On the evening of 22 July, the fourth edition of the Cisterna Film Festival has come to its end by presenting the winners, in the splendid location of the court of Palazzo Caetani.
Before a very large audience, the jury composed by the actor Giovanni Anzaldo, the director Filippo Ticozzi, the producer Paolo Bogna and the artistic directors of the Civitanova Film Festival, Michele Fofi and Peppe Barbera, gave the first prize to Shady El-Hamus’ short-film “Nightshade”. Tarik is an 11-year-old boy who helps his father to transport illegal immigrants to the Netherlands. When an accident occurs, Tarik has the opportunity to obtain from him the recognition he has always desired, but at a high price: the loss of his innocence. The director, unable to be present because of commitments on the set, sent a video message to thank. The jury also decided to award two special mentions, one for Salvatore Mereu’s “Futuro prossimo”, the other for “Gaze” by Farnoosh Samadi.
A video message came also from the best actress voted by the festival staff: the Mobilitazioni Artistiche Award went to the protagonist of Calamity, Ingrid Heidersheidt. Under the heading of “long life at the cinema”, she thanked the filmmakers Séverine De Streyker and Maxime Feyers who allowed her to take part in the production of the short, but also to the reality of the Cisterna Film Festival.
The audience, like every year, was fundamental in choosing the favorite, voting during the evenings through a form given by the staff. Two awards went to the same short, Calamity. The story tells about the first meeting of France with his son’s girlfriend, which generates a situation of total loss of control: the woman discovers in fact the homosexuality of her son, sentimentally linked to the transsexual Cleo.
There was no lack of institutions, thanks to Councilor Monica Marasca and Deputy Mayor Federica Agostini, who said she was enthusiastic about cultural events of this importance, and she promised a certain support from the administration for the future editions.
The four-day event began with the Focus On section dedicated to Ireland, created thanks to a selection of shorts curated by the Irish Film Festa. During the first evening, Alessandro Stevanon, director of the short “Il tratto” personally picked up the prize as the winner of the Next Generation section, and the following morning he held a film workshop for students. Three days of competition enriched by the exhibition signed by Luigi Fieni (author of the poster image) inside the gallery, and by the presentation of two books: Black Mirror. Distopia e antropologia digitale by Davide Bennato and La cicatrice by Renato Chiocca.
Yesterday evening there was no shortage of thanks from the directors of the festival: Cristian Scardigno, Marianna Cozzuto and Eleonora Materazzo, and the ritual selfie with the public, the staff and the presenter Renzo Di Falco (voice of RDS), who only for the final evening was joined by Giulia Latini.
Here is the jury’s motivation for the victory of Nightshade:
“The winning film deals with a delicate and very current theme in an unusual way, with a rigorous, classic direction, without ever falling into clichés or style exercises. In a few minutes, we witness the loss of innocence of the young protagonist, who resigned, by now a man, in a last precious shot, let us presage what his irreversible destiny will be“.
