Programme 6th July 2017

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Thursday 6th July we’re once again talking about the cinema of protagonists: In the Mediateca, Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti are taking the second of the two days of workshops, Osservando La Materia. The workshop will take place between 10am and 1pm and from 3pm to 6pm and access is only available upon signing up. The press will be made available upon request.

 

In Piazza Verdi at 9 30pm the special event MINDEKI by Kristóf Deák (H, 2016, 25’) will be projected. Winner of the Oscar for the best short film 2017. Zsofi is having difficulties fitting into her new school. Singing in the school’s famous choir is her only consolation. But the choir director may not be the inspirational teacher everyone thinks she is….

 

To follow, the shorts in the line-up for the Maremetraggio section are:

 

Timecode by Junjo Giménez (E, 2016, 15’). Luna and Diego are parking lot security guards. Diego does the night shift and Luna the day.

 A Girl Like You by Massimo Loi, Gianluca Mangiasciutti (I, 2016, 15’). Aurora and Alba are inseparable friends who are very different from each other. One lives in compliance with the rules, the other is independent and tries to look mature for her age. One day Alba convinces Aurora to leave for a secret and mysterious journey.

 

Die Brücke über den Fluss by Jadwiga Kowal Skach (CH 2016, 6’). A man on a bridge separated from the love of his life. Wanting to be with her one last time, he decides to go and seek her out.

 

Munitionnettes by Lara Cochetel (F, 2016, 2’). After receiving an official letter announcing the death of their husbands on the battle field, the women workers in a munitions factory decide to create their kind of revolution….

Death in a day by Lin Wang (USA, 2016, 14’). Evan is a young Chinese buy who, after visiting his comatose father, witnesses his mother’s struggle and must come to terms with the impending death falling upon the family.

False Flag by Asier Urbieta (E, 2016, 11’). Adem Lethani has been tortured and is tied up in an abandoned garage; he tries to break the ropes binding his hand when a jeep enters the garage and someone switches the light on….

Gionatan con la G by Gianluca Santoni (I, 2016, 15’). Gionatan is 9 years old, and has the eyes of an adult. He is In the hospital waiting room while his mother is receiving medical attention. He overhears his mother lying about wounds. Sweets in his hand and a terrible idea in his head, Gionatan decides to run away.

Bowl of Cherries by Hadi Moussally (F, 2016, 3’). Bonni Miller’ vertical portrait.

Mutants by Alexandre Dostie (CDN, 2016, 17’). In the Summer of 1996, life throws Keven Guénette a curveball…. and it strikes. Guided by his paraplegic baseball coach, kevin experiences mutation, sex and love.

Curse of the Flesh by Leslie Lavielle , Yannick Le Coeur (F, 2016, 17’). Invisible men upon a pirate ship land on an exotic island, where they hope to find a stone that will free them from their invisibility.

Nest by Chris Brake (GB, 2016, 3’). The story of an unconvential marriage; the husband is human but his wife has the head of a bird. When their relationship gets stuck in a rut, the husband decides that the only way to get close to his wife again is to become more bird-like himself.

283 frogs by Genadzi Buto (BY, 2016, 1’). What can happen when you flip quickly through 283 photos of squashed frogs?

 

At the Cinema Ariston at 7pm L’omaggio a D’Anolfi e Parenti brings forth SPIRA MIRABILIS (I, 2016, 121’). Earth: the statue of the dome of Milan. Water: a Japanese singer/scientiststudying a small immortal Medusa. Air: a pair of musicians who create metal instruments and sculptures. Fire: a sacred woman and a spiritual leader, and their little Lakota community. Heavens: Marina Vlady accompanies us on a journey whilst narrating L’immortale of Borges.

At 9 30pm in the line-up for Nuove Impronte we will see ORECCHIE by Alessandro Aronadio (I, 2016, 90’): A man wakes up one morning with an annoying buzzing sound in his ears. A note on the fridge says, ‘Your friend Luigi has died’ P.S. I took the car’. The real problem is that he can’t actually remember who Luigi was. From intrusive nuns and sadistic doctors, Philipino hip-hop stars and dentist fiancés, comes a daytime tragecomedy about discovering the madness of the world on one of those days that changes your life forever.

 

Board Diary

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A fiery red sunset on the Triestine horizon, a spectacle which is hard to forget; a poetic and magical yolk, while the magic of cinema is on display just a few steps away.

 

Piazza Verdi, crawling with people is nectar for the eyes, warming the hearts and the morale of the organizers of the event, who live through the emotions, palpitations, visual surprises, but who at the same time put in immense work and total dedication.

 

Italian images, in the opening for the MESTIERI DEL CINEMA event which presents SEPARATI, product of a collective, intelligent and ironic work, that doesn’t just talk about conjugal failures.

Amongst the performers is Lorenzo Acquaviva, along with other young harmonic talents.

 

The first short of the evening, ALIVE AND KICKING: THE SOCCER GRANNIES OF SOUTH AFRICA, should be in our opinion, projected in every school in the world. We are in fact talking about a docu-film about the incredible physical and moral resources of the old ladies of Limpopo, Africa, causing us to reflect on our identity and our rights and duties.  

A resplendent message of universal fraternity, directed by Lara Ann De Wet.

 

Mare nostrum, as the Romans would have said, and through the aquatic currents of sea water we unravel the animated creation of Marles Van Der Wel with ZEEZUCHT.

As always as part of his narrative, the writer creates empathy by involving us in his little illustrated world.

Mysticism, transcendence, interior worlds that look like they’re made of steel but instead turn out to be blown glass.

 

THE SAD MONK by Diana Francovic takes the viewer into the world of a young religious man, tormented by his doubts, constantly in a battle between his faith and prosaic and pagan worldly temptations. Scintillating images, and a very topical issue.

 

We disentangle in a night time setting the dramatic creation of PATH by MD Abid Mallick, where a story of BRUTAL terrorism is narrated like a macabre constellation.

 

Stopping at just one, repenting minute of narration to point the finger at something that comes from the heart, overwhelming, perpetrated injustice; in this case they are animals when it comes to money, silent testimonies on human stupidity. This can all be seen in DUNYANIN OLUMU by Evrim Inci, and are still winning images.

 

The Italian director Dario Imbrogno chooses OSSA as his short film, refined and evocative, mirror games, one minute a horror and the next dull – romantic, and an amalgamation of very interesting animation.

Cinema, craving a muse… how much fatigue and how many assorted sequences must one go through before he can put his stamp on a work of art…. choosing the work of the amateur film maker, Johannes Bachmann who recounts many of these things in his short, DIE KUNST, MEINE FAMILIE UND ICH.

 

Extremely tormenting, like a black lake where you can’t find the shore, the winning narrative of Dario Samuele Leone in QUELLO CHE NON SI VEDE about work and self-denial, we can also count on a meta theatrical interpretation on the part of the protagonist.

 

THE OFFER by Winnfred Jong instead looks at an original encyclopaedia seller taking us into a domestic environment, and much like in the memorable theatrical text IL VISITATORE by Eric Emmannuel Schmitt, there could be a metaphysical surprise lurking behind the door….

 

P AINT by our very own Antonio Lusci is an aggressive labyrinth twisting and turning on the theme of artistic inspiration, on the neurosis and the polychrome tensions to which art can be subject.

The director and special effects specialist Sergio Stivaletti, re-produces the old glory of fantastic Italian cinema.

 

The story by the film-maker Jaume Quiles takes place in cold immobility. With PARADIS he exploits one of his peculiar illustrative fantasies.

 

Concluding with the teaching of great cinema in the spectacular LA VOCE by David Uloth, which is about music and vocal and phonetic transformations, in a story line by Howard Philips LoveCraft….

 

After a hypnotic journey, it is now midnight, the hour of witches and fantastical happenings!

 

See you on Wednesday evening.

 

Programme. 5th July 2017

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Wednesday 5th July at ShorTS we’re talking about the cinema of protagonists: other than the Maremetraggio, Nuove Impronte and SweeTS4Kids line-ups, in the Mediateca, Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti will be taking the first of two days of workshops called Osservando la Materia. The workshop will take place from 10am-1pm and from 3pm to 6pm; access is only available to those who have signed up. The press will be made available upon request.

At 9 30pm in Piazza Verdi, the short film It’s Fine, Anyway by Pivio and Marcello Saurino will be projected in the presence of the composer, Pivio: two women meet and have a one night stand. In the morning they say goodbye, promising to meet again. But the nature of their second meeting will be somewhat unexpected. For various reasons, they are both involved in secret battles.

In piazza Verdi at 9:30pm the short films in the line-up for the Maremetraggio section that will be projected are:

Il Silenzio by Farnoosh Samadi and Ali Asgari (I, 2016, 15’). Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugess in Italy. On their visit to the doctor, Fatma has to translate what the doctor tells her mother, but instead she keeps silent.

Finché c’è vita c’è speranza  by Valerio Attanasio (I, 2015, 20’). A man proposes to his girlfriend. They don’t have much money, but the only thing that matters is love. What they still don’t know however, is that starting a family could be a very risky business!

The Witching Hour by Riley Geis (USA, 2016, 13’). On Halloween night George, a fearful young boy, crosses paths with the spooky and bewitching Susie, as she takes him by the hand on an adventurous night of mischief, into the haunted Beauregard Manor.

Estate by Ronny Trocker (F, 2016, 7’). On a sunny Mediterranean beach, time seems to stand still. A completely exhausted black man crawls across the sand in pain while around him no-one seems to notice. Inspired by a photo taken by Juan Medina on the Spanish beach of Gran Tarajal in 2006.

Biroun az in by Keivan Mohseni (IR, 2015, 1’). A surge of imagination eases a boy’s sadness….

Tilda by Katja Benrath (D, 2015, 14’). Tilda lives with her dolls. The only contact she has with the outside world is with Pastor Krause. She starches and irons his ruff but would never dream of looking him in the eye. One day, when the pastor dirties his freshly starched collar, everything changes.

Guantanamo Baby by Dieter Primig (D, 2015, 3’). This is the story of a hero baby. Trapped and imprisoned, he tries to avoid another portion of green spinach in the arms of his over-caressing mother, longing for a big escape!

Alzheimer’s: A Love Story by Gabe Schimmel , Monica Petruzzelli (USA, 2015, 16’). 12 years ago Greg was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and now lives at a memory care facility in Chicago. Every day a man named Michael comes and visits for a couple of hours. Michael has loved Greg since the day they met 40 years ago.

Reflections by Morgan Gruer (USA, 2017, 2’). What becomes of our memories? They are alive inside of us, even when reality is dead. The flightiness of love forces a girl to question if her relationship ever really existed, or if it was all in her head.

The Mile by Dmitry Korabelnikov (RUS, 2015, 16’). During a flight of fancy, a man does something of which the fatal consequences cannot be changed.

Mon dernier été by Paul Claude Demers (CDN, 2016, 15’). During a heat wave in Montreal, the 11 year old Tom meets 11 year old Edith. He soon discovers that Edith has a terrible secret. Tom eventually loses his innocence at the dawn of his first love, which becomes the symbol of his last Summer.

Kaboom by Romain Daudet Jahan (F, 2016, 2’). Blood. Fire. Glitter. Kaboom.

 At the Cinema Ariston at 6pm the third edition of SweeTS4Kids continues its two days dedicated to young ones. For some years now ShorTS has hosted this section of short films aimed at children between 8 and 13 years old. The shorts have been selected by the young Tommaso Gregori. The section will be judged by a special panel called the ‘giuria dei 101’, the youngsters who would like to may participate by getting their parents to register by completing the form on our website, www.maremetraggio.com. The partners and supporters of this section are EstEnergy and HeraComm.

For l’omaggio al cinema documentario di D’Anolfi e Parenti at 8pm, the film (I, 2015, 74’) L’INFINITA FABBRICA DEL DUOMO by Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti will be projected. The story of the birth and the ongoing maintenance of the Dome of Milan through the centuries.

In the Nuove Impronte line-up at 9:30pm, CUORI PURI by Roberto De Paolis (I, 2017, 114’) will be projected. Agnese and Stefano are very different. From their first meeting comes true sentiment, made up of stolen moments and mutual help. The desire of one for the other continues to grow, until Agnese finds herself having to make and extreme and unexpected decision.

 

Board Diary – Day 03

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The sweet and passionate honey of cinematic viewing, was tainted this evening with a touch of bitterness: Paolo Villaggio has left us, more than just a tragicomic usher of cinema. In addition to his well-known Fantozzian performances, we also remember him in a less well-known film, beautifully directed and interpreted by Vittorio Gassman, SENZA FAMIGLIA NULLATENENTI CERCANO AFFETTO (1971).

In the backdrop of our festival comes a film homage to the great actor, also remembered by some beautiful words from Chiara Valenti Omero.

We are always on the brink of a threating torrent of water falling from the heavens, however a part from a couple of sparse drops, the heavens were on our side.

Here, amongst cement and stone where the female affair thought up by Carlo Sironi is held, for VALPARAISO; a story of turbulent pregnancy seen through the disenchanted eyes of a women who has only seen the bad side of life. A brusque and open end, because in some cases the dramatic climax is always lurking.

We stay on Italian turf with the surreal and hyper realistic 14 minute long DJINN TONIC by Domenico Guidetti; about an unlikely event including the desires of a man’s and a genie from a lamp, supported by a tasteful characterisation by Francesco Pannofino.

A marvel of cinematic technique! Shot in a long field, the luxurious backdrop of green and mountains in TISURE by Adrian Geyer, puts the place before the characters, who, remain in the background. All the same, this doesn’t prevent the director from successfully  recounting a story of psychological turmoil.

Misunderstandings of sentiment and identity under the coloured fog of raising ones first child; CANDIE BOY by Arianna Del Grosso brings us two young parents in the throes of raising their first child and a doll dressed in pink- intended to surprise.

Moving on to the chronological metaphor of the Polish THE CLOCK IS TICKING by Marcin Zbyszynski; about a mysterious phenomenon, our daily lives becoming frozen, everything crystalized and human beings living in perennial stand-by. 

We now return to Italian territory with VALZER directed by the Mastromauro couple – Porzio; we are facing the acceptance of a complicated reality, in the context of an all-female love that challenges the norms.

The American director Kurtis Hough confronts himself with with the exercise of scenic treatment; his PAINTED HILLS is a narrative of the peaks and the fascinating pyramids, all depicted in uninhibited post-modern matter.

The ways for telling stories of Myth and Mystery are innumerable, these soft confines lie irresistibly in the background where enchantment turns to fear; UNA AVENTURA DE MIEDO by film maker Cristina Vilches is an animated short film richly illustrated, giving us a taste of a magical night which has been created just for us.

A robotic and fan-scientific animation; not forgetting the poetic connotations of the mobilized red point conceived by Motahareh Ahmadpour for his REDPOINT, a scarlet bullet that ultimately finds its way to love.

BALCONY by the British Toby Fell Holden pushes hard on the accelerator of brutal narrative, telling us a story without consolation in which a young immigrant goes against an ineluctable destiny, and those terrible misunderstandings that envelop our daily lives. Politics, love, and social denunciation, all in a flash.

We are distraught yet appeased guests of the metaphorical nightclub created by the American Derek O’Dell in AEON; true and proper sparks of artificial fire, electronic flames, a visual ricochet, flashes of strobe lighting, all visual material admirably put together by the director.

A two flagged combat (France and Belgium) the folklore event of LE PLOMBIER from the Rossi couple – Sèron; a witty satire of cinematic dubbing, surprising for its repeated audio and visual gags which spur the audience into laughter.

As ever, dreams are desires, and represent tunnels for leaving behind our demanding and ruthless lives in the confines of our own subconscious; the roads to escape pass through the rooms of a mysterious association that seems to live vicariously through the dreamlike desires of human beings. This can all be seen in DREAMS ON SALE by Vlad Buzaianu.

All of us know what it’s like to sneeze on a daily basis but this simple action and innocent familiarity becomes the starting point for Kim Jung Hyun’s extremely quick minute of cinema called HOOTCHU.

A little constellation that lights up the screen and just as quickly diminishes while the sea breeze that we know so well signals the end of a soiree; winning in its communicative impact.

Dressed in a gorgeous blue, our very own Victoria Russalen coordinates in her own individual way: she is one of the best and most indispensable presences to our festival and someone who we will mention again in the later stages of this diary.

See you on Tuesday evening and as the late Fantozzi would say…. Let’s have a party!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Riccardo Visintin

 

Programme. 4th July 2017

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Along with the Maremetraggio and Nuove Impronte section, on the day of Tuesday 4th July we’re adding the 3rd season of SweeTS4Kids with our jury of the 101.

In Piazza Verdi at 9 30pm the following shorts in the line-up of the Maremetraggio section will be projected:

Separati aa.vv. (I, 2016, 12’). Ivana and Raimondo, husband and wife living in separate houses. Joy and pain in an entertaining comedy looking at everyday life, offering a nostalgic glimpse into a carefree past.

Alive & Kicking: The Soccer Grannies of South Africa by Lara Ann Dewet (USA, 2015, 20’). Filmed in the heart of Limpopo, the village Vhakegula Vhakegula grannies lace up their football studs and start kicking their way through centuries of taboos.

Zeezucht by Marlies Van Der Wel (NL , 2015, 11’). Zeezucht is an animated short film about a man who casts aside everything in pursuit of his dream. A dream we all share: the quest to find a place we can call home, even if it’s underwater.

The Sad Monk by Diana Frankovic (D, 2016, 11’). A Tibetan monk is grappling with existential anxiety. His insights challenge a universal human foible; the obsessive pursuit of happiness.

Path by Md. Abid Mallick (BD, 2016, 8’). In Dhaka, a young woman in dire need of money agrees to work with a group of terrorists. Once home, with everything done and dusted, she decides to undo all that she’s done and make amends and so hits the roads of Dhaka.

Dünyanın ölümü by Evrim İnci (TR, 2016, 1’). As people harm