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Cortinametraggio was born in the 90s from an idea of Maddalena Mayneri. The event, now in its eighteenth edition, is the first and most important short film festival in Italy. Cortinametraggio has always been a hotbed of talent and has been the launching pad for established directors, including Paolo Genovese, Giuseppe Marco Albano, Alessandro Capitani, Michela Andreozzi, Massimo Cappelli, Cristian Marazziti, Luca Miniero, Violante Placido and many others. In 2023 the event will take place from 21 to 26 March in Cortina D’Ampezzo. In addition to the screenings, meetings, exhibitions, workshops, tributes and appointments are planned, all in a double mode, live and in streaming. This year, the face of the 18th edition of Cortinametraggio will be Chiara Vinci and Niccolò Gentili, also in the role of artistic director of the kermesse. They have the image of the poster launching the next edition.
The 2023 edition, which will take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, will see the competition compete 26 short filmsidentified after an important and very accurate selection work among the 421 works arrived from all over Italy, a real record for the event which is confirmed as the most important reality in the country for the world of short films.
With these words the founder and President of Cortinametraggio Maddalena Mayneri officially announced the works in the competition: «We are very proud of the record number of talents who have chosen to submit their works to Cortinametraggio this year, proving how much our review is now a real rite of passage for directors, actors and insiders.
For the director of the short film section Niccolo Gentili: «We have tried to build a selection that does not take into account distinctions or narrative threads, choosing the shorts only on the basis of their value and the expressed talent of those who made them. A selection, that of this year, which presents, with an incredible heterogeneity of genres – western, horror, comedy, drama, etc. – the most interesting and courageous voices in the panorama of the Italian short film. A concrete testimony of the flourishing potential of the Italian cinema of the future, increasingly the bearer of courage, ambition and originality.»
Also this year the festival will offer a week full of innovative proposals, able not only to tell the state of the art of Italian short film but also to identify and discover new talents in the world of cinema: in fact, short films are often a springboard, an opportunity to test oneself and challenge conventions, languages and canons, in a short and incisive format. For this reason, every year Cortinametraggio mobilizes directors, actors, journalists, critics, producers and distributors eager to invest in new promises.
Back again this year, in addition to the award for the absolute best short and the prizes awarded by the official juries of the Festival made up of very high-profile personalities from the world of cinema and journalism, the Audience Awardthrough the vote of the popular jury, thanks to the collaboration with the main media partner The Film Club.
Furthermore, the multi-channel platform launched by Minerva Pictures – the first in Italy to commit to bringing viewers back to theaters by giving its premium subscribers admissions to the cinema – will host the works in competition, making them available in streaming at an exceptionally discounted price during the week of the festival to give even more visibility to the competing shorts. The Film Club is accessible not only from the website www.thefilmclub.it, but also by downloading the app for iOS and Android on smartphones and tablets, and via AirPlay, Chromecast and Samsung Smart TVs.
The 26 short films are works of high quality and from the great variety of genres – not only comedy and drama but also horror, science fiction, thriller, crime – and thematic: from stories about the family and the importance of friendship to light and ironic scripts, from the most introspective and dark works to current issues related to the present.
Generation Z is at the heart of Jamal Tosmal (Italy, 2022, duration 17′), Of Martina Shepherdscynical and coming of age comedy set and shot in Marseille, presented in world premiere at Alice in the City as Story of your life (Italy, 2022, duration 19′) Of Salvatore DeChiricoa delicate story between reality and fiction on the passing of time starring Fortunato Cerlino, Ilaria Rossi, Lino Guanciale and Francesca Cavallin.
With Happy Christmas (Italy, 2022, duration 13′ 20”) directorial and screenwriting debut for Greta Scarano: the acclaimed actress prepares a short that sees among the protagonists Carla Signoris, Sandra Milo and Simone Liberati, grappling with a family Christmas with an unexpected outcome. The theme of the family also returns in War Among the Poor (Italy, 2022, duration 15′) Of Kassim Yassin Saleh: the story of two brothers – Manuel and Matteo – who are evicted from the council house where they have always lived with their mother, convinced that it will be an immigrant family, like many others who have arrived in the neighborhood, who will take their place. The photography, in black and white, was curated by Daniele Ciprì. And again, at The snow will cover all things (Italy, 2022, duration 15′)Of Daniel Santawhere a couple struggles to keep their balance during a wait that could change their lives, in an alternation of conflicting emotions.
Among the most awaited shorts Tria – Of the feeling of betrayal (Italy, 2022, duration 17′)Of Julia Grandinettipreviewed at Orizzonti: author and film have done hoard of prizes in London, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tirana, with a story set in a dystopian yet surprisingly current Rome. Various films are linked to the students of the Experimental Center of Cinematography: Mino Capuano presents Charaballa Italian premiere (Italy, 2022, duration 20′), the story of a father and a son, premiered in Clermont-Ferrand which sees in the cast Domenico Pinelli, the recent graduate Frederick Russotto is the author of Belle (Italy, 2022, duration 19′ 22”), comedy of manners that veers towards body-horror set in the 1950s, e Valerio Ferrara which won the first prize of the Cinéfondation in Cannes with The conspiracy theorist barber (Italy, 2022, duration 19′)grotesque and current popular fresco.
Some shorts manage to condense complex and layered messages into few minutes: It is the case of La Robe (Italy, 2022, duration 6′ 05”)Of Olga Torricoan experimental tale steeped in domestic disquiet, Rotten wrong (Italy, 2022, duration 7′ 30”) Of Prospero Thinkabout an urban duel around a disabled parking lot, and horror The closet (Italy, 2022, duration 9′) Of Matthew Macalusolaunched at the Sitges Film Festival, an immersion into childhood anxieties.
There are 6 les world premieres present at the festival: from Seed Of Lucia Bulgheroni – acclaimed author of Inanimatestop-motion short with numerous international awards (Cannes Cinéfondation, Annecy, BAFTA Student Film Awards) – which reflects on the limits of personal ambition with Claudia Potenza, to the “almost western” set in Campania by Emmanuel Palamara, Who shoots firstwith Denise Capezza passing through many films that mention the professions of cinema: ne The virtue of innocencerealized by Samuel DiMarzo Capozzithe protagonist is a famous director, in Romance editingOf John Jannoni And Stephen Etteris a young and wild-eyed video editor, while in Subtitles Of David Barbieri it tells of two idle boys who discover that they are the unwitting protagonists of a film, the plot of which seems to be linked to the choices of an ambitious film crew, with Antonio Bannò. In the end, Miranda’s mind (Italy, 2022, duration 18′)Of Madeleine Crespiwith Valentina Bellè, tells of the introspective journey of a young author, between imagination and reality.
Among the pearls of this edition too Battima (Italy, 2022, duration 15′)the short born from the victory of Giuliano Cipollone’s screenplay in the Under 25 competition A story for Emergencyin collaboration with Indigo Film, Rai Cinema and Rai per il Sociale, directed by Federico Demattéwinner with his first short “Inchei” of the best film and best direction award at the international critics week of the Venice festival in 2021. In Battima a beach in Lazio is the scene of an acute reflection on prejudice and superficiality.
Some proposals are strongly linked to the territory where they are set, such as Three times a week (Italy, 2022, duration 13′ 20”) Of Emmanuel Vicoritoironic pastiche dedicated to the Neapolitan passion for the lottery and its superstitious rituals, or again SuperJesus (Italy, 2022, duration 19′ 57”)Of Vito Palumboset in Taranto and supported by the Puglia Region and the Apulia Film Commission, where highly topical social issues are tackled with the delicacy and light-heartedness that only a child’s imagination can make possible with Pietro de Silva.
Cortinametraggio also offers a work by 3D animationWinner of the Audience Award at Alice in the City: Candies (Italy, 2022, duration 12′ 20”)Of Matthew Panebarco, which tells in the style of magical realism the link between three different generations with a very strong relationship that manifests itself through life and death. The director’s work is also surreal in nature Matthias Napleswhich in The delay (Italy/France, 2022, duration 15′)supported by the Piedmont Film Commission, tells of a life that is progressively more and more “out of sync”, a metaphor for the frenetic pace of our existence, starring Vincenzo Nemolato.
It was presented in Locarno Pillow face (Italy, 2022, duration 15′)Of Xavier Cappiello, a little gem that tells the story of friendship, growth and the rites of passage faced by three young friends. The weave of is also very subtle 9th floor to the right (France, 2022, duration 16′) Of Andrew Romanopresented in Clermont-Ferrand and in its Italian premiere at Cortinametraggio, which tells of the encounter between two boys from Belleville and a homeless man. Bone (Italy, 2022, duration 12′ 27”)Of Catherine Marlon And Daniel Textstells of the compelling and touching friendship between two girls who are only apparently different from each other.
The 26 shorts selected at the 18th edition of Cortinametraggio
9th floor to the right by Andrea Romano
Battima by Federico Demattè
Candies by Matteo Panebarco
Who shoots first by Emanuele Palamara
Romance editing by Giovanni Jannoni and Stefano Etter
Pillow face by Saverio Cappiello
Happy Christmas by Greta Scarano
Jamal Tosmal by Martina Pastori
War Among the Poor by Kassim Yassin Saleh
The conspiracy theorist barber by Valerio Ferrara
The closet by Matteo Macaluso
The snow will cover all things by Daniel Santa
The robe by Olga Torrico
The virtue of innocence by Samuel DiMarzo Capozzi
Miranda’s mind by Maddalena Crespi
Bone by Catrinel Marlon and Daniele Testi
Belle by Federico Russotto
Charaballa by Mino Capuano
Seed by Lucia Bulgheroni
Story of your life by Salvatore De Chirico
Subtitles by David Barbieri
SuperJesus by Vito Palumbo
The delay by Matthias Naples
Rotten wrong by Prospero Pensa
Three times a week by Emanuele Vicorito
Tria – Of the feeling of betrayal by Giulia Grandinetti
Source-tg24.sky.it