Sognielettrici 2025
From October 13 to 18 comes the fourth edition of the festival organized by IULM University dedicated to the imagery of fantasy and science fiction
Sognielettrici - Festival of the fantastic and science fiction imagination returns for its fourth edition at IULM Open Space from Monday, October 13 to Saturday, October 18, 2025. Six days full of unexpected encounters, unpredictable screenings and speculative discussions in which fantasy and science fiction are not only seen as valves of escape from reality, but above all as tools to analyze the reality we live from unprecedented perspectives. To narrate reality, it takes imagination: for this reason Sognielettrici, organized and promoted by IULM University, with the artistic direction of Stefano Locati, wants to investigate the concept of imagination starting from cinema, to extend to other arts such as literature, comics, video games, television and open to contaminations with new media and disciplines. The event, with admission open to all citizens and free of charge, will feature Italian preview screenings, meetings with numerous guests and an international conference.
The participation of students in at least 6 appointments of their choice (among meetings and screenings) during the 6 days of the festival will correspond to the completion of 1 out of 4 (Master's Degrees) or 6 (Bachelor's Degrees) activities for the purpose of obtaining the Badge of Honour.
Alternatively, 1 out of 4 or 6 activities required for the purpose of obtaining the Badge of Honour will be recognized to students who volunteer in the organization of the event, giving their availability during the 6 days of the event (October 13-18, 2025).
IULM students who would like to participate as volunteers can send an e-mail to lecturer Stefano Locati ([email protected]), with the subject line "Sognielettrici - volunteers," in which they state their candidacy, by Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
The fourth edition of Sognielettrici features screenings of 10 feature films and 21 short films in competition from around the world and Italian premieres.
The thematic retrospective Oggetti non identificati: la fantascienza italiana degli anni '60, curated by Riccardo Caccia and Rocco Moccagatta, recovers 4 films from the golden year of Italian science fiction, 1965, with important directors such as Mario Bava, Elio Petri, Lucio Fulci and Antoni Margheriti grappling with space (Terrore nello spazio, among the sources of inspiration for Alien, and I diafanoidi vengono da Marte), dystopia (La decima vittima) and admixtures with comedy nonsense (002 operazione Luna).
In the 9 meetings, guests from different media and professional backgrounds will have an opportunity to explore the relationship between imagination and the future: it will be an opportunity to meet fantastic voice actors Cinzia Massironi and Claudio Moneta, to talk about the role of Urania in Italian science fiction and the concept of solarpunk in reimagining and reshaping our futures, and to meet elusive and provocative comic book artists such as Devid Genchi and Spugna, comic book writers Adriano Barone and Luigi Mignacco, and the illustrators of Frankenstein Magazine (creators of this year's festival image!), concluding with a masterclass in which director Paolo Strippoli (A Classic Horror Story, 2021; Piove, 2022; La valle dei sorrisi, 2025) will delve into his creative process and his connection to the fantastic.
From October 15 to 17, the international academic conference dedicated to speculative fiction will also take place within the festival. The theme of this edition's conference is Visions of Control: Power and Technology in Speculative Fiction.
The feature film competition of Sognielettrici 2025 consists of the furious reflection on climate and social crisis in The Wolf, the Fox & the Leopard, by David Verbeek, the perturbing laid-back, female-driven dystopia of Poland's Glorious Summer, by Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak, the irreverent satire complete with aliens and giant spiders of Estonia's The Black Hole, by Moonika Siimets, the unflappable killer with extrasensory ties of Spain's A Whale, by Pablo Hernando, the surreal and labyrinthine hotel of Mr. K, by Tallulah H. Schwab, from the animated puppet TV obsessions of the U.S.-based Monkey's Magic Merry Go Round, by Aidan Leary, from the frenzied ghost killer action of the Japanese Ghost Killer, by Kensuke Sonomura, from the mystery-buddhist parables from crossed fates of the Korean Body of Light by Jang Gun-ho, by the pestiferous little girl lost in the Andes of Cielo, by cult director Alberto Sciamma, and by the parable of murky initiation, among the eddies of mysterious ponds, of the Czech The Other Side of Summer, by Vojtěch Strakaty.
The fourth edition of Sognielettrici also confirms the collaboration with Milan Games Week & Cartoomics, the gaming, e-sports, comics and pop culture event to be held Nov. 28-30 at Fieramilano (Rho). The collaboration will kick off right from Sognielettrici, with the meeting Milan Games Week & Cartoomics presents: Monsters, aliens and zombies between seriality and video games, which will explore together with content creators Kurolily and Mauro Zingarelli the relationship between TV seriality and video games.
The closing ceremony of Sognielettrici will take place on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 8:30 p.m., in the Auditorium, when the feature film jury, composed of writer and cartoonist Daniele Brolli, film critic and content creator Gabriella Giliberti and writer Dario Tonani, and the short film jury, coordinated by lecturer Fabrizia Malgieri and composed of eight students from the Master's Degree in Television, Cinema and New Media at IULM University, will unveil the winners of this fourth edition of the festival.
The screenings are in the original language with Italian subtitles, the meetings will be in Italian, and the conference talks will be in English without translation.
For more information: https://sognielettrici.iulm.it
Download the festival program here