Ciao! The Out Takes team is taking a well-deserved break until mid-October but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to highlight the St Ali Film Festival which is back in Australian cinemas from September 19 to October 25, Celebrating its 24th year, this festival favourite in bringing the best films from contemporary Italian auteurs and filmmakers alongside retrospectives and many special events to Italian film lovers right across Australia. For this Out Takes Extra, we spoke with the festival’s director Elysia Zeccola to find out about the films and themes that are appearing in this year’s program plus her personal recommendations for you to check out at the 2023 St Ali Italian Film Festival. Many thanks to Miranda Brown Publicity for their support with this interview.