From November 4 to 12, the seventeenth edition of the European Film Festival will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Screenings will be held at the Fine Arts Miramar cinema (654 Ponce de León Avenue, San Juan).
As in previous years, the festival is organized by Alliance Française de Puerto Rico and features a selection of more than 30 films from 19 countries. Its aim is to offer local audiences a glimpse into the cultural and linguistic richness, artistic innovation, and contemporary stories of the European continent.
The festival stands out for a program that goes beyond showcasing contemporary European cinema, incorporating additional initiatives to promote film education among younger generations through the Festinema Junior project and bring local and international films to communities across Puerto Rico through CineGira. At the same time, through Cortadito, the festival supports the development of local filmmakers, fostering connections with new audiences and encouraging their participation in international initiatives and festivals.
The Italian Cultural Institute in Miami reaffirms its collaboration with the festival by supporting the screenings of three Italian films:
Gioia mia (2025), directed by Margherita Spampinato. Nico, a lively and cheeky young boy raised in a secular family and an hyperconnected world, is forced to spend the summer in Sicily with his elderly aunt, a grumpy and deeply religious spinster who lives alone in an ancient palace filled with legends, far removed from technology and seemingly untouched by time. The clash between his modern world and his aunt’s world of faith, angels, and superstitions is inevitable. Yet, amid arguments and misunderstandings, a deep and unexpected bond slowly begins to emerge.
Saturday, November 7, 3:45 PM – Theater 1, 90 min.
Sunday, November 8, 1:30 PM – Theater 4, 90 min.
La Grazia (2025), directed by Paolo Sorrentino. The film follows the final months of Mariano De Santis’s term as President of the Italian Republic. A widower and a man deeply devoted to his daughter, he must confront difficult decisions concerning end-of-life issues and requests for pardons from two prisoners, navigating a delicate balance between the law, conscience, and moral responsibility.
Saturday, November 7, 6:30 PM – Theater 4, 133 min.
Primavera (2025), directed by Damiano Michieletto. Loosely based on Stabat Mater, the novel by Tiziano Scarpa that won the 2009 Strega Prize, the film tells the story of Cecilia, a young and talented violinist raised at the Ospedale della Pietà, Venice’s largest orphanage. The arrival of a new music teacher, Antonio Vivaldi, radically changes her life.
Saturday, November 7, 9:30 PM – Theater 4, 110 min.
Monday, November 9, 6:15 PM – Theater 4, 110 min.
For information and tickets, visit the festival’s website: https://www.festivaldecineeuropeo.com