Maremetraggio – International Short Film and Debut Work Festival

Twelfth Edition
1st – 9th July 2011

From the 1^st to the 9^th of July, in Trieste, the twelve edition of Maremetraggio will unfold with nine days of all round cinema: the festival will screen the best European short films and the most significant Italian debut feature films. The festival programme will also include conferences and meetings with actors/actresses and directors, special events, in-depth sections, cocktails and happenings with the participation of national and international film industry professionals.

As well as last year, the festival will bring to Trieste the most important Italian and European film stars and most promising young talents. Among the famous guests of the latest editions Sergio Rubini, Michele Riondino, Veronica Pivetti, Marina Massironi, Alba Rohrwacher, Giuseppe Battiston, Margherita Buy, Amanda Sandrelli, Laura Morante, Federico Moccia, Murray Abraham, Gillo Pontecorvo, Giuliano Montaldo, Paola Cortellesi, Valentina Cervi and many more.

Also for this edition there will be two competitive sections: Maremetraggio and Ippocampo.

The Maremetraggio section will be open to all short films that in 2010 won at least one prize in one European or extra-European festival, facing a jury that will award the best of them the Enel prize of 10.000 Euros.

That won’t be the only award in this section, though: there will also be the “Marco Belardi for Lotus Production” prize for the best Italian short film; “Trudi” prize for the best animation short film; “AMC” prize for the best Italian editing; the “Lexus Moretto” audience award; the award for the best debut performance by an actor or actress by “Officine Artistiche”, the prize “Rai News”and  the prize “Oltre il muro – Provincia di Trieste” . This section will also include the work of directors coming fromCentral European Initiative countries.

The Ippocampo Section will include Italian debut feature films, especially those that have not been distributed. A number of awards are at stake in this section, too: the “Antonveneta” award for the best debut film, best actor and best actress; the critics award; the “courage” award; the award for the best debut performance by an actor or actress by Officine Artistiche; the “Radio Capital” audience award.

After the success of last year’s section on Bulgarian cinema, this edition will include a focus section on cultural diversity in short films, seen as an enrichment for the seven art. Thanks to UNESCO’s cooperation cultural diversity will be analyse through specific screenings and a round table with directors, actors and representatives of the different ethnic groups that live in Trieste, which is a city famous for its multicultural background.

Last year’s “prospettiva” section on Italian actor Michele Riondino was successfull, so this year too Maremetraggio will focus on an Italian rising star. The talented young actor chosen for 2011 edition is Andrea Bosca, well-known for its role in “Febbre da Fieno”, a movie by Lara Lucchetti recently screened in Italian cinemas, but also for his participation to “Si può fare”, by Giulio Manfredonia, and in “Noi credevamo”, a monumental work by Mario Martone. The most significant films with him as protagonist or actor will be screened and the audience will have the chance to meet him and learn about his career so far and his future perspectives.

In addition to the meetings for the public there will also be encounters for professionals, during which there will be analyzed the hottest topics in cinema’s world, that will be also useful to create new collaborations and to help the circulation of ideas and the birth of new projects.

As in the past edition during Maremetraggio festival there will also be held some special events. Last year there were the presentation of the first short made by the famous actress and presenter Veronica Pivetti and the screening of the first “mediometraggio” of Gianclaudio Cappai.

Maremetraggio will be not only cinema: also in 2011 there will be a place for art, literature and music, as happened in 2010 with the event dedicated to the painter and carver Giampaolo Talani.

Finally, after last year’s successful experience, once again the festival will be entering Trieste’s local prison with the “Oltre il muro” (Behind the wall) section.

Maremetraggio’s strong point keeps on being its location, Trieste, a border city which, thanks to its lucky geographic position between the Adriatic sea and the Carso plateau, represents the ideal framework for a celebration attracting more and more people every year, both from Italy and Eastern Europe. Maremetraggio will be spreading around different areas of the city, from the Grand Hotel Savoia Excelsior, which will be the base for all the meetings of the festival, to the Open air summer theatre in the framework of the Giardino Pubblico (the city’s public garden), to the Miela Theatre. During the whole Festival an info point will be available at all times for our audience and guests.