The musician Roy Paci and the actress Antonella Attili arrive at the 13th edition of SiciliAmbiente which takes place until 24 July in San Vito Lo Capo. The Festival directed by Antonio Bellia, with the organizational direction of Sheila Melosu, has always been an important national and international point of reference for cinema linked to environmental issues, human rights, sustainable development and biodiversity.
Friday 23 July at 11.15 pm in the Garden area of the festival, the long-awaited concert / interview by Roy Paci, talented musician and versatile testimonial of the Amnesty International Italia campaign, 60 years after the birth of the Association, and always a firm supporter of the battles for the human rights. “Vitaphone” will be a sound dialogue by Roy Paci accompanied on the piano by Antonio Amabile.
Saturday 24 July at the end of the 13th edition, the actress Antonella Attili, recently seen at the cinema in Tolo Tolo by Checco Zalone and on TV in Màkari, set in San Vito Lo Capo, will be the guest of honor this year, who will hold the reading “Between Rights and Environment” with a series of environmental-themed readings interpreted by her during the final evening.
On Friday 23 July, the screenings of the latest docs in competition in the presence of the directors. The Second Life by Sicilian director Davide Gambino. A German production that arrives in regional preview. The world is at a turning point. Human impact threatens the extinction of millions of species, with the dramatic loss of biodiversity that endangers the existence of mankind itself. However, there is a dark profession that is at the forefront of reminding us of what we are about to lose forever: Maurizio, Robert and Christophe are three world-class taxidermists working in the natural history museums of Berlin, Rome and Brussels. Their mission? To give a voice to the animals that prepare it, to talk about the war declared by mankind against nature.
All Eyes on the Amazon by Andrea Marinelli, from Holland in regional preview. Since the 1970s, oil has been extracted in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Over the next four decades, hydrocarbons continued to raise development hopes, while generating a range of impacts on communities. The documentary shows the places where oil is extracted and explores an environmental monitoring initiative that involves local communities committed to documenting the socio-environmental impacts of oil extraction on the indigenous and mestizo population. Advanced technologies, including drones, smartphones and tailor-made apps, are implemented through a project that combines citizen awareness, academic activism, indigenous mobilization. The activities bring together social movements, academics and local government authorities to co-develop tools to collect and communicate evidence. Taken together, the means and strategies employed are tools in David’s slow struggle against Goliath for environmental justice that pits local communities and activists against the interests of the extractive industries.
Out of competition for fictional features, El silencio del rio by Colombian director Carlos Tribiño Mamby will be screened with Johnny Forero Gómez and Hernán Méndez. The protagonist of the film is Anselmo, a child forced to become an adult after having touched death and its consequences. However, the film is also the portrait of Epifanio, a quiet farmer. Two stories that touch and meet in a tragic epilogue.
For shorts I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face by Sameh Alaa shot in Egypt, France, Belgium, Qatar, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes. After 82 days away from his beloved, Adam is ready to do anything to face the distance that separates them. It closes the short films God’s Daughter Dances by Sungbin Byun from Korea in an Italian premiere. A transgender dancer, Shin-mi, receives a call from the Military Manpower Administration to participate in the military service exam.
For the animation Mila by Cinzia Angelini (USA, UK, Canada). It is the story of a little girl who finds herself in the midst of the 1943 bombings in Trento, after which she remains without a family. With the help of a woman who, like her, has lost part of her life, Mila manages, however, thanks to her imagination, to cling to the hope of a better future. Sad Beauty by Arjan Brentjes from the Netherlands. In a heavily polluted world, a young woman mourns the disappearance of animal species. When she gets sick from a bacterial infection, nature seems to send her a message in her hallucinations.
Last appointment for the book presentations on Friday 23 July with the presentation of “The Martyrs of Latin America, Defenders of the Earth” by Salvatore Inguì in the presence of the author, edited by Navarra Editore. The environmental and climate crisis threatens the Earth; every day, activists around the world fight to protect it, clashing with economic interests linked to the exploitation of resources and corruption, and putting their lives at risk. In 2019, more than 200 people were murdered because they were dedicated to the defense of the Earth and nature: most of these murders took place in Latin America. In fact, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela and Nicaragua hold a sad record: that of states in which more lives have been sacrificed in the defense of our planet. Salvatore Inguì recounts the experience of twenty-three “martyrs”, simple men and women who did not hesitate to fight on the front line for the collective good. Not stories of death, but full of life, commitment, spur and example for each of us. The stories were collected through the meeting with the people and organizations that are part of ALAS – América Latina Alternative Social, the transnational network promoted by Libera.