The first International Film Festival Pianeta Mare in Naples in October

In October the first International Film Festival Pianeta Mare of Naples. Three sections of the competition: prizes of up to 3 thousand euros expected

The first Pianeta Mare International Film Festival of Naples is scheduled for October 5-8, 2022. The initiative - one of the events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute for Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology - will take place between the Darwin - Dohrn Museum (Villa Comunale) and the Cinema Academy Astra of the University of Naples Federico II.

For videomakers interested in participating, until August 25, 2022, it is possible to submit their works to the competition on the official website of the Film Festival (https://pianetamarefilmfestival.it/).

The competition includes three sections: Features Film (films and documentaries with a minimum duration of 52 minutes), Short Movies (short films with a maximum duration of 25 minutes), and 1-Minute Mobile Film For Ocean (videos made with smartphones with a maximum duration of 1 minute filmed by young people under 30). The Jury will award the “Darwin-Dohrn Feature Film” Prize, worth 3 thousand euros, to the Best Film in the “Features Film” Section. There will also be a Prize of 2 thousand euros for the Best Short Film in the “Short Movies” section, and a Prize of one thousand euros for the Best Mobile Film in the “One Minute Mobile Film For Ocean” section.

The Artistic Committee of the Film Festival is composed of: Ferdinando Boero, president of the Dohrn Foundation and the Film Festival, Christopher J. Gervais, founder and president of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival of New York, Anna Masecchia, professor of cinema, photography and television at the University of Naples Federico II, Valerio Ferrara, winner of the 2022 Best Short Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Max Mizzau Perczel, president of the Pianeta Mare Darwin Dohrn Cultural Association. The Association conceived and manages the Film Festival and the Steering Committee is composed of Ferdinando Boero, Francesco Salvatore and Max Mizzau Perczel.

"The first International Film Festival Pianeta Mare of Naples is an important initiative that we wanted to launch on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Stazione Zoologica. It will serve to involve a wide audience using new tools, to better understand the importance of marine research and will teach us to love and protect the sea and its biodiversity, also in the interest of present and future generations, as stated in Article 9 of our Constitution.“, comments Roberto Danovaro, president of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn.

“Art brings families and children closer and makes them curious about science, the marine world, civic and ecological awareness, the desire to know and act to protect what we love. – adds Ferdinando Boero, president of the Pianeta Mare International Film Festival and of the Dohrn Foundation – This Film Festival is the first and only one of its kind to tell where cinema and marine biology were born 150 years ago and to give voice and artistic expression to young talents of smartphone film making”.

“This extraordinary event with its creative multimedia laboratory of culture, visual and drawn arts, science and research is composed of many young people to tell the marine world with their language – concludes Max Mizzau Perczel, president of the Pianeta Mare Darwin Dohrn cultural association -. The Film Festival will continue to grow and evolve in Naples and in the world, year after year, thanks to the extraordinary creativity, talents, and tenacity of so many children, film and natural science students, young researchers, and film makers from Naples and many other Italian and foreign cities, such as New York, who from day one have made themselves available, together with the institutions, universities, and associations they are part of – which we thank – to work together passionately on an innovative and revolutionary project for a universal public natural heritage that is Mother Ocean”.