The 11th edition of the Gulf of Naples Independent Film Festival closed on Thursday, 20 November 2025, earning widespread praise from audiences and critics alike. Held at the “Porta del Parco” Auditorium in Naples, the festival once again confirmed its status as a key platform for “low-cost” cinema and emerging filmmakers.
Organised by the social promotion association GOnaples APS, the festival aims to provide an international showcase for deserving, undistributed independent works from around the world. As per tradition, this year’s event also featured a unique exhibition of historic film posters curated by Festival Coordinator Vittorio Adinolfi and drawn from the private collection of Alberto and Sara Bruno. The 2025 theme — Fantastic Cinema of the 1950s–70s — offered a nostalgic journey for cinephiles.
A Truly International Selection
This year’s programme included films from across the globe, with 45 strictly independent and yet-to-be-distributed works selected for screening. Screenings were held on 17 and 18 November at the historic Cinema Materdei and covered three categories: feature films, documentaries, and short films.
A distinguished international jury composed of Antonio Mauriello (RAI Director), Vincent Fournier (Belgian Producer & Screenwriter), Jacques Bendien (British Photographer), Mariagrazia Paturzo (Art & Culture Consultant), Claudia Del Giudice (Photographer & Culture Consultant), Tiziana del Giudice (Writer), Veronica Rossi (Production Manager), Lucio Aiello (Actor-Screenwriter), Lucio Celaia and Giuseppe Guastaferro (Actors) selected the festival’s winners.
Award Winners
Feature Films
- Best Fiction Feature Film: Water Lilies — Chanho Lee
- Best Creative Vision: Freedom — Evgeniy Lavrentyev
- Jury Special Mention: Wanderer — Mikhail Shevchuk
- Best Screenplay — “Elvio Porta Award”: How to Survive Hollywood — Paul Ruven
Feature Documentaries
- Best Feature Documentary: Saffron Robe — Jane Centofante
- Jury Special Mention: World Without Cows — Michelle Michael & Brandon Whitworth
Short Documentaries
- Best Short Documentary (ex aequo):
– Broken Breath — Morgan Bertacca
– Chiacchierià — Andrea La Puca - Special Award for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage:
Natura viva, natura morta — Ludovico Desideri - Ambassador of Naples in the World:
The Faces of Neapolis — Sofia Falconi - Jury Special Mention: Assente — Agata Lewandowski
Short Films
- Best Fiction Short Film: A domani — Emanuele Vicorito
- Jury Special Mention: Nautilus — Natalya Lebedeva
- Best Social Fiction Short Film: E io? — Katia Solomita
A Star-Studded Closing Night
The awards ceremony was masterfully hosted by Mariagrazia Paturzo, alongside Festival Artistic Director Umberto Santacroce and GOnaples APS President Maria Rosaria Santacroce. Together, they balanced institutional presentations with engaging interviews with filmmakers, jury members, and special guests.
Among the notable attendees were film critic and Bagnoli Film Festival Director Giuseppe Borrone; Dario Dal Verme, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Naples, representing Polish Consul General Bartosz Skwarczynski; Katarzyna Gralinska, President of UAIP; and Prof. Pasquale Renza, founder of IDICOM and the Nanni Loi film school, known for bringing cinema into schools.
A video tribute to the late Robert Redford — highlighting his legacy and the shared mission between Sundance Film Festival and GoN IFF — was warmly received. This was followed by an out-of-competition screening of RESET, the latest film by young Caserta-born director and VFX specialist Carlos Milite, examining the rapid rise of AI and its effects on daily life.
Music, Dance and Cinema
The final evening blended cinema with live performance. The festival opened with a dance number by the 4 Ballet ensemble — Lucilla Cavaliere, Carlotta Pezzullo, Sofia Sarnelli and Maria Rosaria Santacroce, who also choreographed the piece set to Give Me Everything from the TV series Bridgerton.
Musical interludes by the Duo Aurea Vox — soprano Giulia Lepore and musician Antonia Agresti — enriched the night with beloved film themes from La La Land, Over the Rainbow, and Ennio Morricone’s iconic score from Once Upon a Time in the West. The closing performance featured Bizet’s famous Habanera, followed by a tribute to Neapolitan tradition with Donizetti’s Me voglio fa’ na’ casa.
The 2025 edition of the Gulf of Naples Independent Film Festival ended with a standing ovation, reaffirming its role as one of Italy’s most vital celebrations of independent cinema.