This year’s Italian presence at Cannes – one entry in competition by veteran auteur Mario Martone and two by young directors that landed slots in Un Certain Regard – accurately reflects the current state of Cinema Italiano.

Broadly speaking, following a protracted growth spurt, there has been a slowdown in production activity caused by the fact that the government has been dithering with modifications on tax incentives for local film and TV productions, which has stalled the greenlight process, especially for bigger-budget Italian movies.

But even though getting films financed has gotten tougher, a new generation of directors is bubbling under, alongside well-known names such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino, Alice Rohrwacher and Nanni Moretti.

“I have the impression that once again we are seeing young [Italian] directors emerging and this is formidable,” Thierry Fremaux noted while announcing the lineup. The Cannes boss went on to add that “Italy is historically a great moviemaking country and this continues to be true.”

As Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of state broadcaster RAI’s RAI Cinema film arm, has pointed out, this year’s Italian selection at Cannes – all of which RAI supported – comprise “very diverse but also complementary ways of telling stories that encapsulate the various souls of our production output.”

Martone, who last competed for the Palme d’Or in 2022 with “Nostalgia,” is back on the Croisette with “Fuori,” a biopic of feminist writer Goliarda Sapienza – best known for posthumously published erotic novel “The Art of Joy” – starring Valeria Golino and Matilda De Angelis (“Citadel: Diana”). “Fuori,” which translates as “Outside,” depicts Sapienza during the 1980s when, after “The Art of Joy” is rejected by the Italian publishing world, she ends up in a Rome prison for stealing jewelry and forges a deep bond with a repeat offender and political activist named Roberta. The bond deepens once they are both out of jail.

Directorial duo Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis, who in 2022 made a splash at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight with their surreal fable “The Tale of King Crab,” are also back. This time in Un Certain Regard with Tuscany-set Western “Heads or Tails?,” starring John C. Reilly as Buffalo Bill, inspired by a true event that took place during Buffalo Bill’s stay in Italy. Along with the Oscar-nominated U.S. actor – who co-starred with Joaquin Phoenix in Jacques Audiard’s Western “The Sisters Brothers” – the top notch “Heads or Tails?” cast also comprises rising French star Nadia Tereszkiewicz (“Red Island,” “The Crime Is Mine”) and Italy’s Alessandro Borghi (“The Eight Mountains,” “Supersex”), in lead roles.

Young under-the-radar director Francesco Sossai pulled the biggest coup by landing in Un Certain Regard with his road movie “The Last One for the Road.” It’s about two broke, bar-hopping 50-somethings who meet a shy and aimless architecture student. “The three men embark on a chaotic road trip through the Venetian plains where bad advice, hangovers and unexpected friendship shake up the young man’s future plans for life and love,” according to the synopsis.

Italy’s film community is also proud that A-list actor Pierfrancesco Favino, who last year served on the Cannes jury headed by Greta Gerwig, is returning as protagonist of Directors’ Fortnight opener “Enzo,” by French director Robin Campillo (“120 BPM”), in which Favino plays a rebellious boy’s dad whose intuitions about his child are “more maternal than paternal,” he says.

This year’s close cinematic ties between Italy and France are also reflected in the fun fact that actor Alba Rohrwacher serves on this year’s main Cannes jury while her sister Alice Rohrwacher is presiding over the Cannes Caméra d’Or jury panel.