Turin

The 44th Turin Film Festival will run from 24 Nov to 2 Dec, according to artistic director Giulio Base. The programme includes 120 titles across three competitive categories, and sixteen films are in competition, ten of them directed by women. A retrospective and a poster mark the centenary of Marilyn Monroe. Three female jurors, Francesca Archibugi, Stefania Casini and Chiara Francini, will lead the competition sections.

On 30 Oct, tens of thousands marched through Rome and other cities in a general strike organized by the USB union, with police deploying heavily after earlier unrest in Turin and Milan. Demonstrators, including students, farmers, truck drivers and taxi drivers, followed a route that began at Termini station, passed the Colosseum and the Economy Ministry, and was led by tractors and a taxi. The union estimates nationwide participation between 1 million and 1.5 million people, while independent counts put the total at over 200 000, with about 50 000 in Rome and Bologna each. Protesters called for increased school funding, housing support and a shift of defence spending toward social needs, citing rents of up to €1,200 per month for a single student room in Rome.