Sicilia Queer Filmfest Launches QueerCoreCore Section Exploring Internet and Queer Identity

The Sicilia Queer Filmfest, a leading Italian festival dedicated to queer cinema for sixteen years, has introduced a new screening strand titled QueerCoreCore within its Panorama Queer section. Curated by Daniele Ambrosini, the program features eight short films that examine the relationship between queerness and the internet, including works by Mathieu Morel, Antonio Da Silva, Bonheur Suprême, Desirée Alagna, Manuela Gutiérrez Arrieta, Guilherme Peters, Matias Mariani, Roberto Winter, and Loïc Hobi. The section aims to define a new term for auteur-driven, experimental internet cinema that treats cyberspace as a space for queer identity exploration. The festival also awarded its New Visions Award to Desirée Alagna's experimental short N's Last Game (Italy, 2026), which explores virtual imagery, video games, and algorithmic design. Additionally, the festival presented a retrospective on Philippine cinema curated by film historian Nick Deocampo and the first European retrospective of Canadian director Louise Weard. In an interview, Ambrosini discussed how the films challenge traditional cinematic hierarchies by merging the perspectives of user, director, and viewer, and noted that the program moves from intimate, diaristic works to more detached explorations of AI and technology, reflecting on the internet's potential as both a space of freedom and a site of critical reflection.