Rome, February 23th, 2022
The first live event dedicated to the short films promoted by the David Awards and the World Italian Cinema Day took place in the Italian Parliament. Borgonzoni and Acunzo have awarded Piera Detassis for her contribution to the development and diffusion of film culture.
On Wednesday, February 23th, 2022, at Palazzo Theodoli in Rome, starting at 3:00 p.m., a meeting was held with authors, members of Parliament and the Government and representatives of the audiovisual sector for the promotion of Italian cinema. The screening of the ten selected works followed. An opportunity to relaunch the film industry and the return to theaters after the long months of the pandemic.
"This initiative, which fills me with pride, highlights your talent and your stories, told with very original points of view. We are called upon to provide you with all possible tools to support you in these projects, which represent a "cockade" on your chest, a source of satisfaction for the entire country and for those who govern it."
This is the statement of the Undersecretary of State for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni at the presence of the young authors and members of the staff of the five selected in the category "Best Short Film" at the David di Donatello Awards 2020 and 2021.
In the same direction the message of the State Secretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Giuseppe Moles:
"You, actors and directors, are part of Italian pride and this is a great breath of fresh air. Everything that is culture must be supported, helped and defended because it is an integral part of the national interest. I hope that events like these will take place more and more in presence".
The President of the Parliamentary Intergroup Cinema and Performing Arts, Nicola Acunzo, who promoted the initiative, in order to emphasize the meaning of the day, says:
"We want to represent the support of the Parliament towards the necessary restart of cinema in presence, starting from the young talents that we meet today, whose works have been awarded in full pandemic, only in virtual mode, and who have not had the opportunity of a live meeting in the cinema".
Present at the event was also the President of the Accademia del Cinema Italiano – Donatello Awards, Piera Detassis, who received a special recognition from the organizers for her contribution to the development and promotion of young talents in Italian cinema:
"These four years at the David are the real achievement of my passion for Italian cinema. The activity of the David does not want to be limited to one evening event: we want to promote the training of an increasingly interested and aware audience for Italian cinema. Italian cinema needs to make its voice heard strongly".
Roberto Stabile, Anica's head of International Relations, emphasizes the need to strengthen an increasingly concrete promotion of Italian cinema abroad:
"This year, in collaboration with the Farnesina, we are going to use the works connected to the David Awards for the promotion abroad of Italian audiovisuals and to make this festival, which must be appreciated outside our borders, known everywhere".
Of the same opinion is the Head of the Office for Cultural Promotion and Italian Cultural Institutes of the Ministry of Foreign Affair, Filippo La Rosa:
"We need to make the Davids famous abroad so that we can represent Italian cinema around the world with this brand. The public system must support young people with greater strength: we must invest in them and look to the future in a new way".
Among the participants the director of "Anne" - best short film 2021 - Domenico Croce and the producer Francesca Andriani; for "Inverno" by Giulio Mastromauro - best short film 2020 - Bruno Falanga, author of the music and the editor, Gianluca Scarpa.
To them and to the other artists present was given a special recognition by the Intergroup Cinema: They took it, representing the staff of the five selected in 2020 and 2021, Veronica Spedicati, director of "Il Nostro Tempo"; Danilo Arena, first protagonist actor of "L'oro di Famiglia" by Emanuele Pisano; Olga Torrico, director "Gas Station" and Eleonora Contessi, the director of photography; Silvia Lorenzo, protagonist actress of "Unfolded" by Cristina Picchi; Lorenzo Ceci, music composer of "Shero" by Claudio Casale.
The representative of Fellini Foundation for Cinema, Federico Grandesso, dedicated his speech to the authors: "We intend to bring some of the films we will see today to our cultural center and host some of the directors. Our foundation is also in Switzerland where the Italian community is very strong. It will be a pleasure to start this experience that will continue in the following years".
The meeting with the Institutions was followed by the screening of the short films selected during the past two editions of the David Donatello Awards and promoted by the World day of Italian Cinema which the initiative that, starting in 2020, aims to give international visibility to the works of young directors and to celebrate the great masters of Italian Cinema with the support of the consular network and the Italian cultural institutes around the world.
Video sintesi dell'evento
Photogallery
Riferimenti: Link alla cartella stampa, materiali e foto dell’evento: https://bit.ly/gmci_23_02_2022
World Day of Italian Cinema
The World Day of Italian Cinema was established on December 11th, 2019 with the unanimous approval by the Joint Committees III (Foreign and Community Affairs) and VII (Culture Science and Education) of the Italian Parliament resolution n.7-000225; this commits the cultural institutes and Italian embassies to give a simultaneous world-wide visibility to the works of new authors and to celebrate the great masters of our cinema. The day was celebrated for the first time on January 20th, 2020, on the occasion of the centenary of Federico Fellini's birth.
The Parliamentary Intergroup of Cinema and Performing Arts
The Parliamentary Intergroup of Cinema and Performing Arts, led by Nicola Acunzo, is made up of about 60 members of Parliament from different political parties and is responsible for promoting and coordinating thematic initiatives, including the "World Day of Italian Cinema".