The 14th edition of the SiciliAmbiente film festival in San Vito Lo Capo is just days away.
A high quality edition, more than 50 films including fiction features, documentaries, short films and animations. One of the editions in which it was most difficult to choose the works to be selected in competition. A great regret was having to leave out films of very high quality that would have deserved a space at the SiciliAmbiente Film Festival.
So many themes were addressed in the 4 sections: women’s rights, pollution, climate change, illegal fishing, nuclear, and unbridled urbanization.
Many unreleased films in Italian and international premiere, many films awarded in the most prestigious festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice etc..) and again many women authors and women protagonists of the selected films as a signal of the cultural, social, political and environmentalist thrusts of recent years.
An all-female and highly competent international jury will award this edition’s prizes.
Sahraa Karimi, an Afghan director with a long and valuable filmography of documentaries and short films behind her. “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” presented at the 76th Venice Film Festival, was her first feature film, shot entirely in Kabul with Afghan actors.
Anna Favella, actress both for theater and for several successful series such as “Incastrati“ by Ficarra and Picone, produced by Netflix; staunch environmentalist, supporter of sustainability-related causes and ambassador for Amnesty International.
Angela Caponnetto, journalist for Rainews24, has been following and reporting for years on the phenomenon of migration flows, with several investigations and reportages on board military ships and NGOs in the Mediterranean. Recently, during the conflict in Ukraine, she has been sent to Moldova where thousands of refugees fled from the neighboring country in transit.
Also, I am happy to confirm the presence of two awards that have characterized our festival for years now: the Amnesty International Italia award and the Greenpeace Italia award.
And for the second year, a jury of 15 very young students from high schools will judge the works in the animation section. Kids who have been following throughout the fall and winter the project “SiciliAmbiente and Arpa at school together,” a growing path of environmental education that has involved more than 3,000 Sicilian students.
What more is there to say? We look forward to seeing you in San Vito from July 11 to 16 for a full immersion in art cinema.
Antonio Bellia, Direttore Artistico