The countdown for the seventh edition of the Picentia Short Film Festival has officially begun.
The presentation of the event took place on the morning of September 7, in the splendid location of the Sala Capitolare of the Senate of the Republic in Rome. This year the event is preparing to be a real success, as only the Picentia Short Film Festival can be.
At the table were the President and artistic director Luca Capacchione, the Vice-President and head of cinema selection Ivano Cavaliere, the councilors Silvana Rocco (culture and education), Egidio Mirra (tourism, agriculture, commerce), Vincenzo Chiera (environment) of the Municipality of Battipaglia, the director of the Picentia Books format Michele Cioffi, the content manager Edoardo Annunziata and the head of institutional relations ACT Production Jacopo Curcio.
The conference opened with a greeting to the press from the authorities present who warmly congratulated the strength and perseverance employed in the work carried out by the organization for the Picentia Short Film Festival. The relationship between the Municipality and the organization, strengthened by the already approved multi-year Memorandum of Understanding between aimed at streamlining resources and aimed at a stable and lasting continuation of the institutional relationship. To harmonize and support the work of the organization, all the City's departments have worked to ensure the public a full enjoyment of the contents of the Festival: from schools to the environment with the School Workshop on Climate Change program, from tourism to commerce, Battipaglia will be involved in 360 degrees.
Artistic Director Luca Capacchione subsequently announced that he had received a letter of congratulations from the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola for what has been done over the years for film culture in southern Italy and, at the same time, the High Patronage of the European Parliament was awarded. A source of satisfaction and great pride for the entire organization of the Festival, a symptom of the European attraction that the PSFF has consolidated over the years. In compliance with the EU protocol, the next European elections, scheduled between 6 and 9 June 2024, will be promoted - with a spot by President Metsola.
The seventh edition of the Festival is sponsored by RAI Campania and SIAE.
The Festival's rich program will take place throughout the week from September 18 to 24, with meetings for schools, masterclasses, literary presentations, evening events and the unmissable screenings.
In the run-up to the competition evenings, three evening events will be offered: Monday 18 September the evening dedicated to Lina Wertmuller, with the David di Donatello Award winner Giuseppe Marco Albano, who directed the docufilm “Noi Ce la siamo cavata”; Tuesday 19 September guest Matteo Muzio for the event “Born Out the USA – tutti sognano l'America”, a panel dedicated to current events and the upcoming star-spangled elections; Wednesday 18 September the event dedicated to the art of the Piana del Sele, with live performances, screenings and talks, with guests the Masters Fernando Mangone and Alfredo Raiola.
The screening and award evenings will take place according to the following schedule: starting with the zero evening on September 21st dedicated to the Docs&Discovery and Original Version sections. On September 22nd there will be space for the Horror&Thriller and Past&Future sections; September 23rd will be dedicated to Drama&Social and Green&Nature; September 24th to the Comedy&Comic, Animation and Music Videos genres. This year's Picentia Award for Lifetime Achievement "Città di Battipaglia" has been revealed and will be awarded to Vittorio Storaro, born in '40, three Oscar Awards, a historic face of photography in the World.
Great enthusiasm for the short films in competition, twenty-three, announced in the second half of August, selected from the hundreds arriving from sixty-nine countries:
"The seventh edition of the Picentia Short Film Festival is the first to launch the approach to the tenth – declared the artistic director Luca Capacchione – This year, with the theme “Crossroads”, understood as a crossroads of destinies, stories, emotions, sensations and art, the goal is to make everyone part of the whole. Cinematography is a meeting point, as well as a hub, for the many stories that are told and that from it – from fiction to reality – come to life. Sia We have prepared a full-bodied program, which in seven days will see alternating excellent personalities from the world of cinema and culture in general. We are proud of the work done, in great synergy with the Municipality of Battipaglia, with the partners and with the associations of the territory. We aim, with our gazes and our imagination, at the stories with great plots”.
Important appointment for legality on September 24th in the morning, with the presence of Tina Montinaro, widow of the head of the bodyguard of the judge Giovanni Falcone Antonio Montinaro, the undersecretary of the Interior Hon. Wanda Ferro and the Prosecutor of Lamezia Terme Salvatore Curcio. "The event will be the occasion to say no to the mafia and yes to the institutions and legality - said Jacopo Curcio, head of institutional relations ACT Production - Our work in Parliament as Representatives of Interests on behalf of ACT has and is giving the desired results. We want to protect all artists and the approval of the bill drafted by us, with the implementing decrees underway today, is the first of many steps".
The Festival will be a destination for authors from all over the world. The shorts were selected by an artistic jury, appointed within ACT Production, an independent film production association, organizer of the event. The winners, instead, will be decreed by a jury of professionals in the sector, artists and cinema technicians.
This year's technical jurors are: Fulvio Iannucci, ILAS Design School teacher, screenwriter and director; Giuseppe Colella, president of the Campania Cinema Festival Coordination; Umberto Rinaldi, director and producer of Hitch2 Produzioni and artistic director of the "Corto ea Capo" Festival; David Murolo, film critic and project manager of the International Federation Film Societies; Luca Serafini, writer, author and journalist. The press jury will be composed of: Diego Paura (President of the Jury); Milo D'Agostino of "SkyTG24"; Enrico Tamburini for "Iris - Mediaset"; Silvia De Cesare "Il Mattino - Salerno"; Enrica Buongiorno "IlMattino.it"; Roberta D'Agostino "Il Roma"; Stefano Pignataro of "La Città di Salerno"; Olga Chieffi of "Le Cronache".
The Picentia Books format, a new event this year, will be curated by Michele Cioffi, president of the Liberi Eventi Association, technical partner of the event, and will feature over two hundred students per day from high schools and the Battipaglia area, with sixteen literary presentations. A look at the world of books, which will offer students – thanks to the contribution of the Department of Culture and Education of the City of Battipaglia – and the general public the opportunity to discuss and delve into the most important topics with high-caliber authors.
In collaboration with Liberi Eventi, the board of masterclasses is organized which will see the presence of Pietro De Silva, Maurizio De Giovanni, Modestino De Nenna, Marina Pratici, Nicolò Noto, Annella Prisco. “I enthusiastically accepted the role of Artistic Director of Picentia Books 2023 – Michele Cioffi declared – An enormous effort has been made by me, my staff and the entire organization of the Festival, but it is already synonymous with success for the depth of the literary proposals selected and the Masterclasses organized. All that remains is to experience this Great Festival”.
Concurrently with the Festival, Palazzo di Città will host, in collaboration with Antica Mozzarella di Battipaglia, the artistic exhibition Bufala Lovers, curated by Fernando Mangone. Piazza Aldo Moro will be decorated in the name of sustainability, with the Carpet that will change from red to green: flowers and grass for the path that all the guests will walk in favor of the photographers' flashes.
Media Partner of the event is the Gruppo Radio Musica that will tell all the events of the festival live on television (Radio Musica Television) and radio (Radio Musica tutta un'altra musica), including the screening and award evenings, broadcast every evening from 20:30 pm. The actors Agata Fortis and Ivano Cavaliere will host the evenings live from the main stage, with the television direction of Massimo Pinto. New morning appointment with the talk “Magazine – Musica e Notizie: speciale Picentia”, hosted by Gaetano Risi, with Francesco Effuso, with guests and interventions on the week of the event.
New this year are the two new broadcasters branded and produced by the Festival: Picentia TV and Picentia Radio. The live radio broadcast in Sala ACT will be hosted by Cecilia Borriello, Michela Tammaro and Francesco Effuso, directed by Daniele D'Abrosca. The schedule of the Milanese broadcaster is expanding and adapting specifically to the days of the festival, dedicating over nine hours of live broadcasts from the event locations. The cross-media and inclusiveness that the publishing group will offer viewers are confirmed again this year, including, in addition to all the live events scheduled, also the radio box live at the same time with the Salotto Comunale to tell the contents and background of the evening on the airwaves and to the deaf, hosted by Francesco Effuso and Cecilia Borriello, directed by Daniele D'Abrosca.
Also present as media partners were PangeaPress and Mediavox Magazine.
“The means that the Festival is deploying this year are highly technological and have a very wide scope. – commented Edoardo Annunziata – With over fifty hours of live broadcasts across TV, radio, web streaming and social media, we are making a significant effort, guaranteeing the public the highest quality. All of this year's editorial products have required a significant effort, but we know it will be widely appreciated. We are sure we have prepared the best for this year, with the awareness that we can build even more".
The seventh edition of the Picentia Short Film Festival marks a starting point towards broader horizons, demonstrating in its continuity the will of the director Luca Capacchione, of ACT Production, of the citizens and of the Administration to continue investing in culture and to see artistic events as places and occasions of aggregation necessary for the development of society, in an optimistic and productive context.
Article published on 7 September 2023 - 17:20
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