“A festival whose success continues to grow, indeed, it seems unstoppable, as it reaches its 40th edition. The programme is exceptionally rich: from the opening screening of a restored Visconti to the festival’s inauguration in Piazza Maggiore with the marvellous chiaroscuro, unforgettable close-ups and striking subjective shots of Sunrise (1927) by Friedrich Murnau, the German filmmaker’s first Hollywood production.
And there is also the restored presentation, again in Piazza Maggiore, of Wild at Heart, David Lynch’s 1990 Cannes Palme d’Or winner. Alongside these highlights, there is a wealth of other discoveries, featuring both celebrated and lesser-known films and filmmakers. It is no coincidence that this edition bears the Roman numeral XL, a fitting symbol not only of forty years, but also of an extra-large programme.

Before going any further, however, it is worth making a broader point. The festival’s remarkable success has shown audiences – and institutions alike – that memory is not only something alive, but an essential part of life itself. It keeps our history vibrant: the history of cinema, the defining art form of the twentieth century, but also the history of the world, which cinema has preserved and conveyed, whether of the recent past or of more distant times. Through its images and stories, cinema has brought together extraordinary numbers of people, shaping collective experience on a scale unmatched by any other form of expression”.