Founded 35 years ago as the successor to the International Festival of Crime and Mystery (Cattolica, 1980–1990), Noir in Festival was established by Giorgio Gosetti. Today, it is recognized as one of Italy's top ten film festivals and among the world's fifty most significant genre festivals. It has become the leading European event dedicated to crime fiction, mystery, thriller, fantasy, and spy stories across film, television, literature, and journalism.
After more than two decades of continuous success in the prestigious setting of Courmayeur, in Italy's Aosta Valley, the festival relocated to Milan in 2016. This move marked the beginning of a new chapter, aimed at reinventing its format while keeping pace with changing times, new forms of storytelling, and new audiences.

Awards & Prizes

BLACK PANTHER AWARD
Presented to films in the official competition, the award is divided into three categories, recognizing Best Film, Best Performance, and the Jury Prize.

PREMIO NOIR ALLA CARRIERA
An annual lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding Italian or international figure from the world of cinema.

PREMIO LUCA SVIZZERETTO
Named after journalist, friend, and Festival collaborator Luca Svizzeretto, who passed away in 2016 following a courageous battle with Crohn's disease, this annual award honors an unconventional and original personality in Italian cinema.

RAYMOND CHANDLER AWARD
Italy's most prestigious lifetime achievement award dedicated to a master of thriller and noir literature, presented annually by the Festival since 1993. The award was conceived in 1988 by journalist Irene Bignardi, then director of the MystFest in Cattolica, to mark the centenary of the birth of the American writer Raymond Chandler. It was established in agreement with the Raymond Chandler Estate, the foundation representing Chandler's heirs. The trophy is a faithful silver reproduction of the legendary Brasher Doubloon, the rare gold coin engraved by Ephraim Brasher in 1787. The coin, famously stolen from the widow of collector Murdock, is the object of Philip Marlowe's investigation in Chandler's novel The High Window (1942).

PREMIO GIORGIO SCERBANENCO
Established in collaboration with the Scerbanenco family, this award has recognized the best Italian noir novel each year since 1997. The five finalists are selected through a combined vote by a jury of writers, critics, and genre specialists, together with readers, who cast their votes through the Festival's website. The winner receives a portrait of Giorgio Scerbanenco created by artist Andrea Ventura. The award also includes the Readers' Prize, presented to the novel receiving the highest number of online votes, and a Special Mention bestowed at the jury's discretion.

PREMIO DEI LETTORI – CITTÀ DI LIGNANO SABBIADORO
Presented to the Italian noir novel receiving the highest number of readers' votes among the semi-finalists of the Premio Giorgio Scerbanenco.

Rules & Terms

Art. 1 – The Festival’s main aim is the promotion and diffusion of the noir genre in its various forms (crime story, suspense, thriller, horror, fantasy, spy story, whodunit...) in Italy and throughout the world, by presenting previews (in and out of competition), retrospectives, meetings, exhibits, and so forth.

Art. 2 – The Festival presents in the Official Selection screenings of film both in Competition and Out of Competition. This section includes films, in DCP format, of very recent production aimed primarily at theatrical distribution, and belonging to the genres of thriller, suspense, whodunit, detective story, crime story, spy story and to the contamination of the mystery genres. All films selected in this section must have been completed after December 2025 and cannot have previously screened in Italy or at an Italian festival. Films that have already been presented in other international festivals can be selected for the competition as long as they are Italian premieres.

Art. 3 – Films are invited by the direction of the Festival. Producers and Distributors wishing to send their films must either submit a link or organize a screening of the film for the Direction by September 20, 2026. The Direction will also decide, in agreement with the Producers, in which section (see Art. 2) the film shall be presented.

Art. 4 – The Festival will also propose meetings, exhibitions, special events and a literary section.

Art. 5 – A jury will assign the following awards to the films that have entered the Official Competition Section:
- Black Panther Award for the best film;
- Special Jury Awards.

Art. 6 – All films will be shown in their original version with Italian or English subtitles. Italian films must be subtitled in English. The festival will cover the costs of the Italian electronic subtitling.

Art. 7 – All selected films (with some exception to some of the retrospective section’s titles) must be provided with the dialogue list in Italian or French or English and a link along with all the promotional material.

Art. 8 – The Festival will cover round trip shipping expenses of the print, as well as insurance fees. If prints must travel to other festivals or events, the Noir in Festival will cover shipping costs only within Italy.

Art. 9 – Participation in the Festival is contingent upon submitting the film through FilmFreeway

Art. 10 – The Producer or Agent will also agree to send all relevant information and material (synopsis, cast, credits, stills, photos of directors and actors, posters, promotional videos, and so forth) via link to the mail grafica@noirfest.com.

Art. 11 – The festival will cover the expenses of a round-trip air ticket (Business or Economy Class according to the invitation decided by the Directors of the Festival) as well as hotel accommodation (extras not included) for the director and one of the leading actors of the film participating in the Official Selection.

Art. 12 – Brokers and insurance costs for the shipping of the films to and from the Festival shall be taken care of by the Festival. The Festival will also assume insurance costs once the carrier has delivered the film to festival and until the film is returned to him. In the case of loss or damage of a print, the Festival will reimburse an amount not exceeding the value of the lab print. This rule applies only to the films selected and invited by the Direction.

Art. 13 – In order to promote films on the various networks, the Festival invites the Producer or his/her Agent to provide clips of the films.

Art. 14 – The general program and screening schedule are the exclusive responsibility of the Festival Director. Films accepted and included in the program cannot be withdrawn from competition once the entry form (see Art. 9) has been signed and submitted to the Festival.

Art. 15 – In case of disagreement and/or any condition not stipulated in these regulations, all final decisions lie with the Festival Director.

Art. 16 – The Italian text of these regulations will be the only valid version in case of discrepancies regarding the meaning of any of the above regulations but in keeping with the International Regulations.

Art. 17 – Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of these regulations.