A return to an Italian festival with “event screenings” and audience voting
Not even two days have passed since The Interview at Sea’s participation in the Festival de Cinema de Girona (recent announcement article here), and the film is already taking part in yet another festival. This time, it’s a return to Rome. Unlike what happened in Ortigia (Syracuse)—where we first participated in the namesake festival (festival recap here) and later returned for a special screening at the G7 (report here)—in this case we’re coming back to the capital to compete in a festival, after last summer’s screening at the prestigious Cinema in Piazza event (announcement article here). It’s been roughly a year since our last participations in Italian festivals (the most recent being the Cefalù Film Festival, where we also received a wonderful award). The year 2025, on the other hand, has been characterized in its first half by important appearances at international festivals (in Athens, Los Angeles, Germany, and Australia) and in the second half by a series of special screenings here in Italy.
The selection at COLIFFE (COliseum International Film FEstival) came as a complete surprise—especially because, for the first time in our festival journey, it was a direct invitation rather than the result of our own submission. This kind of selection is usually reserved for established filmmakers or productions already known to the festival. We’re a debut work, but after a year and a half of festival distribution, it seems we’ve managed to make an impression. It’s no coincidence, then, that COLIFFE counts among its many partners the long-standing and prestigious Festival de Cine de Girona.
COLIFFE shares with the Catalan festival the aim of experimenting with new organizational formats. Once again, we’ll have the chance to experience from the inside a unique and innovative hybrid event.
The Coliseum International Film Festival takes place in two stages between November 10th and December 14th, 2025.
During the first stage, selected films will be screened online, and the audience will be able to vote for them. However, this isn’t a fully on-demand viewing experience in terms of schedule or festival period; instead, there will be real “event screenings” with specific dates and times (full program here).
The Interview at Sea, competing in the Italian Docu-Film section (film page here), will be screened on:
- Tuesday, November 11th at 5:30 AM (a screening clearly aimed at an extra-European audience)
- Thursday, November 13th at 3:30 AM (again for an international audience—and true night owls!)
- Sunday, November 16th at 1:00 PM (a Sunday screening ideal for Italian and European viewers)
To watch the film, simply connect a few minutes before the start time to the Italian web TV at the following link: https://www.coliffe.it/en
As you may have gathered, we’re not particularly driven by competition, but participating in contests is an important way to make ourselves known and spread the themes of our film.
The audience vote—though not decisive, since the juries will have the final say—still plays an important role in competing for an award in the festival’s second stage, which will take place in person in Rome, with theatrical screenings and a final awards ceremony.
If you’d like to support The Interview at Sea, you can vote for it at https://www.coliffe.it/en/vote-2025-en between midnight on November 10th and 11:59 PM on November 17th, 2025.
We’ll keep you updated on the developments of the second part of COLIFFE in an upcoming article, as soon as we have all the details, dates, and times for the in-person events in Rome.
Very soon, we’ll also reveal the date and destination of the next special screening, which will once again take The Interview at Sea abroad—and this time, back to Europe.
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