Festival dei Popoli - International Documentary Film Festival

66th edition (2025)

The 66th edition of the Festival dei Popoli was held in Florence from November 1 to 9, 2025, with Cinema La Compagnia as the main venue. The festival presented about ninety films, including premieres and international documentaries, with the participation of numerous Italian and foreign authors.

The theme of the festival was built around two major tributes: the films of Sarah Maldoror, the first African filmmaker with a feminist and anti-colonial perspective, and Marie Losier, author of original, counter-current portraits of artists. The opening night, on November 3 at Cinema La Compagnia, featured the national premiere of With Hasan in Gaza by Palestinian director Kamal Aljafari, in the presence of the author.

Topics addressed included: memories from Gaza, the Ukrainian conflict, militant feminist cinema, the dissident art of Ai Weiwei, music and the Florence of the eighties, as well as the manipulations of artificial intelligence and fake news.