A selection of Italian movies are bidding for honours at the 57th Berlin Film festival, which kicks off Thursday.
The Italian contingent is led by promising young director Saverio Costanzo, whose film In Memoria di Mé (In Memory Of Myself) is taking part in the main competition.
It is the follow-up to Costanzo's debut feature, Private (2004), the story of a Palestinian family trapped inside a house commandeered by Israeli soldiers.
That movie enjoyed considerable international success and won Costanzo a Best Film Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival.
In Memoria di Mé revolves around a novitiate on an island monastery and his bid to discover the mystery behind a locked door.
Italian critics who have had sneak previews say the film could be a dark horse and take the Golden Bear by surprise or earn Costanzo the Best Director Silver Bear award.
Festival director Dieter Kosslick has paid tribute to veteran filmmaking brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani by screening their latest picture, La Masseria delle Allodole (The Lark Farm) in the Berlinale Special section.
The Italian duo's 21st production is about the Ottoman Turks' mass killings of Armenians at the end of World War I - which Turkey denies.
The international cast includes Spanish actresses Paz Vega, Angela Molina and Lebanese star Arsinee Khanjian.
Another Italian feature film, Riparo (Shelter) by Marco Simon Puccioni, is taking part in the Panorama section.
It is the intense story of an illegal immigrant who works his way into the lives of two women. Puccioni said the film seeks to touch on the "raw nerves" of today's multicultural society.
The festival is also shining the spotlight on Italian documentary-maker Gianni Mina', showing two of his films about Fidel Castro.
Furthermore, two of the competition favourites are co-produced by Italian companies.
They are French director Jacques Rivette's Don't Touch The Axe and Goodbye Bafana, the story of Nelson Mandela's prison guard, by Denmark's Bille August.
