The Umbria Film Festival has chosen its new artistic director. The 28th edition, which we remind you will be held from July 10 to 14, will be directed by Alessandro De Simone.

Film critic and journalist, editor of Ciak and contributor to Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter Rome and La Gazzetta dello Sport, Alessandro De Simone has written in his 25-year career for all the major Italian newspapers, from L’Espresso to Gioia, GQ, Io Donna, Playboy, Best Movie, Empire and many others. He founded in 2010 The Cinema Show, the world’s first monthly film magazine designed exclusively for the iPad. He has collaborated with numerous international festivals, from Locarno to Biografilm in Bologna via the Torino Film Festival. He is currently artistic consultant for Linea d’Ombra Festival Salerno, Bardolino Film Festival and Napoli Comicon. He has been living in London for the past 10 years.

Alessandro De Simone commented on his appointment as follows:

“After so many years working on the festival circuit, the opportunity to direct a festival as prestigious as the Umbria Film Festival came like a bolt from the blue. It is my first artistic direction, and it is a wonderful challenge for which I thank the Umbria Film Festival Association for trusting me. I am already working to compose a program up to the standards of this event that has enormous prospects and that I hope to grow as it deserves in the course of already this 28th edition and in the coming years.”

This year’s Festival will again consist of three main blocks.

The first dedicated to feature films, international premieres screened indoors and outdoors in the beautiful complex of the Church of St. Francis.

The second is Amarcorti, a competition dedicated to Italian short films, which is returning for the fourth year in a row.

Finally, the international children’s animated short film competition finally has a name: Montoons.

We are happy to announce that the shorts submitted to our selection committee through the Filmfreeway platform are already nearly 200, but there is still time to register: the calls for Amarcorti and Moontoons will close on May 10.