Buone feste da ShorTSIFF!

Merry Christmas to all of you from ShorTS International Film Festival!

ShorTS International Film Festival 2021: 
submissions to the 22° edition are now open

The event, to be held in Trieste July 2 – 10, 2021, opens submissions to its 22nd edition and announces prizes for a total value of 10.000,00 euro

Submissions to the 22nd edition of ShorTS International Film Festival, the well-established film event organised by Associazione Maremetraggio and scheduled from July 2 to 10, 2021 in Trieste, are now open.

After a challenging 2020 edition, held completely online last July, with excellent results both in terms of visibility and audience numbers which cannot be disregarded, ShorTS IFF has decided to totally rethink its structure while confirming its competitive key sections dedicated to short films such as Maremetraggio, Shorter Kids’n’Teens e ShorTS Virtual Reality. For its 2021 edition the festival also confirms the Last Chance section for short films of any genre which have been produced after January 2020 and with a maximum length of 10 minutes (including titles), which have not been awarded any prize yet. A maximum of 10 films will be included in the Maremetraggio section.

The long-established competitive section Maremetraggio is reserved to short films which have already been awarded at one or more international film festivals during 2020. The 5.000,00 Euro (fivethousand euro) prize for the Best Short Film has been confirmed and a new cash prize (3.000,00 Euro) to the Best Italian Short Film has been added.

The Shorter Kids’n’Teens section is dedicated to short films of any genre for the very young. Also this year, the section is going to be divided into two age groups, with two separate selection comittees and two juries formed by the youngsters themselves: the Kids section, dedicated to shorts for children aged 6 to 10, and the Teens launched for teenagers aged 11 to 15.

Lastly, ShorTS Virtual Reality the section entirely dedicated to short films produced in virtual reality, is back. The 2.000,00 Euro cash prize for Best Virtual Reality Short has been confirmed.

To enroll their film participants must use one of the following platforms:
Filmfreeway or Festhome .

The deadline for submissions is on or before February 28, 2021.

Diary – 11 July 2020

Stan Lee, unforgotten deity of Marvel Comics, whose not inconsiderable merit was to bring us characters such as Spiderman and The Fantastic Four, said that the real reader of comics is a distillation of child and adult.

We mention comics as they are important in people’s lives, and the International ShorTS Festival also takes this into account with its events aimed at the younger generation.

Belonging to the world of healthier fantasy, that which makes us stay with our eyes open, is also Simone Massi, old school yet young cartoonist who we’ve got to know better thanks to an unmissable streamed event.

As the city is drenched by repeated rainfall, here we have the Maremetraggio section, to be explored voraciously.

Who knows whether the pair of filmmakers Chin and Zacharevic have met the Italian band Nuova Dissonanza; the soundtrack to their film REWILD appears as an open tribute to that dodecaphonic ensemble who also worked with Ennio Morricone. A film with a social idiom, a strong warning against deforestation, it takes us to Sumatra and its green paradise wounded by humans.

A social environment with degradation at its margins, prostitution and characters from court records, everything seems to converge into an unattractive side of life in LA BELLEZZA IMPERFETTA by Davide Vigore.

Yet the protagonist, no longer young and with his incredibly interesting face, regains his innocence thanks to a meeting that is to change his life, with a splendid girl at the centre of the intrigue.

PORTRAITIST by Cyrus Neshvad is from Luxembourg and is above all a sad pictorial fairy tale where the flowers and trees drawn become a bridge between a man and his family.

A truly bizarre story is told by LAY THEM STRAIGHT by Robert Deleskie.

A teenage girl has a decidedly ritualistic relationship with numbers which makes it difficult to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Effective dramatic tension carries the film towards an enigmatic finale.

SATURDAY’S APARTMENTS by Jeon Seungbae is structured as an ode to working together, in a strange apartment block inhabited by irritated animation puppets. Everything seems to go wrong but fairy tales, as we know, must inevitably end well…

THE STRANGE HOUSE IN THE MIST by Guilherme Daniel brings us to a strange house on the cliffs with a sinister atmosphere. The meeting between a penitent and his mysterious host are to provide the subject matter for psychological analysis.

This evening, summer is taking a break and we can expect a cool night after so much humidity.

Your collective attention is drawn to the exciting awards ceremony.

Diary – 10 July 2020

Some birthdays just have to be celebrated. Ringo Starr, the very likable Beatles drummer with prominent nose, a massive sort of international and popular icon, is 80 years old.

All best wishes to dear Richard Starkey, his real name, and thank you for the thousand thrills you’ve brought us, starting with the unforgettable, out-of-tune vocal rendition that goes by the name of Yellow Submarine.

Once again the Maremetraggio section awaits us, with its visual trains and its delightfully deconstructed tracks.

It opens with WE SOUND by David Carrizales. With a black and white animation film medium it explains to us that we are all noisy human particles, from early childhood to the end of our days.

“Solitude is a strange companion”, sang Antonello Venditti in a praiseworthy yet forgotten song from 1979, Stai con me. Something that’s all too familiar to the elderly protagonist of TERESA by Gabriele Ciances, in which a widower tries to get his wife back in an unusual move, with a touching dance scene. Loss as told from an original viewpoint.

THE LITTLE SOUL by Barbara Rupik, an animated short, tells of a soul’s journey. It relates emotionally to the visual teaching of Hieronymus Bosch and leaves the viewer with an unsettled feeling.

Played out in the confined visual space of a video call, THE TEST by Philipp Christopher has a decidedly cleverly devised surprise in store for the audience…

The agony of sport is shown to us by Qiu Yang in her SHE RUNS. The existential turmoil of a young girl struggling with pain and fatigue. Almost an unconventional backstage view, the hidden veil behind the applause and sequins.

We continue with RAIN RAIN RUN AWAY by Clémentine Carrié, reminiscent in parts of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in which a society totally governed by children was swallowed up by its own rituals. This short, focusing on childhood, tells of a voluntary exile from the adult world in search of a new Eden to be built.

This evening’s screenings end with the film by Pham Thien An STAY AWAKE, BE READY which offers us a cross section of life in Saigon among various levels of humanity. An accident provides food for thought and the title of the film. With numerous references to the frenetic pace of modern life.

Even a deserted street can offer unusual angles, and an unforgettable Donna Summer sings on the radio the emotional Down Deep Inside, the theme from the soundtrack of the film The Deep from 1977 or thereabouts.

A wonderful song, as we celebrate with our eyes closed the summer and the sea, everything that restores vital and vibrant sensations.

The date is for Saturday evening.

Diary – 9 July 2020

Martian Chronicles is a great novel by Ray Bradbury which puts forward the possibility of aliens and humans living together in peace, in a sugar-sweet context where hugs and mutual understanding are deep-rooted values.

This year we’re all a bit extra-terrestrial, like the human occupants of an electronic wood which we’re learning to cultivate.

An afternoon masterclass dedicated to a very ambitious young man with already several successes under his belt – Saverio Costanzo, always a pleasure to listen to.

The Maremetraggio section is always full of surprises and reveals various parallel universes to us once we’re connected.

Starting with WHY SLUGS HAVE NO LEGS directed by Aline Hochli, an enjoyable animation short centred on the adventures of a group of slugs. On the one hand the professional trials of those not known for their fast pace, and on the other a tale intended for a young audience, a double and highly convincing narrative outcome.

The next work, by Rosario Capozzolo, is Italian – IL PRIMO GIORNO DI SCUOLA DI MATILDE. A father who appears to be suffering from mysterious remorse and anxiety assails his daughter with disproportionate advice in front of the school gates. The finale is dramatic and emotional.

Instead from Singapore we have a rough outline of childhood in ADAM directed by Shoki Lin. Once again a story of alienation, abandon and in this case with a tin of powdered milk guiding the narrative.

MONOLOGUE by the duo Landi, Mellony takes a stand on the issue of hearing impairment and illustrates to us how hearing imbalances can upset the lives of any individual.

Director Luca Zuberbühler presents us his EXIST, structured as a sophisticated theatrical metaphor of life and death. The death of a young workman may be a misadventure involving ghosts and among the ruins of a crumbling stage a story filled with pathos unfurls.

A COLLOQUIO CON ROSSELLA by a dear old friend of our festival, Andrea Andolina, features the voice of Ariella Reggio and well-known actors such as Sara Cechet Woodcock and Raffaele Sincovich.

A woman’s life told from an unusual perspective – her answering machine messages.

The latest news churned out by news reports is always marked by a now chronic pessimism, so that when images appear on the screen of some wonderful films scored by Ennio Morricone such as Mission or Once Upon A Time in the West we realise even to a greater extent how brighter emotional moments and positive thinking can only come from an enlightened artistic partnership.

A wonderful song by Bruce Spingsteen goes by the name of Girls in Their Summer Clothes. This too in our opinion is a major indication of renewal, given all the beauties from Trieste and elsewhere who bring colour to the streets and squares.

The date is for Friday evening.

The winners of the 21st edition of ShorTS International Film Festival

The 21st ShorTS International Film Festival ended Sunday 12 July with the awards ceremony live from the studios of Telequattro in Trieste and streamed on MYmovies and on the official Facebook page. An extraordinary public success in this online version, with over 100 thousand viewings from all over Italy.

Extensive virtual participation from Lombardy, the region with most followers of the Festival online. In second place we find Friuli Venezia Giulia, followed by Veneto in third place. The shorts without Italian geo-localisation were seen from 13 different countries – alongside Italy, Algeria, Australia, Sweden, the UK, Honduras, Germany, the US, Nepal, Colombia, Argentina, Slovakia and Canada also took part virtually in the Trieste event.

This is the comment from director Chiara Valenti Omero and co-director Maurizio di Rienzo: “This online formula and visibility of the Festival, which came from a somewhat difficult decision yet one that was immediately seen to be necessary due to the world health crisis, in the end turned out to be a move we’re very pleased with thanks to the considerable increase in our audience. This is a result we want to reflect on in order to build the future of ShorTS as we believe we cannot step aside from this type of execution of screenings and interaction with the talents, to be placed alongside and correlated with the regained physical and tangible system of organising the Festival”.

The Trieste event has announced the 2020 winners in the various competition sections, confirming its commitment to seeking out new cinema scenarios.

Winners of the 21st ShorTS International Film Festival

 

MAREMETRAGGIO SECTION

(Jury: Assaf Machnes, Jukka-Pekka Laakso, Alessandra Pescetta)

EstEnergy-Gruppo Hera Award

Best short film:

She Runs by Qiu Yang (China, France 2019)

Reason: “The laboured breathing, psychological pressure and unspoken thoughts of a young athlete weigh down on the knees that want to stop running. The dilemma is whether to continue very reluctantly or disappoint the expectations of school and family. The acid tones of the splendid photography reflect the girl’s self-destructive thoughts and sublimate the tense and dramatic atmosphere.

With a subtle, poetic idiom, the director has succeeded in immersing viewers in a cross section of daily life with camera movements and frames that eliminate the superfluous and seem to bore right into the lead character, moving across her emotional state to reach the bone”. 

Special mention to:

Exam by Sonia K. Hadad (Iran, 2019)

Reason: “A special mention goes to a a film that combines a small but relevant story, excellent direction, meticulous editing and really great performance by its lead actress. A story of a young girl trapped between repressing society and exploitation by a parent gives us an insight into her life and lives of too many people alike.”

Special mention to:

Stay Awake, be Ready by Pham Thien An (Vietnam, South Korea, USA, 2019)

Reason: The special mention of the jury goes to Stay Awake, Be Ready for its original reflection of human condition. The film is both natural and staged, personal and alienated, zooming in by zooming out – following little pieces of life and its fragility. With this strange mix of contradictions, the film somehow manages to paint an effortless yet chaotic picture that leaves one thinking.”

AcegasApsAmga Award

Best short film:

Il primo giorno di Matilde by Rosario Capozzolo (Italy, 2019)

Reason: Given the high calibre of the shorts in competition the choice was not easy and demanded extensive discussion by the jury who were seen to be strongly engaged in selecting the winner. Nevertheless, the result at the end of voting was no surprise, with agreement by all jury members on the merits of the short which in fact has the ability to keep tensions high with a certain pathos and an understated, melancholic irony. It succeeded in tackling the delicate subject of the relationship between fathers and children, also subtly weaving in the issue of male identity crises.

To sum up, for the sensitivity and originality with which extremely profound subjects are depicted, the narrative technique which accompanies viewers in constant new perspectives, reassessing the characters as they are seen, and the dialogue which succeeds in being moving and raising a smile at the same time, right up to the finale, the AcegasApsAmga prize for the best Italian short goes to Il primo giorno di Matilde by Rosario Capozzolo.”

Prem1ere Film Award

Best short film film non distributed

Figurant by Jan Vejnar (France, Czech Republic, 2019)

AMC Award

Best Italian editing

Il nostro tempo by Veronica Spedicati (Italy, 2019)

Reason: “For the controlled and simple way it handles various levels of the narrative without indulging in gratification of form.”

Special mention to:

A colloquio con Rossella by Andrea Andolina (Italy, 2019)

Reason: For the way in which, through a planned and formally accurate approach on the sequence level, it succeeds in skilfully handling the narrative, carefully manipulating time and space.”

Trieste Caffè Award

Best short film voted by the public

Lost & Found by Andrew Goldsmith, Bradley Slabe (Australia, 2018)

SCIENCE&SOCIETY SECTION

(IN COLLABORATION WITH ESOF 2020)

(Jury: Anna Menini, Paola Rodari e Erika Rossi)

ESOF2020 Award

Best short film

Absence of Light by Beatrice Aliné (Germany, 2019)

Reason: “Thanks to skilful editing and use of the found footage technique, where the narrative construction is left to the processing of the sounds and images alone, Absence of light shows us the world through the eyes of Science. We see the macroscopic and the microscopic in their immense diversity and also in their co-existence. Nature, society and science interact and question viewers, leaving each one to form their own responses.”

Special mention to:

Story by Jola Bańkowska (Poland, 2019)

Reason: “With great inventive ability and simple and appealing graphics, Story underlines the inhuman and occasionally violent use of digital technology, showing us with considerable irony that there is no longer any certainty between where the screen ends and where the real world begins.”

NUOVE IMPRONTE SECTION

(Jury: Fabio D’Innocenzo, Damiano D’Innocenzo, Elisabetta Olmi e Linda Caridi)

Nuove Impronte Award

Best film

Faith by Valentina Pedicini (Italy, 2019)

Reason: “For its piercing creativity and incredible focus, for having succeeded in narrating a dark story with glowing tenderness, promoting profound and passionate debate, the prize goes to Valentina Pedicini for Faith.”

AGICI AWARD

Best production

Tony Driver by Ascanio Petrini, with Special Mention for “Tutto l’oro che c’è” by Andrea Caccia.

Reason: “The Premio Agici for Best Production goes to Dugong Films for Tony Driver by Ascanio Petrini, with Special Mention for Tutto l’oro che c’è by Andrea Caccia. As in every year, the aim of the prize is to find in the Nuove Impronte selection of ShorTS the film that has a well-structured production system that can add value to the subject and also launch a new directing talent on the international scene. Dugong is represented in the selection by two films, creative documentaries and both international co-productions with the support of regional, national and extra-national funds. Films for which the production practice has been excellent, with a preview at major European festivals and foreign sales assigned to top-level companies. Despite these difficult times, Tony Driver is screened in Italian cinemas, theatrical release with Wanted Cinema, from 26 June.”

ANAC AWARD

Best screenplay

Faith by Valentina Pedicini (Italy, 2019)

Reason: “Valentina Pedicini’s project and film stand out through the vividness of the style and the symbolic power of the situation and extreme vocations, in which the director moves around without judging her sharply observed subjects and without superimposing a theory on the strength of the facts and characters, which can inspire an interesting fiction film.”

SNCCI AWARD

(Jury: Paola Casella, Adriano De Grandis, Sergio Sozzo)

Best feature film voted by the jury of the Italian Film Critics Union

Los fantasmas by Sebastiàn Lojo (Guatemala, Argentine 2020)

Reason: “For the way in which Guatemala City weaves in and out of the images, giving us the palpable perception of an unresolved anxiety which moves among the shadows, corners and roofs of the capital. Ghosts that are as pulsating and persistent as ever in an urban blues which instead gradually reveals itself to be a spiritual of rising up, in a free finale that opens up the heart and vision beyond the night and the tarmac.”

Special mention to:

The Trouble with Nature by Illum Jacobi (Denmark, France 2020)

Reason: “For the ability to narrate with subtle irony the divide between Nature and Culture through the contrast between two symbolic figures: the philosopher Edmund Burke, frosty and obsessed with pursuing the Sublime, and his maid, a native of humble origins yet with the great ability to live in harmony with her surroundings. For the discreet and wise handling of highly topical issues – social and ethnic inequality between individuals and classes, the relationship between humans and the environment and also that between men and women, rational thinking and innate spirituality”.

MYmovies AWARD

Best film voted by the public

The Trouble with Nature by Illum Jacobi (Denmark, France 2020)

SHORTER KIDS’N’TEENS SECTION

Shorter Kids Award

Best short film

All in Good Time by Bonnie Dempsey (Ireland, 2018)

Shorter Teens Award

Best short film

Rain di Piotr Milczarek (Poland, 2019)

Cinema del Presente Award

Saverio Costanzo

Prospettiva Award

Giulio Pranno

Diary – 8 July 2020

Pretend you’re at the helm of an interstellar spaceship travelling along hitherto unknown sidereal paths.

Snapshots are seemingly the legacy of a life lived elsewhere with always that same sensation of having already been there, of having a sort of inner awareness that tells us “it’s already happened somewhere”.

Shorts International Film Festival is a ship too, sailing across oceans populated with emotive patterns and visions.

During these event-filled days there has been a series of moments of pure emotion, plausible also thanks to the technological medium.

Beatrice Fiorentino has, for example, curated with the customary care the section Nuove Impronte. The reports bring us encouraging details of the feedback from the films she selected.

We should mention IL GRANDE PASSO by Antonio Padovan, with an outstanding Giuseppe Battiston; but will give a report on all the feature films included in the days to come.

As always, wide open creative spaces for the younger generation, sweet and visionary young things who meet the world with great expectations. The event at the Teatro Miela involved videos by students from the Deledda-Fabiani college. An event held a few days ago, it should be remembered, entitled SCIENCE FOR SUBURBS.

Wednesday evening was specifically dedicated to works in the Maremetraggio section, an international vision always full of surprises.

Carolina Crescentini is a very beautiful and talented Italian actress who in time has gained in confidence. We see her starring in FULMINI E SAETTE, by Daniele Lince. The film is an enjoyable parody of Marvel Comics based on superheroes, in which Carolina plays the part of a heroine in tights who has much more success in public than in private.

In a brief video presentation of his work the Czech director Jan Vejnar appears as a nice young man with hipster beard, yet the subject matter of his short FIGURANT is hard-hitting and abrasive. Role changes and emotional upsets reminiscent of certain Fassbender-style stormy atmospheres.

We’ve already remarked how a female narrative vision records very different emotional harmonies and dissonances from the male dimension. VERONICA NON SA FUMARE by Chiara Marotta opts for adolescence as a descriptive foundation rich in nuances.

What passes through the mind of artists during their efforts? Strong emotions ingrained in such a sensitive spirit can also smash the glass vase of creativity, as in EGGSHELL by Case Jernigan.

European cinema, by that we mean far from Hollywood excesses and immune to the enticements of unbridled luxury and wealth, has always stored up film excellences. I’m thinking of a director like István Szabó, who in films such as Mephisto or 25 Fireman’s Street narrated the fringes of life, in pain and with sadly simple dreams. ANNA by Dekel Berenson, with its lead character, is a rightful part of this category. See it to believe it.

The evening finale is provided by Spanish cinema, presented by Lluís Margarit with his CALVARY whose title pokes fun effectively at hair loss and broken relationships.

Looking out of the window has become an unconscious mind mechanism. Children’s smiles, cats curled up in the sun and the sound of unknown footsteps in semi-deserted streets are still basically our links in the chain of life.

When all this is over and the deafening silence everyone is talking about is just a memory, we will try to understand whether this cleansing of the soul has made us better or just the same as before.

The date is for Thursday evening.

Diary – 7 July 2020

There was a time when Italian discos and nightclubs had exotic, alluring names – CAPRICCIO ROSA, NUOVO AMNESIA, BANDIERA GIALLA, just to mention the most celebrated.

These were places lit up by splendid strobe lights, where people in brightly coloured clothes enjoyed the pleasure of being together. It’s like talking about a prehistoric age now that we’re confined to the four walls of home and the few opportunities for meeting up are referred to as “gatherings”.

CASTLES by Stefano Bertelli is a compelling animation short on the actual meaning our lives. Hand in hand, a couple in shadow form pass through houses in trees. With glimpses of the sky, delicate installations of a lyrical, idealised world where we’d all like to live.

Breath-taking suspense in RED WINE by Santiago Menghini. At a charity event someone takes revenge by adding poison to a glass of wine, the film revealing the various movements of this glass.

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TOWN by Marta Koch shows the surreal night-time route taken by an anguished young woman. Animated short which explores sexual and existential impulses. Note the producers, the same film school in Lodz, Poland, where Roman Polanski studied.

DEAF LOVE – VOLER ESSERE FELICI AD OGNI COSTO by Michele Bertini Malgarini has the tone of a comedy road film with touches of humour brought by the primitive southern Italian language, yet it also contains a universal message of love that goes beyond the barriers of deafness and disability in general.

THE VAN by Erenik Begiri carries us into a callous world, impervious to human feelings, where people are beaten senseless for money and where human contact crumbles under the weight of oppression.

Played rather than declaimed, DIALOGUE by Souvik Chakraborty is a psychedelic journey in India, highly reminiscent of videoclips from the 80s.

PAOLA MAKES A WISH by Zhannat Alshanova is a film recommended for men, the intriguing dialogue right up there with “Sex and the City”.

One of the things that enforced isolation hasn’t taken away from us is the amazing ability to move through the maelstrom of film images, assimilating them through our own personal vision.

Carry on with this. It’s the cheapest protection out there.

The date is for Wednesday evening.

Diary – 6 July 2020

For Italy and the world in general Ennio Morricone was much more than a composer of soundtracks.

His scores flew in a life of their own, in tandem, their impact on film making them a separate creative entity, instantly recognisable.

Hearing about his death was a terrible blow. We will miss the person more than the personality, meek and mild and a discreet standard bearer for understatement.

July has pulled a strange rabbit out of its hat, with assorted downpours and blasts of unbearable heat.

International Shorts Festival 2020 is continuing its virtual journey with works from three female directors. But first things first.

EXAM by Sonia K. Hadad is a strongly dramatic narrative of the school nightmare of a young Arab girl. In the dangerous role of drugs courier, she has to face up to the consequences.

Viewing continues with IL NOSTRO TEMPO by Veronica Spedicati, in a play on narrative and drama which would have met with the favour of a fine connoisseur of childhood such as Gianni Amelio. A difficult relationship between father and daughter is played out through the slow, sleepy summer afternoons in the splendid region of Puglia. There is perhaps the spectre of the father’s illness, yet the smiles strengthen the relationship between two figures so distant from one another.

El LIBRE by Francesca Català portrays a redhaired bookseller tackling a disobedient book up to the final, surprising revelation.

SONG SPARROW by Farzaneh Omidvarnia is a work of animation that tells of the journey by a group of refugees. The dramatic shades of the concept fade away in the unexpected finale of anticipation.

GUY PROPOSES TO HIS GIRLFREND ON A MOUNTAIN by Bernhard Wenger takes us on a wonderful holiday among snow-capped mountains. Care is needed though, as Cupid is calling the shots…. Special applause should go to the overall originality, an Austrian production against the thunder and lightning of a disco.

The final screening is that of COMMUNITY GARDENS from Lithuanian director Vytautas Katcus. A fire breaks out in this bucolic setting, the environmental event marking out the divide between the protagonist and his homeland.

June is a month of anniversaries and of memories. Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi are so close to audiences’ hearts as to rise to become preferred icons of a cinema that possibly no longer exists. We feel it is right to remember them, seeing as they too contributed to building strong emotions in celluloid.

The date is for Tuesday evening.

Diary – 5 July 2020

The scent of summer, of the sun and the sea, of dried salt on skin.

Public life bursts forth anew, after a spring sacrificed on the grim altar of fear, eyes desperately seeking emotion, that which pours out powerfully like a life force, goes against the flow and conquers all.

A hot evening, the TV screens at home showing pictures of everyone’s friend, a great man who’s fighting a great battle, Alex Zanardi.

Our Festival continues its narrative through the Science & Society section, in collaboration with ESOF 2020, an invaluable opportunity for discussing our relationship with technology and its demands that rise and fall each day.

Almost all the shorts are animated, starting with AVARYA by Gokalp Gölen. An elderly, fragile human being faces up to a robot. The stakes are very high – a planet for living on.

Continuing with CLACK, by the duo Martinoni/Peretti, a fun yet knowingly dystopian satire on the risks of technology, on which we all depend.

Ever onwards with the women’s film project directed by Beatrice Aliné, ABSENCE OF LIGHT, an aesthetic and meditative reflection on the nature of light energy, the dark and its opposite.

This is followed by DEJEUNER SUR L’HERBE, by the Bourges/Charles/Harbonn ViaudpRougemont collective, picturing a comical scientist grappling with work and life problems.

Right from the first sequences HOME AWAY 3000, by the duo Pétel/Baranzini, makes us supportive of the likable lead cosmonaut character. Bald, moustachioed and agé and with a problem to solve.

FRAMES by Farhad Pakdel reminded us of a masterpiece of Italian science fiction from the 70s, Le Orme by Luigi Bazzoni (1975): the same atmosphere of a compressed capsule, a motionless temperature-controlled environment…

Like it or not, we are increasingly victims of a voyeuristic syndrome, as witnessed by STORY by Jola Bańkowska.

More than a resource, the element of water is a necessity, but what would happen if the public were not to notice that it’s missing? A small gem of eco science fiction entitled THE WATER, by Andrea Dargenio, tackles this problem.

From shorts to feature films with the Nuove Impronte section, to which we will return in greater detail later.

LOS FANTASMAS by Sebastián Lojo depicts life at the margins of society, male prostitution and a corrupt milieu, narrating all this in a grey, godforsaken setting.

Despite everything, we have managed to stay together even at a distance, laying down a metaphorical bridge from one bank to the other. Stay tuned for Monday evening.