How Filming Italy Sardegna Plans To Serve As A Bridge Between Italy & The U.S.
Now entering its eighth edition, Filming Italy Sardegna is gearing up for what looks set to be its buzziest event to date. Founded by Tiziana Rocca, the film and television event kicks off June 19, 2025, at Forte Village in Cagliari, Sardinia.
The festival will present more than 70 films, many of which are Italian or world premieres. Notable titles in the line-up this year include Steven Soderbergh's Presence, starring Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan; Reflection in a Dead Diamond, the critically acclaimed spy thriller from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani; and Karate Kid: Legends, directed by Jonathan Entwistle. The festival will open with the film Poveri Noi by Fabrizio Maria Cortese, starring Paolo Ruffini on Thursday.
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'The lineup is incredibly rich and diverse, spanning multiple genres, regions and perspectives,' says Rocca, who also returned this year as artistic director of the Taormina Film Festival, which wrapped June 14. She says that Sardegna is different to Taormina in that it is 'more grounded in mentorships and education'. For her, she sees the four-day event serving as 'a powerful platform for introducing cinema to younger generations.'
'Filming in Italy Sardegna was created to give real visibility and opportunities to the next generation,' says Rocca. 'Reaching our eighth edition is a proud milestone and it proves that our efforts are making a difference. Our purpose is to support young talent, foster industry connections, highlight female voices and promote both Italian and international cinema.'
She points to the festival's short film competition, which is organized in partnership with the University of Cagliari, as one of the star events of the festival. The short film jury will be presided over by actress and director Macaela Ramazzotti, and she will be joined by Heather Graham, Alec Baldwin, Rocío Muñoz Morales, Riccardo Milani, Aurora Giovinazzo and Giacomo Giorgio.
There's also a strong emphasis for the festival to spotlight women in the industry and this year, Sardegna is honoring The Last Showgirl director Gia Coppola with the Women Power Excellence Award. 'Her presence is a source of great pride for our festival and a tangible sign of the increasingly strong link between American cinema and our country,' says Rocca.
Other notable guests this year include Simon Baker, who will receive the Filming Italy Excellence Award, and Cuba Gooding Jr., who will be honored with the Filming Italy Creativity Award. French actress Anouchka Delon will also attend, receiving an award in memory of her father Alain. Italian actress Martina Stella will act as the fest's godmother.
Television will also play a central role at the event this year. 'Today's audience consumes stories across both film and TV, and we fully embrace that evolution,' Rocca says. In addition to Baker, other major TV stars such as Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn), Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest), Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Karen Pittman (The Morning Show) and many others are set to touch down on the Italian island. 'Their presence highlights how storytelling has expanded into serialized formats with equal artistic value,' says Rocca, adding that many will be participating in masterclasses, public talks and conversations with students.
'Their insight and experience will inspire dialogue around the future of cinema, storytelling and artistic collaboration.'
Promoting the region, in particular Sardinia as a prime filming destination, has also been a core objective for Rocca as she has been steadily building the event across the last eight years. 'I chose Cagliari and southern Sardinia specifically because these locations are breathtaking yet underrepresented in global cinema. Through the festival we are shining a spotlight on the island's landscapes, culture and infrastructure, encouraging international filmmakers to consider Sardinia for their next project.'
She adds: 'We're also proud to note that Sardegna is a plastic-free, eco-conscious festival. We highlight films that raise awareness around sustainability and environmental issues, especially for younger audiences.'
Filming In Sardegna takes place June 19-22, 2025.
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Experts who spoke with Rolling Stone say that given Khorram's high-level position, it's also possible she's a target. 'Maybe she's been charged. and we don't know it, because it's sealed,' Adamson says. 'That's just in the range of possibilities – but less likely.' From the moment of Combs' arrest, his defense team has painted the government's case as a broad abuse of power, coming into his bedroom, scrutinizing his personal sex life, and deeming it as criminal. They've been open that Combs is polyamorous, engaged in 'kinky' sex, was a jealous lover, and part of a swingers' lifestyle. They also readily admitted there were episodes of domestic violence, particularly in Combs' decade-long relationship with Ventura. But they were adamant that Combs' conduct and perhaps taboo sexual preferences do not equate to the serious charges he's facing. 'Domestic violence is not sex trafficking,' Geragos said in her opening statement. That argument will likely be prominent as the defense presents its case later this week or early next week. Combs' defense team has also raised questions about his former girlfriends' roles in these 'toxic' dynamics. 'The alleged victims who will testify in this case are capable, strong, adult women,' Geragos said. 'They all had the personal responsibility and the freedom to make the choices that they made.' Combs' all-star defense team has also grilled witnesses on their motives, particularly those related to financial gain. They've elicited testimony from several of Combs' former employees who praised the mogul's brilliance and 'can't stop, won't stop' work ethic, suggesting that due to the nature of Combs' around-the-clock schedule, his personal life inherently meshed with his business duties. They said the blurred lines don't constitute conspiring to run a criminal enterprise. While those are just some of the defenses Combs' side has offered during the prosecution's case, his team has kept a tight lid on who he might call to the stand. They've only revealed they plan on calling Dr. Sasha Bardey, a psychiatrist, to rebut the testimony of government witness Dr. Dawn Hughes, who testified about sexual abuse, coercive control, and intimate partner violence. Shortly before the expected eight-week trial commenced, a long-whispered-about woman identified as Victim-3 vanished from the prosecutors' case. The woman first emerged in a second superseding indictment against Combs in March. Unlike Ventura and Jane, Victim-3 wasn't connected to a specific sex trafficking charge. Instead, she was mentioned under the racketeering conspiracy count. The government alleged Combs lured the woman into his orbit 'under the pretense of a romantic relationship and used physical violence, threats, financial control, and coercion to allegedly compel her to engage in commercial sex acts, known as 'freak-offs.'' In late April, just a few weeks before the trial's start, the woman agreed to testify under her real name. But, on the eve of the trial, prosecutors reported difficulties in contacting the woman and her attorney, later stating that she would no longer testify. The government would confirm Victim-3 as Gina, one of Combs' girlfriends who has been in an on-off relationship with him since around 2015. Her name has continually surfaced during the trial, with Ventura admitting that Gina was a source of contention in her decade-long relationship with Combs, a refrain echoed by Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 until his September arrest. 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The judge ruled any testimony from the alleged victim had to be narrowly tailored. As Combs faces up to life in prison if convicted, he's also facing another legal crisis on the civil front. In the wake of Ventura's pivotal November 2023 filing, a tidal wave of more than 50 women and men have claimed the larger-than-life mogul abused and sexually preyed on them over three decades. While more than a dozen of the civil suits include accusations of sexual assault that overlap with SDNY prosecutors' timeframe of the alleged racketeering conspiracy — 2004 until 2024 — the deluge of filings has barely played a role in the criminal case. Only the testimonies of fashion designer Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan and former Bad Boy artist Dawn Richard have come into the trial so far. Although both women alleged sexual misconduct by Combs, prosecutors essentially used their testimonies to boost corroboration of Ventura's claims that Combs would unleash brutal attacks on her. 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Tennis star Sinner releases duet with Italian tenor Bocelli
Tennis star Jannik Sinner has turned his hand to music releasing a duet on Friday with the renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The song, "Polvere e Gloria" (Dust And Glory), features three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, not singing but repeating parts of his winning and losing speeches, which he recorded at Bocelli's studio in Tuscany. Advertisement "I am very happy and honoured to be part of this project with Andrea, who for 30 years has been a unique and extraordinary voice, a flag for our country in the rest of the world," said world number one Sinner. "I could never have imagined hearing my voice in one of his songs. It's extremely moving." Sinner won the US Open in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025, among 19 ATP titles. He finished runner-up in the French Open on clay at Roland Garros this month. The track features both Italian and English lyrics. The accompanying video shows Sinner and Bocelli, two of the most famous Italians in the world, in a bucolic countryside setting, seated at a piano. Advertisement The video features personal and archive images from the duo's childhoods, along with scenes filmed as they collaborated at Bocelli's estate. While Bocelli, 66, has performed at major events including the Olympic Games and the World Cup, Sinner is the first Italian to top either the men's or women's singles world rankings in tennis. His image as a national hero in Italy, however, was tarnished by a high-profile doping scandal involving accidental contamination, which, after a lengthy series of events, earned him a three-month suspension between February and May. Since his return, Sinner, 23, has reached the finals of the Masters 1000 in Rome and the French Open, losing both times to his great rival Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. On Thursday, he was defeated in the second round of the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, by Kazakh Alexander Bublik, ranked 45th in the world. jr/ea/bsp
