Guests have included international film directors, actors, critics, and artists, such as David Lynch,[1][2] Oliver Stone,[3] Terry Gilliam,[4] William Friedkin,[5] George Romero,[6] Paul Schrader,[7] Ethan Hawke,[8][9] Susan Sarandon,[10] Isabelle Huppert,[11] Ruben Östlund,[12] Stefania Sandrelli,[13] Valeria Golino,[14] Laura Morante,[15] Joe Dante,[16] Gaspar Noé,[17] Matthew Modine,[18] Jeremy Irons,[19] Martin Freeman,[20] Giuseppe Tornatore,[21] Marco Bellocchio, Paolo Sorrentino,[22] Gabriele Salvatores,[23] Paolo Virzì,[24] Willem Dafoe,[25] Rutger Hauer,[26] Philip Gröning,[27] Michel Ocelot, Alfonso Cuarón,[28] Matt Dillon,[29] Elio Germano, Thomas Vinterberg,[30] Sandra Milo,[31] Aubrey Plaza,[32] Aleksandr Sokurov,[33] Alba Rohrwacher, Silvio Orlando, Kenneth Anger,[34] Jonas Mekas,[35] Tsai Ming-liang, Michael Snow,[36] Paolo e Vittorio Taviani, Robert Cahen, Lou Castel, Abel Ferrara,[37] Philippe Garrel, György Pálfi, Antoni Padrós, Benedek Fliegauf, Peter Greenaway, John Boorman.
Borrelli, with the help of his parents, friends, volunteers and others, established the VI(S)TA NOVA, a cultural association that organizes and oversees the festival's administration and artistic direction.
It featured 25 screenings, debates and conferences, including works by emerging directors Hernan Belon, Corinna Schnitt, Corneliu Porumboiu, Jeffrey St. Jules, Lorenzo Recio, Holger Ernst, Pablo Benedetti and Massimo Coglitore.
[40] Other festival guests during this period included experimental directors and artists such as Kenneth Anger (2006), Michael Snow (2007), Jonas Mekas (2008), Christian Lebrat (2008) and Robert Cahen (2009).
[45][46] Stefano Giuntini and Cristina Puccinelli, inspired by Beniamino Placido’s book of the same name, created this new event in collaboration with Confcommercio of Lucca and Massa Carrara and with Centro Commerciale Naturale.
On January 28, 2015, a first memorandum of understanding was signed with the Municipality of Viareggio, allowing VI(S)TA NOVA to organize Europa Cinema for three years.
The 2016 festival[51] saw the participation of artists such as George Romero (who had a "zombie citadel" dedicated to him), William Friedkin, Marco Bellocchio and Paolo Sorrentino.
[57] The festival subsequently co-produced a documentary about Sylvester Zeffirino Poli, a native of the Lucca region who emigrated to the U.S. to become one of the pioneers of cinema and the American independent film industry.
[58] The 2017 festival included a red carpet in Piazza del Giglio with guests such as Oliver Stone, Willem Dafoe, Sergio Castellitto and Valeria Golino.
The festival organized a live concert for the screening of Yasujiro Ozu’s 1934 masterpiece A Story of Floating Weeds in collaboration with Istituto Luigi Boccherini of Lucca and Maxxi Museum of Rome.
Seven out-of-competition films were presented as Italian or European premieres, including The Headhunter's Calling directed by Mark Williams, with an introduction by Willem Dafoe; The Other Side of Hope by Aki Kaurismäki; and Personal Shopper by Olivier Assays, who was in attendance.
The 2018 and 2019 festivals included guests such as Rupert Everett, Martin Freeman, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Michel Ocelot and Rutger Hauer.
In 2018, the festival joined the international Film for Our Future Network, dedicated to promoting themes from the 17 sustainable development goals defined by the 2030 United Nations Agenda.
[63] The festival organized screenings and master classes tackling these topics and participated in activities planned by the other members of the Film for Our Future Network.
In 2019, the festival partnered with Fondazione Robert F. Kennedy Italia to plan a human rights-focused program dedicated to Europa Cinema and Viareggio.
It organized master classes and film screenings with international authors, collaborating with Manifattura Digitale di Pisa and the Arsenale Cinema.
[66][67][68] Guests included Matt Dillon, Thomas Vinterberg and Lech Majewski, who each received a lifetime achievement award and were celebrated with wide retrospective events.
The festival included a reunion of the cast of Mediterraneo by Gabriele Salvatores, 30 years after the film's release,[71] and a celebration of Nino Manfredi on the 100th anniversary of his birth.