Laura Lippman had much to say about her book Lady in the Lake, newly published in Italian, and above all, the two main characters: Maddie Schwarz and Cleo Sherwood.

Antonio Capuano and Dario Argento take center-stage on day two of Noir in Festival. Two films by Caligari Prize contenders premiere on Saturday: A Classic Horror Story and Calibro 9. Diario di spezie bows in the International Competition. Simona Vinci and Stefano Vicario present their new novels.

First up in the spotlight, Italy’s heavyweights in the fields of literature and film, and that means the five finalists for the Giorgio Scerbanenco Award, which singles out, every year, the best Italian novel in genre fiction, and the six finalists for the Claudio Caligari Prize, an accolade bestowed jointly with IULM University, to honor the best Italian genre film.

The new edition of Noir in Festival is finally taking place in person, after the online 2020 edition. It features seven films in competition, the Manetti Bros.’ Diabolik as the closing film, the Caligari Prize, the Conversations and their presentations of the latest book releases, the Raymond Chandler Award, and other events and dialogues, all tinged with noir.

photo by Emanuele Scorcelletti The French author, well-known and widely read the world over despite his young age, is the recipient of Noir in Festival’s prestigious lifetime achievement award.