The Noir in Festival is changing location and getting an overhaul in both its structure and appearance: after celebrating its first 25 years in Courmayeur, the historic gathering specialising in thrillers and mysteries is now moving to Como and Milan, where the 26th edition will unspool on the usual dates, from 8-14 December.

“It had become necessary to face up to new challenges and look for a new lease of life. We needed a plan to make adventure, research and transformation part of its unmistakable identity,” said Giorgio Gosetti and Marina Fabbri, the festival’s directors.

The next edition of the Noir in Festival will therefore get under way in the traditional Christmassy setting of the city of Como, where the Teatro Sociale will host the films in competition as well as the most eagerly awaited books of the year, together with their authors. The gathering will then set up home in the tower and on the Milan campus of the IULM University of Milan, a free university for languages, communications and performance, where it will continue for the entire second week with screenings, themed exhibitions, meetings, master classes and programmes developed with the student audience. “We wish to transform ourselves from a charming festival into an audience-focused festival, from an exclusive gathering into a metropolitan festival, and we see the ideal continuity between Como and Milan as a tremendous opportunity to build up the event, search for a new audience, and to train and accompany people as they discover the expressive genre that best melds reality and fantasy,” Gosetti and Fabbri summed up.