The 6th edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, the event directed by Tiziana Rocca, held June 22-25 at Forte Village in Cagliari, ended with great success. During the event, more than 50 films, previews, TV series, documentaries, docu-films, shorts and the centenary of Warner Bros.
The event’s patroness was the beautiful and very friendly Francesca Chillemi, busy between cinema and television, and many international stars who received the award made by master goldsmith Gerardo Sacco.
Actors Dennis Quaid and Christopher Walken for the Filming Italy Lifetime Achievement Award section, U.S. actress Laura Dern and British star Dominic West for the Filming Italy International Award, 15-time Oscar-nominated British costume designer and three-time statuette winner Sandy Powell for the Filming Italy Best Costume Designer Award, Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior, British actress Charlie Murphy, French actresses Emmanuelle Béart and Clotilde Courau; then, Iranian athlete Nasim Eshqi for the Filming Italy Women Power Award, actor Emile Hirsch, who also presented the film Venuto al mondo by Sergio Castellitto, in which he stars, and actor Alessandro Nivola for the Filming Italy Creativity Award, French actors Samuel Arnold and Bruno Gouery for the Filming Italy Best Actor Award, and French director and screenwriter Jean-Paul Salomé for the Filming Italy Best Director Award.
Representing Italian cinema was Fausto Brizzi, who presented together with Ilenia Pastorelli his latest film, Da grandi, Volfango De Biasi, Pietro Sermonti, who, with Marco Bocci, showed their latest film, La caccia, and actor Valerio Aprea received the Filming Italy Creativity Award, the two leads Gabriele Lavia and Lodo Guenzi, with Pupi Avati’s latest film, La quattordicesima domenica del tempo ordinario, received the Filming Italy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Filming Italy Creativity Award, respectively; Martina Stella and Ilaria Spada, who co-presented with Ricky Memphis the film Un matrimonio mostruoso, received the Filming Italy Women Power Award; and director Riccardo Milani received the Filming Italy Best Sport Achievement Award.
Matteo Garrone was also awarded, Paola Cortellesi, model and influencer Paola Turani, and actors Luca Grispini (SKAM, Tutta colpa di Freud) and Federica Pagliaroli (Che Dio ci aiuti, Ritoccati) received the Filming Italy Spotlight Award.
During the Festival, the historic award dedicated to director Nanni Loy, conceived by journalist Antonello Sarno, was presented to actors Marco Bocci and Ricky Memphis, director Matteo Garrone and Ornella Muti for their careers. On the other hand, the prize in honour of photographer Pietro Coccia was awarded to Ilenia Pastorelli. Giusy Ferreri also paid tribute to the Festival by singing the song Federico Fellini, taken from her latest album Cortometraggi, and collecting the Filming Italy Best Music Award.
“I am particularly happy with the results achieved by this sixth edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival. One of our primary missions is to bring the public closer to the cinema, to make people return to the theatres even in the summer, and being one of the very few female artistic directors of a festival at the European level, I perceive this commitment in a very personal way. We had many actors and actresses of national and international fame; some arrived directly from the United States, and others, like Richard Gere and Rosario Dawson, connected with us via streaming. I want to thank the Governor of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Christian Solinas, the Managing Director and General Manager of Forte Village Lorenzo Giannuzzi for their hospitality, and Senator Lucia Borgonzoni. Together we promtoted the Ministry’s outstanding initiative, Cinema Revolution” said Tiziana Rocca, General Director Filming Italy Sardegna Festival.
“Once again this year”, said Undersecretary of State atthe Ministry of Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, “the proposal of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival is a concentrate of passion for the small and big screen. It is an event-driven by great attention to cinema and audiovisual products, built to achieve objectives in perfect harmony with the development policies of the Italian film system put in place by the Ministry: from the internationalisation of the sector to its promotion, from the growth in economic and cultural terms of the industry to the approach of an increasingly wide audience, especially the youngest ones”.
“For the sixth time, Sardinia hosted the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, an international film event that for years has guaranteed visibility and promotion for our land”, said the Governor of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Christian Solinas.
“Hosting the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival was an honour and a privilege. The magical atmosphere of these days was extraordinary. We are proud of making this event an unprecedented success, offering internationally renowned actors and guests an unforgettable experience on our beautiful island and in our Resort” – concluded Lorenzo Giannuzzi, CEO and General Manager Forte Village.
Considerable space was given to TV series. Thanks to the collaboration with Rai Fiction, some episodes of the TV series Don Matteo 13, Rocco Schiavone 5 and Mare fuori 3 were projected, but also the Sky series A casa tutti bene 2 by Gabriele Muccino and the first episode of the brand new series The Idol, starring Lily-Rose Depp, available on NOW.
In addition, three films dedicated to Ukraine were projected: the film by Claire Taback Sliney and Chiara Buttiglione, How are You? Means I love You, Olga directed by Elie Grappe, about a young gymnast fleeing Ukraine in pursuit of the Olympics and Atlantis, about the cruelty of war, directed by Valentyn Vasjanovyč and the documentary Ukraine on Fire, about the Ukrainian revolution, produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Igor’ Lopatënok and Ben Bywater.
Finally, in partnership with the University of Cagliari and the Professor of Italian Linguistics at the University of Cagliari, Massimo Arcangeli, a prize was awarded to short films, the Filming Italy Sardegna – In Corto (6th edition).
This year’s themes were peace, the environment, inclusion and new languages. Actress Claudia Gerini chaired a jury composed of Paola Cortellesi, Riccardo Milani, Vito Sinopoli, Stefano Arduini, Massimo Granchi, Andrea Minuz, as well as Professor Arcangeli and Tiziana Rocca. The winner was Come siamo diventati by Cristiano Pahler, which will be broadcast on Rai Cinema Channel and MyMovies platform.
