Giffoni Shock, the Creative Revolution: the first edition from 16 to 20 April

For artists aged 18 to 35, applications open until March 27.

Creativity, innovation, change, revolution, identity. These are some of the words that will form the backbone of the first edition of Giffoni Shock, scheduled from April 16 to 20 in the spaces of the Multimedia Valley (Giffoni Valle Piana). Five days of activities and meetings aimed at girls and boys, in the name of the contamination of genres, styles and ideas.

Giffoni, in more than half a century of history, has amazed the world with innovative cultural proposals and new projects, arousing clamor and wonder. Today it is ready to launch a new event that wants to explore art in its most original forms. The word "Shock" evokes transformation, a sudden break, an idea that overturns the balance and opens new perspectives. The Shock of Giffoni is a wave of energy that crosses the foundations of the present time, destroys misunderstandings between different generations and superficial conventions, generates space for new ideas and new opportunities.

O Casciunciello, the first alphabet for the Neapolitan language April 14, 2025 - 14:37

This first edition starts from three provocative sentences that collect the fundamental themes that will be addressed during the event:

· It's not true that we want to be happy

· It's not true that we like others

· It's not true that we are creative

The challenge will be to intercept, through dialogue with exponents of the world of culture, art and current affairs, the arguments suitable to contradict and subvert these three negations. It is therefore an opportunity for this new generation to break down stereotypes, to tell and define themselves with their own voice and ideas.

All this will take place in the form of a show that brings together debates, workshops, performances, artistic productions and events dedicated to some of the most pressing issues of contemporary times.

Giffoni Shock is not a festival. It is a dynamic and participatory event, a celebration generated by the energy that arises when imagination and reality explore and reveal each other, an original idea to reveal new forms of artistic expression, a portal to the future, a territory for dreamers.

Also on the program is a selection of unpublished works that represent the new forms and frontiers of contemporary artistic expression. Not only cinema, therefore, but also space for many other forms of storytelling and artistic expression, in a path of activities that crosses and reveals the links between distant contexts.

A section of the project is dedicated to a residential laboratory that will see the formation of a collective of ten young artists, called to live an unprecedented collaborative production experience. Painters and illustrators, photographers, actors, musicians and composers, writers, poets, digital artists, videomakers, performance artists will find a space where they can explore new forms of inspiration and participate in an interdisciplinary dialogue.

Different creative experiences will meet, imagine paths together, finding in the freedom of experimentation a possibility to cross the boundaries between disciplines and to open spaces for the birth of new ideas. Each artist will be encouraged to trace a personal path, but will also be integrated into a collective process.

Find out how to participate, you have until March 27th: https://giffoni.it/shock/giffoner/artist/

“Giffoni Shock is our response to the need for cultural and artistic renewal. It is an invitation to reawaken the collective conscience, to deal with a cultural and social panorama that has been static for too long. The need for a shock is revealed in the areas of society that require reform, in the traditions that need a new breath of life and in the creative practices that seek new directions. – explains Luca Apolito, artistic director of Giffoni – The dialogue between generations is intermittent, often inadequate, affected by the illusion of distance, by antiquated conventions and superficial beliefs. Too often we talk about young people without giving voice to young people. Shock wants to question common judgments and frequent preconceptions about the new generation to evaluate their reasons, validity and validity. It will be the ideal context to reveal erroneous conventions, historical misunderstandings, partial interpretations and prejudices”.

You are not an artist but you still want to participate in Giffoni Shock? If you are between 18 and 35 years old, you have until March 27 to register and experience interactive shows, meetings, masterclasses and workshops as a protagonist: https://giffoni.it/shock/giffoner/talker/

"Giffoni is always ready to launch new challenges. This is its strength, the energy generated in 54 years that continues to increase, the ability to look at the world around us with the visionary wonder of the youngest and, at the same time, to decode it with the wisdom of those who have ground out experiences – says Jacopo Gubitosi, general manager of Giffoni – We have always been the home of contaminations and experimentations and we could not help but imagine something totally new and revolutionary to continue to dialogue, in an increasingly intense way, with our boys and girls. I am sure that it will be an extraordinary debut, full of passion and talent, which will be followed by many new editions that will not fail to surprise and excite our audience”.

We are still waiting for a definitive agreement between the central government and the Campania Region on the Cohesion and Development Funds, which will allow the realization of the 54th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival, scheduled from 19 to 28 July. Uncertainty remains and we hope for an immediate institutional dialogue that will lead to the solution of this unprecedented situation. To date, there are thousands of applications to be part of the festival juries and the organization is working to be ready to manage such a massive project. While waiting for developments, the focus now shifts to Giffoni Shock, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture - General Directorate of Cinema and Audiovisual as a special project. The initiative is not included in the line of financing linked to the 2024 year.