Pigneto’s Nuovo Cinema Aquila hosts an international film festival, showcasing 12 short-films by emerging contemporary directors, from 13-15 April.

The Varco Film Festival began in 2017. Since then, under the creative directorship of filmmaker Andrea Gatopoulos, it has gained a reputation as one of the city's most forward-thinking film festivals. It was selected by the website Filmfreeway as one of their top 100 festivals.

This year's line-up is full of treats, showcasing a cross section of films that hail from Italy and the Netherlands, to as far afield as Somalia, including a mix of animated, documentary and fiction short films.

The festival will run from Thursday to Saturday night and takes place at Nuovo Cinema Aquila in Pigneto.

Once a porn cinema run by the Banda della Magliana, the cinema was seized from its criminal owners and has since been transformed into a vibrant cultural centre with close ties to the local community in the Pigneto neighbourhood.

There will also be a series of networking opportunities dedicated to professionals and film lovers.

Full details about the programme see Il Varco Film Festival website.

Thursday 13 April
Fairplay by Zoel Aeschbacher - Frontiera internazionale
Scale by Joseph Pierce - Frontiera internazionale
Fluids by Gala Hernández López - Frontiera internazionale
Happy New Year, Jim by Andrea Gatopoulos - Il Varco presenta

Friday 14 April
Neighbour Abdi by Douwe Dijkstra - Frontiera internazionale
Granny Sexual Life by Urška Djukić, Émilie Pigeard - Frontiera internazionale
Will my Parents Come to See Me by Mo Harawe - Frontiera internazionale
Will You Look At Me by SHuli Huang - Frontiera internazionale

Saturday 15 April
Tria by Giulia Grandinetti - Frontiera nazionale
Asterion by Francesco Montagner - Frontiera nazionale
Sonnenstube by Davide Palella - Frontiera nazionale
Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez - Frontiera internazionale
Followed by the Awards Ceremony and Screenplay Awards