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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 24 movies from SDAC Genova
Two girls become friends while waiting for the bus.
Jul 2025
A young woman finds herself talking to a stranger in an empty cinema. An apparently chance encounter that will reveal a different reality, where every gesture is part of a script already written.
Jul 2024
A boy from a working-class neighborhood, Manuel, weary of his life, tries to escape his circumstances and leave the drug-dealing ring of his area, but finds himself hunted by the crime boss who controls the local drug trade.
A dialogue between two different generations, within the walls of a house suspended between reality and dream.
Lucio has a daily addiction: his smartphone. He fills every empty moment out of fear of boredom, because with it come thoughts he would rather not face. It is not boredom alone that he is trying to escape. Behind every notification, video, or sound—behind each repetitive gesture and every compulsive scroll—lies the attempt to silence a familiar, grey reality that suffocates him and leaves him alone.
A young woman enters a poetry competition without preparing any text, as a desperate cry for help. When the moment of the contest arrives, she relives her past relationships, her connection with her parents, and her own solitude.
Following his father’s death, Guido must clear out an old family house. While doing so, he hears the voice of a young girl asking for help from the apartment below. A race against time begins as Guido tries to free her before the mysterious owner of the apartment returns…
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Matteo, the sole survivor of a twin birth, is trapped in a flat, unfulfilling life, unable to take a stand on anything, until a new figure enters his life and helps him fight for what he truly cares about.
A short film exploring the quiet loneliness and abandonment of the elderly.
One night, a man must confront a past trauma, realizing he is no longer the victim, but the perpetrator himself.
A dystopian world where reality isn’t certain and has no boundaries. A mad one, seeking a higher power, willing to do anything for it, even killing others. Two agents and a young scientist on his trail. A rush against time where everyone’s skills will be put to the test.
Anita’s life begins to unravel when small, everyday incidents lead her to doubt both her husband and herself. Caught between suspicion and confusion, reality grows increasingly unstable, forcing her to confront something she can no longer control.
Iris is a teenager like any other, but she has been hiding a disturbing ability since childhood: every time she begins to care about someone, that person dies. For this reason, her mother takes her to an isolated house in the countryside, so she can no longer hurt anyone. As Iris grows up and becomes aware of her condition, the help of Zaìra proves essential—a mysterious woman who seems to live on the other side of the woods and who will become her mentor.
The experiences we live through in childhood leave an indelible mark on our lives. Sometimes small traumas, if unresolved, can turn into psychological blocks that shape our behavior. Life often surprises us by offering opportunities to confront these blocks. At times we fail to recognize them, but when we least expect it, we find ourselves the protagonists of one of these situations. On a Sunday like any other, the protagonist Alberto is offered such an opportunity.
Eva and Vittoria are two girls from Genoa with very different personalities. Vittoria is a determined young woman, in her third year of architecture school, but she will soon realize that it is not her true path. Eva, on the other hand, has no clear idea of what she wants to do with her life. It won’t take long before Vittoria understands that life can be very different from an architectural project, while Eva finds a job and begins to find her place in society. From that day on, Eva and Vittoria were no longer so different.
Sergio, unlike his wife Martina, does not want to enroll his daughter Giulia in ice skating. He only opens up to his skating friend Enrico, who tries to make him understand that everyone has the right to live their own life by pursuing their dreams. Sergio’s phone call to the former skater will change everything and convince him to enroll his daughter in ice skating.
The difficulty and uncertainty of addressing such a delicate topic as consent in a sexual situation between a man and a woman is at the heart of the short film. These challenges and uncertainties are faced by the two police officers as they confront the accounts of both young people and a video capturing the incident.
Alberto decides to go and visit Amarena, but due to a mistake with the house number he ends up in Giuseppina’s home, an elderly neighbor assisted by Vilma, another neighbor who is somewhat eccentric. All hell breaks loose.
What do you say it's real and what's not? In a world where reality is shifted in ways we can't even imagine, young man finds out that what he used to believe about himself is about to be changed forever.
Alberto is a quiet, solitary eighteen-year-old who prefers to lose himself in the pirate escapades of Captain Morgan and Admiral Coen rather than face a reality where socializing feels difficult. At school, bullies harass and provoke him, making keeping to himself the safest way to avoid trouble. But there is also Sofia, a classmate who, by taking a step forward and reaching out to him, helps Alberto overcome his fears and opens the door to a new perspective.