This year the Alba International Film Festival is following widespread festival trends by showing films from countries such as Iran and Thailand. As we could expect, these films deal with the climate of uncertainty and social dismay that resides in these countries. But be assured that the Europeans won’t be providing the entertainment - Duane Hopkins’s Better Things claims to be an uncompromising, downbeat look at rural British life.

However the AFF goes beyond the socio-political (something that will always stir up audiences and bring them to the theatre, especially when the relationship between the US and Italy is concerned) in the movies selected. It also explores connected territories, like love (or loss) and religious affiliation.

All of this will be brought together by the demanding theme of “Passions and bonds”, an effort split into several parts, dealing with religion, politics and “matters of the heart”. Screenings will be flanked by debates and lectures held by filmmakers, philosophers and writers, in a collective attempt to shed some light on the topic.

It remains to be seen whether the films in the programme will deal with these themes in an innovative way. But perhaps the substance will come from the adjacent discussions, which will gear up personalities such as Francesco Piccolo and Luca Rastello to talk about movies which proved influential for them and, seemingly, for generations.

Mark Racz