Speakers

Olivier Guez, born in Strasbourg in 1974, is a French writer and journalist. He has contributed to Le Monde, The New York Times, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He is the author of La scomparsa di Josef Mengele, winner of the Prix Renaudot.

Ira Sachs, born in Memphis in 1965, is an American film director and screenwriter. His independent films include Forty Shades of Blue, Love Is Strange, Little Men, and Passages.

Colum McCann, born in Dublin in 1965, is a writer and journalist. He has published novels and short stories including This Side of Brightness, Dancer, Zoli, and Let the Great World Spin, winner of the National Book Award.

Stuart Klawans is an American film critic and essayist. He was a long-time contributor to The Nation and writes for publications such as The New York Times, Film Comment, and Sight & Sound.

Giuseppe Tornatore, born in Bagheria in 1956, is a film director and screenwriter. After his debut with Il camorrista (1986), he achieved international recognition with Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990.

Paolo Di Paolo, born in Rome in 1983, is a writer, essayist, and journalist. He made his debut with Nuovi cieli, nuove carte (2010) and has published novels including Mandami tanta vita (Strega Prize finalist), Una storia quasi solo d’amore, and Romanzo senza umani.

Brian Selznick, born in 1966, is an American writer and illustrator. After debuting with The Houdini Box (1991), he gained widespread success with La straordinaria invenzione di Hugo Cabret (2007), winner of the Caldecott Medal and adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese.

Carlo Verdone, born in Rome in 1950, is an actor, director, and screenwriter. He made his film debut in 1980 with Un sacco bello, which earned him the David di Donatello for Best New Director. He has directed and starred in over twenty films.

Eraldo Affinati, born in Rome in 1956, is a writer, teacher, and pedagogue. He debuted with the novel Veglia d’armi. L’uomo di Tolstoj (1992), followed by narrative and essay works such as Campo del sangue, La città dei ragazzi, Berlin, Vita di Vita, and L’uomo del futuro, dedicated to Don Lorenzo Milani.

Nicholas Boggs, born in 1973 in Washington, D.C., is a writer, critic, and academic. In 2018, he co-edited the reissue of James Baldwin’s Little Man, Little Man and in 2025 published Baldwin: A Love Story, a biography that was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.