One of the festival’s continuing strands, once again Cinemalibero will travel down the unpaved roads of cinema history to light up the powerful and unique work of maverick filmmakers unjustly denied admission to the canon of the greats; rediscovering films which, even when successful in their national cinemas, were barely recognised as masterworks outside the borders of their country of production.

Cinemalibero is also a story of banned films, censorship and masterpieces lost to regressive forces of their time, now finally brought back to life through painstaking but rewarding restorations. This year, through nine programmes, we’ll fork into three geographical areas: Central Asia, post-1967 Pan-Arab cinema from Lebanon and Syria, and Western Africa – each revolving around several world-premiere restorations, including, respectively, The Fall of Otrar (Gibel Otrara, Ardak Amirkulov, Kazakhstan, 1991); The Dupes (Al-Makhdo’un, Tewfik Saleh, Syria 1972); and Ceddo (Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1977), the latter part of a centennial tribute to the Senegalese maestro.

Read the selection of films curated by Cecilia Cenciarelli.