Refreshed after the Sunday downpour (kudos to the audience who once again filled Parco Raggio yesterday) and revitalized by Eugenio Sournia’s concert, we begin the Concorto week today.
Join us at 6 PM at the Salone Amici dell’Arte in Piacenza for the talk *THE WORLD DANCE – Dancing as a political act*, where the curators of the focus—Vanessa Mangiavacca and Francesca Marchesini—will engage in a conversation with Riccardo Buscarini (president of dAS Festival), Valeria Laffeni (dAS Festival), and Aram Ghasemy (multidisciplinary artist).
In the afternoon, starting from 4 PM at Rathaus, *The Frame Beyond* focus with VR headsets will continue to be available.
Meet us at Parco Raggio for dinner, followed by the competition shorts at 9 PM, and then in the greenhouse for the *Mnemosyne* focus and the second part of *Guilty Pleasures*. The VR experience with *LIFE SUPPORT* by Emergency continues every evening at Villa Raggio.
ACROSS THE WATERS – VIV LI
As seen by Vanessa Mangiavacca
They seem to belong to another planet, yet the mountains that are the landscape and the main characters of the short film Across the waters really exist on this Earth, in China. Smoothed by the wind – another unaware actor –, the life of the mine takes place among the rocky coves. It is thus surprising to find a girl, barely out of her teens, who moves among the trails created by the stream, and it is even more surprising to see spots where civilization – as we Westerners understand it – has not arrived yet. We don’t know anything about the young girl, maybe because there is little to say about that existence away from the world. One day she meets a truck driver who just happens to be passing by, and a minor event, the first song ever heard through the headphones of an old walkman, seems to reveal to her something: a life beyond the mountains, a city to reach. Or maybe something she must defend herself from?
In Viv Lil’s short film (World premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and Italian premiere at the Concorto Film Festival), thanks to the accurate photography, it is the images alone that speak and suggest, or make us imagine the main character’s past and future life: we only have certainty of that moment, complicit in that pleasant casual discovery.
A MOVE – ELAHE ESMAILI
As seen by Vanessa Mangiavacca
In the documentary entitled A move, the filmmaker’s personal story becomes the snapshot of an Iran that tries to find, through the connection between various generations of women, the way to an intimate and public liberation. Elahe Esmaili does not hide, neither in front of the camera nor in front of her family, when she joins her parents to help them with their move and to celebrate the birthday of her uncle, where all the relatives will be exceptionally gathered together: she appears in front of them without hijab, raising strict remarks from the other women in the house. But the director’s response is extremely simple, and it can be summed up with an unquestionable “I just want to be myself”. The spontaneity – but also the firmness – of the filming reflects the point of view of the protagonist, who asserts her desire to dress as she likes and walk down the street with her head uncovered. The dialogues develop on the border between religion, taboo and modernity: it is not men who speak but women, who, while having tea, debate with extreme delicacy about the restrictions they have suffered since childhood. Women themselves are also the first unaware victims, and therefore full of prejudice, since the belief that they cannot express desires different from social and religious dictates is too deep-rooted in them. By so doing, Elahe Esmaili carries out a small family revolution prompted by dialogue and understanding. The documentary is dedicated to Jina Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and later killed in 2022 for opposing the mandatory hijab: her death gave rise to the Iranian protest movement Woman, Life, Freedom.
WANDER TO WONDER – NINA GANTZ
As seen by Carola Visca
Nina Gantz’s stop motion short film tells the disturbing decline of three stuffed animals from a TV show for children, abandoned on the set after their host’s death. The three little humans end up fighting for their survival, using the old camera as a portal to an unknown world, indifferent to the requests for help from the three of them, who are desperately hungry. Thanks to the large amount of visual details, Wander to Wonder focuses on the uncovering of fiction on TV and on grief, using a clever contrast between childhood and the darkness that can hide behind the scenes.
BAD FOR A MOMENT – DANIEL SOARES
As seen by Francesca Marchesini
Starting from the concept of the “creative city,” developed by urbanist Richard Florida, Daniel Soares’ short film exposes the dynamics of class struggle generated in a context of gentrification. The work aims to emphasize how the occupation and appropriation of urban space is a form of violence on par with—or even greater than—physical violence.
SPARARE ALLE ANGURIE – ANTONIO DONATO
As seen by Francesca Marchesini
Antonio Donato explores the theme of the dysfunctional family and the complex relationship between father and son, which is distorted by the macho dynamics typical of patriarchy. Styled like a music video, Shooting Watermelons captures the movements and gestures of a family trio composed solely of men who talk, feel emotions—perhaps—and play sports to the rhythm of Pop X’s music.
MACULA – JULIETTA KORBEL
As seen by Francesca Marchesini
Julietta Korbel’s short film combines the theme of grief with visual experimentation in the portrayal of illness. Like a sun, Pavel illuminated and guided the lives of the two protagonists. Yet, like the sun, this light is destined to fade. The allegory of the star serves a dual purpose: symbolic and emotional on one side, and visual representation of the illness on the other.
RRUGËS – SAMIR KARAHODA
As seen by Eva Olcese
From behind the windows of a speeding car, we witness the flow of a father-son conversation. On the journey to the airport to pick up an award, the director and Miron, his 13-year-old son, condense into a script the doubts and hopes of those who decide to stay in Kosovo, intertwining their personal experiences with broader issues concerning their country, a son’s desire to escape with a father’s blind resistance. Finally, Rruges fires, from the very first moments, a criticism of what is being invested in the film industry in Kosovo, pointing out that “there is no money there. Forget cinema, for God’s sake!”
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