o
M An English teacher, who is convinced of the fundamental value of education, is assigned to a challenging high school in Rome’s Rebibbia neighbourhood.