Just days before opening its second edition, the Italian Global Series is adding another major international name to its program. Natasha Lyonne, the award-winning American actress, writer and producer, will be among the guests of the festival, which runs from July 3 to 11 in Rimini and Riccione.
Lyonne, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary television, will take part in an exclusive conversation with the festival audience on Friday, July 10, at 12:00 p.m. in Sala Polissena at Palariccione. The event will offer a closer look at a career that has moved across cult cinema, mainstream comedy, prestige streaming, independent production and, more recently, the creative frontiers of artificial intelligence.
Natasha Lyonne Brings Poker Face to Riccione
Following the panel, the festival will screen the first episode of the second season of Poker Face, the mystery series created by Rian Johnson. The new season arrives exclusively on Sky and streaming on NOW in July, after the first season reached the platform in May.
The Italian Global Series will also honor Lyonne on the evening of Saturday, July 11, when she receives the Maximo Excellence Award on the stage of the Galli Theatre in Rimini. The recognition places her at the center of a festival edition increasingly built around major international talent and the evolving role of series as a global creative language.
Best known to global audiences as Nicky Nichols in Orange Is the New Black, Lyonne has become one of television’s most recognizable and unconventional performers. Her screen career began long before the streaming boom, with early work alongside filmmakers such as Woody Allen in Everyone Says I Love You, followed by roles in pop culture landmarks including American Pie and Scary Movie 2.
In recent years, however, Lyonne has emerged not only as an actress but as a creative force behind some of the most original work in American television. She co-created and starred in Russian Doll, the genre-bending Netflix series that won three Emmy Awards and helped establish her as a leading figure in a new wave of auteur-driven television.
With Poker Face, Lyonne reached a new level of critical recognition. Playing Charlie Cale, a singular investigator with an instinct for detecting lies, she brought a fresh, offbeat energy to the mystery format. The role earned her two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, confirming her position as one of the most original performers working in series today.
Her creative work now extends well beyond acting. Lyonne is also active as a producer through her Animal Pictures label, which develops and supports independent audiovisual projects. That role has strengthened her profile as a creative leader able to move between performance, production and the wider business of storytelling.
The actress has also continued to explore other forms of narration. She recently performed the audiobook SPACE: 1972, the second chapter of an alternate-history saga written by The Simpsons writer Bill Oakley, set in a world where John F. Kennedy was never assassinated.
The Italian Global Series Adds Another International Voice
Her presence at Italian Global Series adds another layer to a second edition already shaped by high-profile guests, conversations and screenings. By bringing Lyonne to Riccione and Rimini, the festival is not simply celebrating a familiar television star. It is highlighting a figure who reflects where the series industry is heading: toward more hybrid careers, more personal creative brands and a closer relationship between performance, production and innovation.
The Italian Global Series is conceived and organized by APA – Association of Audiovisual Producers with the support of the Ministry of Culture , in collaboration with Cinecittà , with the support of the Ministry of Culture , the Emilia-Romagna Region and APT Servizi Emilia-Romagna , the Municipalities of Rimini and Riccione and AGIS , with the contribution of SIAE – Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, Enel and Gruppo FS , directed by Marco Spagnoli.
