Italy Selects Maura Delpero’s Venice Silver Lion Winner “Vermiglio” for Best International Feature Oscar

Italy has selected Maura Delpero’s Venice Silver Lion winner “Vermiglio” as its entry for the best international feature Oscar.

won the Grand Jury Prize in Competition at Venice earlier this month. Set in 1944 in the Italian alpine village after which the film is named, it sees the arrival of a deserter soldier disrupt the life of the village teacher and his family, as the eldest daughter falls in love with him.

Produced by Francesca Andreoli, Santiago Fondevila, Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli, and Delpero for Italy’s Cinedora in co-production with France’s Charades Productions and Belgium’s Versus Production.

Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights on the film following its Venice win; Charades handles worldwide sales, having struck the North American deal alongside Anonymous Content.

was selected from 19 submissions to represent Italy, alongside other eligible titles including Paolo Sorrentino’s Cannes Competition title “Parthenope” and Venice films “Battleground” from Gianni Amelio and “The Time It Takes” from Francesca Comencini.

Italy has won the international feature prize on 11 occasions, most recently with Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” in 2013. Those wins came from 30 total nominations, with Matteo Garrone’s “” and Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” nominated in 2024 and 2022, respectively.