Director Laura Samani the star attraction in the Campolungo section!

Laura Samani is to head the bill in the Campolungo section at the forthcoming ShorTS International Film Festival (Trieste, 29 June – 6 July 2024), a section curated by Massimo Causo and Beatrice Fiorentino which focuses on the careers of young makers of both short and feature-length films.

Samani, director of extremely personal cinema that does not shy away from confronting universal and timeless themes, also when rooted in the history, culture, places and traditions of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, is to present the short films The Sleeping Saint (2016) and L’estate è finita – Appunti su Furio (2023), and her first feature film Small Body (2021), winner of the David di Donatello for best directorial debut in 2022.

On Friday 5 July, Laura Samani will hold a masterclass with an audience and the young filmmakers competing at ShorTS IFF, during which she will retrace her filmmaker career together with the hard and complex work behind the making of a feature film.

Maurizio di Rienzo, director of ShorTS IFF, gave the reasons behind this in-depth look at Laura Samani’s cinema: «Laura Samani has a narrative power that derives from pure cinematic instinct and a conscious look at uncommon lives. In her two shorts and in her feature film, which has been widely circulated around the world, receiving praise and awards, her original dramaturgical sensitivity ranges across the visual and interior field».

Massimo Causo and Beatrice Fiorentino, curators of the Campolungo section, said: «We’re happy to be able to dedicate this second Campolungo to the work of Laura Samani, in the strong belief that her artistic journey represents one of the most shining examples of new Italian cinema, and not just according to a stylistic and thematic approach, but also from a production and distribution one. Her dazzling debut, Small Body, marks possible new directions for our cinema, crosses borders and stands out with its precision and coherence on the international scene».