Edition 2024

The twelfth edition of La Guarimba International Film Festival took place in Amantea (CS) from the 7th to the 12th August 2024.

For the second year, the event was held at Il Terrenito, the cultural space managed by the La Guarimba Association and open to the public as a response to the closure and abandonment of La Grotta Park in Amantea, which has been closed for inagibility fot the past two years.

La Guarimba represents a reaction to the negligence, the absence of dialogue with society and the lack of planning on the part of local politicians. Its purpose is to form a multicultural space where people can meet and generate human and social capital.

This edition was special and marked a milestone in the Guarimbero dream thanks to the opening of La Piccola Biblioteca di Amantea, the house of culture built by the association, which, during the days of the festival, hosted the screenings and workshops of La Grotta Dei Piccoli.

158 short films, 52 nations represented, 60 international guests, 15 works of illustration exhibited, 6 conferences and workshops, 2 concerts and 300 spectators each evening: every year the festival has a significant impact on the town of Amantea and the surrounding area.

The 12th edition of La Guarimba International Film Festival was realised thanks to the support of the Calabria Film Commission Foundation, the European Union, the Ministry of Culture, the Italian Republic, the Region of Calabria, GIPHY, the Embassy of Austria, the Hungarian Academy Rome, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech Centre in Rome.

The festival will take place under the High Patronage of the European Parliament, the Representation Award of the Chamber of Deputies, the Patronage of the Senate of the Republic, the Council of Ministers, the Province of Cosenza and the Italian Touring Club.

Partners include Unicef Italy, Short Film Conference, Moleskine Foundation, Piccolo America, AnimaPhix, Caribe Atómico Film Festival, MyAirBridge, Amarelli, F.lli Marano, Caffè Guglielmo, Orchestra Fiati Mediterranea, Agriturismo U Casinu da Scala.

THE PROGRAMME OF THE 12TH EDITION

La Guarimba is a festival for everyone, people come to laugh, be moved, be shocked and discuss. It aims to challenge and entertain at the same time, without ever pleasing, but provoking and stirring something inside the spectators.

Each year, the festival’s selection of short films and artists mirrors the soul of La Guarimba, representing its ideals and values. As a cultural institution, we feel it is our duty to stand up against injustice and barbarity, even if this may make us unpopular or deny us access to certain types of funding.

La Guarimba’s position is clear and unwavering: we are with the Palestinian people because we believe that where there is a colonial model there can be no justice, but we are also on the side of Ukraine and on the side of South Sudan. We want freedom and sovereignty for all oppressed peoples because where there is no justice, there can never be peace. We hope that our words reach all those who live under oppression, so that they remember they are not alone. We hope to give courage to those who are afraid to raise their voice, for we are sure that it is the majority who wish to live without war and in harmony.

With these intentions in mind, for the 12th edition, we have invited as member of the jury three female directors who give voice to the struggle of their peoples: Darin Sallam (Palestine/Jordan), Olga Chernykh (Ukraine) and Akuol de Mabior (South Sudan).

In this edition, we showed on the big screen the testimonies of queer activists fighting against the large mining industries in Colombia, the personal battles for the affirmation of second-generation immigrants in Belgium, the family conflicts of a couple who do not want to have children in Indonesia, the confrontation of Taiwanese indigenous peoples with their own identity, the grip of gentrification in a Dutch city, the blackmail that the Palestinian people have been forced to endure for decades, the faded tales of arranged marriages and the pirate radios of a forgotten Southern Italian small town.

In addition to these themes, there was also room for surreal and humorous stories, for more experimental languages which sacrifice the linearity of their narration to offer symbolic, magical and innovative content.

The Official Selection of the festival was curated by an international team of programmers composed of Marta Miquel, Mikel Murillo, Valeria Weerasinghe, Santiago Pérez, Francheska Rodríguez, Oscar Peña Gónzalez and Giulio Vita, who worked to put together a programme capable of representing the complexity and richness of cultures, traditions and languages from around the world. During the festival, we screened Italian, Arabic, German, English, French, Indonesian, Filipino, Chinese, Albanian, Belarusian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Croatian, Mongolian, Swahili, Hungarian, Hindi and Ukrainian films.

THE FILMS IN THE COMPETITION

From a total of 1290 films received, 158 short films from 52 different countries were selected, giving voice to filmmakers from all continents. 63% of the films in the selection are directed by women.

The Official Competition is divided into the categories of Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, Insomnia (Experimental Films). Also part of the competition is the programme of 100 animated shorts for children and young people that make up La Grotta dei Piccoli, in collaboration with UNICEF Italy.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES

Once again this year, the first evening of the festival kicked off with an opening concert by the Orchestra di Fiati Mediterranea Città di Amantea, which has been offering musical training for years and has brought together young musicians from the area.

For this edition, the Orchestra decided to pay homage to the American composer James Horner, performing his most famous soundtracks, such as The Ludlows from Legends of the Fall, My heart will go on from Titanic and a medley from The Mask of Zorro, while images from his films were projected on the big screen.

On August 11^th it was presented the Special Programme Dance Films!, a category curated by programmer Francheska Rodriguez, who introduced the selection by celebrating the fusion between dance and cinema and recognising its artistic and narrative richness. The  Her aim was to highlight the diversity and versatility of dance as a form of artistic expression, inviting filmmakers and choreographers to collaborate in the creation of works that combine the technical skill of cinematography with the expressiveness of human movement.

On the last evening, screenings were dedicated to two new special programmes: Caribe Atómico, a selection of short films produced in Caribbean countries and presented in the festival twinned with La Guarimba, and Free Palestine!, a selection of short films directed by Palestinian directors to give voice and support to the Palestinian people. Finally, the Superloop GIF, a roundup of animated shorts in GIF format, in collaboration with GIPHY.

LA PICCOLA BIBLIOTECA DI AMANTEA

On August 6^th 2024, the Piccola Biblioteca di Amantea was born, a multifunctional space dedicated to art, culture, education and creativity.

Located in the heart of Amantea’s town centre, La Piccola Biblioteca di Amantea is intended to be a space for students and readers of all ages  who live in the area, where they can meet and exchange ideas, grow culturally without having to face unaffordable costs or having to emigrate to large centres.

The area has three main rooms: a library and study area, equipped with internet and computers with free access, a music recording studio and a projection and conference room.

The process of building the bibliographic archive will take place gradually, according to the demands and needs of the community. Our intention is to collect the books hidden in the city and buy new ones, so that we can satisfy the demand of as large and diverse a readership as possible. The library will contain academic books, including dictionaries, fiction texts, comics, novels, fantasy, etc. Users will be able to consult them on site or, upon registration, borrow them for a specified period of time.

The project, supported by Fondazione Carical, was launched in 2021, following an analysis of the needs and shortcomings of local students and workers.

We have been working closely with Amantea’s society for ten years, and our experience has enabled us to analyse the state of the community’s cultural offerings and social aggregation. Our impression as young people living and working in the area has always been that of a context with great potential but severely limited by the lack of investment and management in several areas.

The weakest segments of the community (young people, migrants, and the elderly) suffer from neglect and the absence of initiatives dedicated to them, which can only be experienced online and at an unaffordable cost. Moreover, the absence of spaces dedicated to them, such as accessible public parks or playgrounds, makes it difficult for them to get together beyond personal initiatives.

The situation is even more difficult in the inland area, where there are several municipalities living in even worse situations of isolation and abandonment. The inhabitants of the municipalities of Aiello, Cleto, Belmonte, Longobardi, Fiumefreddo Bruzio and the entire surrounding area, totalling about 10,000 people, refer to Amantea as a commercial centre where they go at weekends and during the summer.

Taking this information into account, we carried out a survey to understand what the community really needed, creating a questionnaire aimed at young people up to the age of 25, school students, university students and young workers, structured with questions to help us understand their needs and expectations.

We collected a sample of 100 valid answers, representative of our target group. From the questionnaire, it emerged that 92% of students in Amantea are forced to study at home, showing problems such as distraction, lack of a fast connection and a personal desk.

91% of them answered that they would go to a study room or library to study. By means of proposals structured on value scales, we found that many of the students needed quiet, centrally located spaces in Amantea with internet connection and where they could socialise with other young people their age.

70% of them expressed a liking for a library where they could also borrow books and comics.

92% of the young people also expressed a desire for a cinema, while all those practicing artistic disciplines such as music, dance and theatre (around 25% of the total) were willing to use a dedicated rehearsal space. 59% of them also expressed a desire to attend courses and workshops in artistic disciplines.

With this information, we began to imagine the space, how it could be organized, what it should contain and how it should be used. The initial idea was to build a new floor inside the building that houses our offices, so as to gradually compose our very own house of culture in Amantea.

However, the project immediately ran up against bureaucratic obstacles and delays that would have considerably slowed down the birth of the space.

Therefore, upon the offering for sale of a space in the building adjacent to our offices, it was concluded that the best solution was to purchase an existing space and turn it into the Amantea Little Library.

The purchase was finalized on 5 July 2024. With the aim of making the space available during the days of the festival, work began immediately on the design and renovation of the space. Despite the short time available and despite the normal problems that such a job entails, thanks to the work of a team of professionals and to the help of the entire Guarimbero team, on the 6^th of August, the day before the beginning of La Guarimba International Film Festival, we inaugurated the Little Library of Amantea, the first library in our town with a study room, projection and conference room and a music recording studio.

The event was attended by more than fifty people and, in addition to the local community, the mayors of the towns of Cleto, Lago, San Pietro in Amantea, Belmonte, Longobardi, Fiumefreddo and Aiello Calabro were present. We showed them the space and started to plan together timetables and ways of using it, so that the classroom adapts to people’s needs and not viceversa.

As early as the following morning, students and workers from Amantea went to the library to prepare their exams and work independently. From the afternoon, the projection room became the home of La Grotta Dei Piccoli, hosting its workshops and screenings dedicated to children.

With La Piccola Biblioteca di Amantea we aim to offer our community a chance against inertia and neglect, to build a model of active citizenship that experiences social encounters in its daily life, stimulating cultural events and opportunities to express its own identity.

THE ARTISTS FOR LA GUARIMBA ILLUSTRATION EXHIBITION

Artists For La Guarimba, curated by illustrator Valeria Weerasinghe, continues to be an essential showcase of artistic expression within the festival. Between emerging talents and established names, the exhibition brings together artists from around the world to reinterpret La Guarimba’s iconic monkey, which has accompanied the festival for 11 years now. These interpretations are harmoniously woven into the cultural fabric of their countries of origin, whether through film references or other cultural influences.

As a cultural institution, we are committed to amplify the voices of the oppressed and to create a space in which we invite our community to reflect on the reality of the contemporary world. In light of what is happening right before our eyes, this year La Guarimba asked artists from Ukraine and Palestine to join the project and tell their stories through their art, prompting us to reflect on our role within society and, ultimately, to act.

The 15 artists of 2024 edition are: Mikel Murillo (Spain), Martoz (Italy), Majid Bita (Iran), Rocío Álvarez (Spain), Mika Turnball (New Zeland), Nerian Keywan (Palestine), Oscar Nimmo (Australia), Marina Veremeienko (Ukraine), Éva Darabos (Hungary), Cristóbal Schmal (Chile), Zoey Kim (South Corea), Shweta Sharma (India), Khanya Kemami (South Africa), Aya Marzouk (Egypt), Jake Carruthers (Canada). The illustrators, coming from different creative backgrounds, make a unique contribution to the festival with their work.

The official poster, created by the festival’s long-standing illustrator Mikel Murillo, encompasses all the elements that characterize La Guarimba: against the backdrop of the Terrenito, the open-air space where the association’s events take place, a group of monkeys work together to bring cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCY

Artists in Residency is an artistic residency program where artists with different backgrounds come to Amantea and realize a project of their own during the days of the festival, taking inspiration from the atmosphere of Amantea and mixing it with their own creative identity. This year, we invited Colombian animator Santiago Pérez Rodríguez who, together with Spanish illustrator Rocío Álvarez and other guest artists of the festival, created a mural on the façade of our brand-new Library, giving a new identity to its walls, which now display new, vibrant characters.

THE CONFERENCES

On the morning of August 8th, the Industry Conferences were held at the Lido Azzurro in Amantea, a series of conferences addressing topics relevant to the short film industry.

The first conference, The Art And Impact Of Film Subtitling: A Professional Insight, analysed the difficult process of film translation and subtitling. Speakers Marta Miquel Irarte and Daniele Zuccalà discussed the social impact and significance of creating bilingual subtitles for La Guarimba as a powerful tool to engage diverse audiences and foster a sense of community.

Afterwards, the speaker Dayana Chaparro Garcia (lawyer, activist and musician) addressed the different aspects of the Italy-Albania Agreement: Profiles Of Illegitimacy And Criticism. Last 15 February, the Italian Senate approved the draft law ratifying and executing the Italy-Albania Protocol; this talk discussed the illegitimacy profiles and critical aspects of this agreement, with particular attention to the applicable legislation, the screening of vulnerable persons and the deprivation of the right to defence.

The morning of conferences ended with The Calabrian Film Festivals, a meeting with representatives of Calabrian film festivals who had the opportunity to discuss what is happening in our region. Here, Matteo Russo of Calabria Movie (Crotone) and Mattia Leo of Laterale Film Festival (Cosenza) presented themselves and their festivals to the international audience. Among the guests was also the President of the Calabria Film Commission Foundation Anton Giulio Grande, who took the floor to present the ‘Bella come il Cinema’ project and to talk about the support of productions and festivals in Calabria. Grande was enthusiastic about the festival’s sense of community and international scope, which brings languages and cultures from all over the world to a small Calabrian village. On behalf of the Calabria Film Commission, he also said he was very happy with the festival’s courageous choice to have invited three female directors from struggling nations, considering it a beautiful signal that Calabria sends to the world, “because beauty must always win.”

After the talks, the conference guests joined the rest of the Guarimbero team for the social lunch, meeting new directors and sharing experiences, tips and information with them.

ANIMATED SOUND WORKSHOP

On August 9^th, the Animated Sound workshop, curated by British composer, sound designer and voice actor Phil Brookes, was held in the conference room of the Piccola Biblioteca in Amantea. 30 filmmakers took part to the workshop, in which Phil explained why he got into the animation industry, showed how some of the music in award-winning films was created, and then involved the participants in the creation of sound effects for live animation.

In this way, the artists were able to explore a new aspect of animated film creation, discovering and testing technical details and creative components.

LA GROTTA DEI PICCOLI: A FESTIVAL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

La Guarimba is continuing its collaboration with UNICEF Italy by dedicating part of its program to children with screenings and educational workshops. Over the years, La Grotta dei Piccoli has become a safe space in which unleashing creativity, finding one’s own voice and getting to know artists from all over the world.

The program of screenings features a new collection of 100 animated shorts selected by the Italo-Srilankan animator and illustrator Valeria Weerasinghe, and includes a special category entitled Cambur, 8 short films focusing on environmental issues that introduce children to environmental awareness.

The screening room of the Piccola Biblioteca of Amantea was used for workshops and screenings, transforming it into a place of play and creative exploration, where a large screen brought the magic of animated films to life for the youngest spectators. Every evening, around 50 people, including children and parents, attended the screenings, exploring new worlds through the language of animation.

Each day, the evening screenings were preceded by activities and workshops designed to combine entertainment, education and creativity. The age of the participants in the activities ranged from 5 to 10 years old, while the youngest children and their parents took benefit of the spaces dedicated to free drawing. Approximately 10 children per workshop participated each day.

This year’s theme was self-perception and the discovery of the other, developed through individual and group activities led by artist Valeria Weerasinghe and educator Gabriele Tangerini.

The first day was dedicated to the Doodle Space workshop, a free drawing space open to all, where creative materials were used to draw in company. With large canvases, pencils and felt-tip pens, La Grotta dei Piccoli was transformed into a white board where new friends could be made and freedom could be expressed. Children, illustrators and animators hosted by the festival participated together, having fun creating through drawing.

The second day was Draw This in Your Style, during which the children visited the ‘Artist for La Guarimba’ exhibition, curated by Valeria Weerasinghe and displaying 15 posters of La Guarimba created by artists from all over the world in different styles. After the visit, the children were able to unleash their imagination and create new posters featuring the mythical Guarimbera monkey.

The workshop that took place on the third day, entitled Take a Selfie, had each child create their own self-portrait based on different scenarios and creative input that constantly stimulated a new perspective. The aim achieved was to get to know each other by encouraging exchange and discovery.

On the fourth day of the festival, the workshops continued with Medley, which posed a question: in how many different ways can you do the same thing? The participants made a work together, without looking at each other, and discovered the result at the end. Medley was a creative exercise that aroused amazement and amusement, surprising with its ever-changing results.

The last day of workshops was dedicated to the Children’s Jury, which, as every year, chooses its winner. We gave children the chance to discuss and express their opinions on the films they saw during the festival. This was also an chance to learn more about different contemporary animation techniques, which genuinely stimulated everyone’s interest.

During the final evening it was time for the children to make the big announcement. The enthusiasm of being on stage was tangible and the audience participation was particularly heartfelt.

The La Grotta dei Piccoli prize for the twelfth edition of La Guarimba went to My Name Is Edgar And I Have A Cow, an animated film by Czechoslovak director Filip Diviak, who was present at the festival thanks to a partnership with the Centro Ceco Roma, which covered the costs of his arrival in Amantea. Therefore, Filip was able to personally collect the prize on stage, thanking all the children and sharing his experience at the festival.

The Grotta dei Piccoli was born from the idea of creating a comfortable and stimulating space for children to take part in while their parents enjoy adult screenings, and over the years it has become a real educational project that has been incredibly successful. Cooperative Learning and the Montessori School are some of the non-formal education methods we draw inspiration from to run the initiative.

THE COMMUNITY OF LA GUARIMBA

The 12th edition of La Guarimba International Film Festival hosted 70 people including directors, producers, festival organizers, institutional representatives and cultural workers, relying on 6 hotels in Amantea for their stay. The guests came from 19 different countries: Palestine, Mexico, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Canada, Greece, Italy, Sudan, Jordan, Croatia, Ukraine, Spain, Slovakia, China, Hungary, Ecuador, and Venezuela. For many of them it was the first time in Italy, for some the first time in Europe. The idea of the festival has always been to create a community that lives a shared multicultural experience together. For this reason, the activities taking place during the week are designed to encourage guests to get to know each other and be together, discovering together the Calabrian culture and the Calabro-Venezuelan identity characteristic of the festival.

The community lunches are one of the initiatives that have most facilitated this process. Each day, our team prepared typical calabrian dishes to be eaten together at Terrenito. Gathering around food allows for a unique exchange of energy that facilitates getting to know each other. This year we were joined by our friends from Calabria Movie, artistic director Matteo Russo and, Mattia Leo of Laterale Film Festival, and the President of Calabrian Film Commission Anton Giulio Grande, who addressed us with words of appreciation and esteem, and was happily surprised by the international community he found. It was the perfect opportunity for them to experience the atmosphere of the festival and understand its authenticity.

For the second year in a row, we organized a Venezuelan cooking party, preparing and serving more than two hundred arepas, a typical South American dish. All the guests were won over by the new flavours and got to know a small part of Latin American cuisine.

THE BEACH CLEANING

Every year, the first morning of the festival is dedicated to cleaning the beach. More than twenty people including team, volunteers and guests gathered on the Amantea seafront to collect together the waste on the coast and announce the start of the festival through a collective gesture, a symbol of love for the community and its environment.

THE TOUR OF AMANTEA

To allow guests to discover Amantea more deeply and increase the sense of integration with the community, every year we organize a tour of the historic center through which we retrace the history of our town, exploring its most evocative corners.

On the afternoon of August 8th we gathered at the Terrenito to start the tour, which was also joined by tourists and locals who, together with us, admired and recalled the beauty of the area. The route took us, as a first stop, to the Sicoli Arena and the Via Noto car park, the houses of the first and ninth editions of La Guarimba. We continued going up the historic center, passing through the oldest alleys, from  the Mother Church, admiring the ruins of the Byzantine church of San Francesco and continuing up to the Angevin mastia tower.

The tour ended with a fantastic ice cream at Bar Sicoli, where participants were able to enjoy ice cream and typical Amantean products. For us it is essential to make Calabrian culture known also through its flavors, promoting local activities and encouraging the local economy.

GUARIMBA PARTY

On the fifth day, the festival program moved from the Terrenito to the beach of the Amantea seafront, for a Guarimba party made up of special short films and live music. With the sea as a backdrop, we screened the special program Dance Films! in front of 100 people including guests of the festival, the public who followed us to the secret location and people of Amantea who, intrigued by lights and sounds, joined the party.

The evening continued with the DJ set of DJ Condoii, an eclectic Italian-Ecuadorian sound artist whose research focuses on the musical influences of his South American origins and on the deep connections between indigenous and neo-tribalistic sounds.

Through her artistic practice, Condoii creates a bridge between different cultures, paying attention to the crossroads of encounters and exchanges deriving from migration. His commitment promotes multiculturalism and celebrates contemporaneity, reflecting the beauty of cultural diversity. His artistic practice is not just a sound experience, but a journey that wants to flood the aesthetics of the danceable, uniting and creating a narrative of a globality, of a humanity that has always existed.

THE FESTIVAL IMPACT ON THE TOWN

What comes from the encounter between an international creative community and a Calabrian village full of history and beauty is unique, an exchange through which both communities find human wealth, social value and cultural diversity.

La Guarimba is proud to work in synergy with the intentions of the Calabria Film Commission in order to deconstruct stereotypes about the region and make it a real center of cultural attraction and artistic liveliness, capable of attracting sponsors and funding of various kinds. Our total budget for this edition was €125,400. The festival has no cost for the city of Amantea, but is financed with funds raised through regional, national and international calls, sponsors, embassies, donations and the sale of gadgets. The Guarimba has been self-financing since the first edition and brings to the territory an indirect economic spin-off that our estimates have attested to be €170,000, including all consumption for hospitality and catering by visitors to the festival, as well as those of our guests.

The visibility and positive publicity that the festival brings to the city of Amantea is evident: the name of our country is mentioned in the  Calabria Film Commission‘s “Bella Come il Cinema” project, in the international Short Film Conference circuits, in the reports of embassies and partner organizations, as well as in the press review that this year involved important newspapers such as Repubblica,  Sky Arte, Il Fatto Quotidiano, ANSA, Gazzetta del Sud, the Regional TG and the National TG. We  have entered into a media partnership with MyMovies, streaming a selection of 15 short films made during our artistic residency programs, on the MyMoviesONE platform.

Our communication style is careful to share step by step all the formal and informal moments of the festival. Every day, we create stories, photo albums and video reports on social media, which help increase the engagement of the audience that follows us.

All the videos produced were accompanied by the Venezuelan band La Pequeña Revancha.

THE AWARDS

The jury that awarded the prizes of the categories in competition was composed of Olya Chernykh, director and director of photography Ukraine, Darin J. Sallam Jordanian director and writer of Palestinian origin and Akuol da Mabior, director and activist for South Sudanese women’s rights. Between the prizes of the competing categories and the special prizes, we have created 9 wooden trophies representing the guarimbera monkey. This year, we have given recognition to daring directors and works from underrepresented countries, such as Bolivia, Jordan, Tanzania and Congo.

THE AWARDED FILMS

BEST FICTION: Cross My Heart and Hope To Die (Sam Manacsa)

BEST ANIMATION: Nun or never (Heta Jäälinoja)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Moon Will Contain Us (Kim Torres)

BEST MUSIC VIDEO: Météores (Agnès Patron, Morgane Le Péchon)

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM “INSOMNIA”: Ardent Other (Alice Brygo)

“LA GROTTA DEI PICCOLI” AWARD (awarded by the Children’s Jury): My Name Is Edgar And I Have A Cow (Filip Diviak)

GUARIMBEROS AWARD (awarded by the festival’s programmers): Drizzle In Johnson (Ivan Li)

NONNINA AWARD (awarded by Nonna Saveria, the first spectator of La Guarimba): Radio Perla Del Tirreno (Noemi Arfuso)

THE “VITALIANO CAMARCA” AUDIENCE AWARD

For the fourth consecutive year, we have awarded the “Vitaliano Camarca” Audience Award, established to carry on the testimony on the figure of the great Amantean cultural programmer and cultivate the collective memory of the country.

Through a digital form, we collected 98 votes from the public who were able to express their preference and award the Camarca Trophy.

The film most voted by the public was Radio Perla Del Tirreno by Noemi Arfuso, the documentary that tells the story of the first pirate radio in Bagnara Calabra born in 1976 on the initiative of Mimmo Villari, a radio communication and video recording enthusiast on magnetic tape. The Calabrian director was present at the festival and was able to personally receive the awards on stage, where she was warmly welcomed by the audience, who thanked them between emotion and disbelief.