The Trieste Film Festival, Italy’s long-running showcase for cinema from Central and Eastern Europe, will return for its 37th edition from 16–24 January 2026, with film screenings, documentaries, shorts, masterclasses and talks across the city.

This year’s «Wild Roses» programme, the festival’s annual focus on women filmmakers from the region, will spotlight Slovenian directors. Curated by Nerina T. Kocjančič of the Slovenian Film Centre in Ljubljana, the sidebar brings together 13 feature-length titles—fiction and documentary—and 10 short films, mixing established voices with newer filmmakers.

Among the highlights is Urška Djukić’s debut feature Little Trouble Girls (Kaj ti je deklica), selected by Slovenia as its official submission for the 2026 Academy Awards. The coming-of-age story follows the shifting dynamics of friendship and desire among teenage girls and recently screened at the Berlinale.

Also scheduled is Fantasy, the first feature from Kukla, which premiered at Locarno and will have its Italian premiere in the festival’s feature competition. The film follows three women in their early twenties as they navigate adulthood, gender and self-discovery.

The line-up also includes Maja Doroteja Prelog’s documentary Cent’anni, developed through Trieste’s When East Meets West co-production forum, as well as Petra Seliškar’s long-term documentary Body, which premiered at Sarajevo.

Other titles include Hanna Slak’s Blind Spot, Maja Weiss’ Installation of Love, and Sonja Prosenc’s History of Love, also screening.

Short-film selections range from Špela Čadež’s animated Steakhouse to Granny’s Sexual Life, an award-winning animation by Djukić and Émilie Pigeard.

Full programme details and schedules are available on the festival’s website.