At the Miela Theatre at 11:00 a.m. we have the world premiere of L’ULTIMO CALORE D’ACCIAIO (The Last Heat of Steel) by Francesco De Filippo, Diego Cenetiempo (Italy, 2021, HD, col., 57′, Italian language version), a documentary that recounts the transition from heavy industry – which characterised production in the 19th and 20th centuries – to logistics managed by digital systems. The story is that of Ferriera, the famous iron and steel plant in Trieste, closed after 123 years and numerous changes of ownership.
At 2 p.m. on Holocaust Memorial Day, the special Italian premiere event BABI YAR. CONTEXT by Sergej Loznica (Babij Jar. The Context, Netherlands – Ukraine, 2021, HD, col.& b-n 121′, Russian – German language version). In September 1941, Sonderkommando 4a of Einsatzgruppe C, with the help of battalions of the Southern Police Regiment and the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, and without any resistance from the local population, shot 33,771 Jews in the Babi Yar gorge, north-west of Kiev. The film reconstructs the historical context of this tragedy through archive footage documenting the German occupation of Ukraine and the decade that followed. Winner of the “L’Oeil d’Or” award for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered.
At 4.15 p.m. we have the Tribute to Vesna Ljubić with the medium-length film ECCE HOMO by Vesna Ljubić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994, 35mm, col., 30′, language without dialogue). Ecce Homo is not a political film but a personal reflection on death. The film has no voice-over, only images that are occasionally accompanied by fragments of religious and other music and the hoarse cawing of crows. This is followed by ADIO KERIDA by Vesna Ljubić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2001, Betacam SP, col., 60′, Bosnian language version). Adio Kerida is a light-hearted and somewhat ironic story about an American in search of his roots in post-war Bosnia, when all the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina are trying to leave for America instead. Through the figure of this young American Jew of Polish origin in search of a great-uncle, the viewer enters the world of Sarajevo’s Sephardic Jews. Combining realistic and surreal scenes, in which the young American imagines a world that no longer exists, the director tells the story of a man who has become a legend in poetic tones.
At 6:30 pm it is the turn of the Italian premiere of THE JUNGLE by Cristian Natoli (Italy – Croatia, 2021, HD, col, 75′, language: Italian – English – Urdu). Along the banks of the river Isonzo, in Gorizia, there is a spontaneous camp of migrants, the Jungle, a unique and special place, suspended between two cultures. Through the eyes of Elisa Menon, a social theatre director, we will enter this community and discover it through a theatrical performance that presents migration in an empathetic and unconventional way.
Finally, the Trieste Film Festival bids farewell to the audience in attendance with the screening of PICCOLO CORPO by Laura Samani (Italy – France – Slovenia, 2021, HD, col., 89′, Friulian language version) Italy, 1900. The young Agata loses her daughter at birth. According to Catholic tradition, the child’s soul is condemned to Limbo. Agata hears about a place in the mountains where newborn babies are brought back to life for a single breath, to baptise them and save their souls. She sets off on the journey with her daughter’s little body hidden in a box and meets Lynx, a lonely boy who offers to help her. They set off on an adventure that will bring them both closer to the miracle. Premiered at the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes 2021 Small Body has been selected by numerous international festivals, including Sarajevo, Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival.

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 7 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

At the Miela Theatre at 11:00 we see SKHVISI SAKHLI Casa d’altri by Rusudan Glurjidze (Georgia – Russia – Spain – Croatia, 2016, HD, col., 103′, Georgian – Russian language version). At the beginning of the 1990s, a bloody and devastating civil war between Abkhazia and Georgia caused conflict throughout the region. Those on the side of the victors, looking for a new start, moved to rural areas where they were given houses that had belonged to the enemy. Living in someone else’s home brings back memories of the walls and furnishings, a constant reference to the horrors experienced by the former owners. Although everyone is looking for peace, it seems unattainable: the war continues to rage within everyone.

At 2.15pm, THE PIPELINE NEXT DOOR by Nino Kirtadze (2005, Betacam SP, col, 90′ English/Georgian language version) is a documentary that is a little dated but with highly topical themes: hidden at the bottom of the Borjomi Valley, among the most beautiful landscapes in Georgia and close to a mineral water spring known throughout the region, the small village of Sakiré is living the most feverish days of its history. A pipeline built by British Petroleum is about to cross this enchanting place. Will the pipeline be a monster that destroys the beauty of the valley, or will it bring prosperity to the region?

At 16:15 is GLORY TO THE QUEEN by Tatia Skhirtladze (Austria – Georgia – Serbia, 2020, HD, col. & b-n, language: Georgian – German – Serbian – Russian)
During the Cold War, four legendary Georgian players revolutionised women’s chess around the world and became Soviet icons of female emancipation. Glory to the Queen tells the story of chess stars Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria, Maia Chiburdanidze and Nana Ioseliani.

At 18:15 we present the Italian premiere of TAMING THE GARDEN by Salomé Jashi (Switzerland – Georgia – Germany, 2021, HD, col., 91′, Georgian language version). A powerful and anonymous man has an unusual hobby: he buys centuries-old trees, some as tall as 15-storey buildings, from villages on the Georgia coast, has them uprooted and transplanted into his private garden. To do this, the surrounding landscape is disrupted and the local people have no choice but to accept this. While the film documents this process, it also portrays the needs and values of contemporary Georgian society, emphasising the theme of forced migration, where “uprooting” is more than a metaphor.

At 20:15 we see the Italian premiere of WET SAND by Elene Naveriani (Switzerland – Georgia, 2021, HD, col., 115′, Georgian language version). We are in a village on the Black Sea in Georgia populated by friendly people who think they know each other. One day, Eliko is found hanged. His niece Moe arrives to organise the funeral. She is confronted with a web of lies and the tragic consequences of Eliko’s 22-year secret love affair with Amnon.

At 10:15 p.m. the focus on Georgian female directors will close with the Italian premiere of ROGORI IKHO OTAKHI by Ketevan Kapanadze (How the room felt, Georgia, 2021, HD, col., 73′, Georgian language version). In the Georgian city of Kutaisi, the local women’s football team is at the heart of a group of women and non-binary queer people who usually get together to go out, party, hang out and discuss existential issues. In her debut film, Ketevan Kapanadze does not resort to sentimentality, nor does she place special emphasis on the hostility of the outside world, although it is present. The camera gives us the extraordinary atmosphere of friendship and the moments when the celebratory and euphoric mood becomes intimate and melancholic, or lively polemical.

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 6 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

The Alpe Adria Cinema Award assigned by the jury (Marta Popivoda, Nino Kirtadze, Gianfranco Pannone) to the best documentary film in competition (euro 2.500) goes to TVORNICE RADNICIMA by Srđan Kovačević (Factory to The Workers, Croatia 2021) with the following motivation: with its cinematic power and outstanding commitment, puts us in direct contact with a unique contemporary workers’ struggle. Honest and engaging, the film shows us the complexities of building and sustaining a socialist utopian project in the ocean of wild capitalism. Factory to the Workers!
The jury also awarded another special mention to FILM BALCONOWY by Paweł Łoziński (The Balcony Movie, Poland 2021) because This great little film struck us mostly for the empathy it shows; for its ability to connect with others in the difficult and somewhat sad days of Covid from a very simple point of view – the balcony on the first floor of an ordinary block of flats in a Warsaw residential district. What could have been a tricky position from which to reach out to people, was in fact managed very sensitively and compassionately, and succeeded in establishing a funny and even profound dialogue with the most disparate people, who come across as genuine and empathetic themselves. The director intentionally put aside a more complex way of looking at the world in favour of a much simpler style that eventually becomes political, thanks to his infectious faith in people. This is a film that touches our souls.

The Fondazione Osiride Brovedani Award assigned by the jury (Špela Čadež, Gerald Weber, Wim Vanacker) to the best short film in competition (euro 2.000) goes to PA VEND by Samir Karahoda (Displaced, Kosovo 2021) with the following motivation: In a film that crosses the border between documentary and fiction, a ping-pong table becomes an allegory for political conditions, but also a metaphor for the search for a safe place in times of displacement and migration. Pa Vend impressed us with its technical proficiency, its unusual framing, its concentrated view and its precise rhythm.

The films in the three competitions were also “judged” by the public and their votes determined the winners of the  Audience Awards:
Best feature film: MRAK by Dušan Milić (Darkling, Serbia – Italy 2021)
Best documentary film: FILM BALCONOWY di Paweł Łoziński (The Balcony Movie, Poland 2021)
Best short film: BIG by Daniele Pini (Italy 2021)

Founded on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall (the “zero” edition dates back to 1987), the Trieste Film Festival – directed by Fabrizio Grosoli and Nicoletta Romeo – is the first and most important Italian event dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema, which continues to be a privileged observatory on films and authors often little known – if not unknown – to Italian audiences, and more generally to “Western” audiences. More than a festival, it is a bridge that connects the different latitudes of European cinema, discovering in advance names and trends destined to impose themselves on the international scene.

Below is a list of the other prizes awarded.
The Corso Salani Award 2022 (euro 4.000), assigned by the jury (Massimo Causo, Andrea Adriatico, Maura Delpero) to the best film of the section  and offered by Associazione Corso Salani and Vivo film, goes to DAL PIANETA DEGLI UMANI by Giovanni Cioni (From the Planet of the Humans, Italy – Belgium– France 2021) with the motivation: The film, set at the border between Italy and France, hovers between the immigrants’ tragic conditions in present-day Ventimiglia, and a scientific fairytale that took place a hundred years ago. In so doing, it addresses with wonder and imagination some key issues of our time, venturing into the confusion between reality and fiction that nowadays grips and stuns our senses. Alternating between phantasmagorical and ghostly figures and the physicality of reality, the director, though an almost hypnotic chant, focuses on the constant conflict between the instinct for survival and the horror of death.
The jury also awarded another special mention to: VIAGGIO NEL CREPUSCOLO by Augusto Contento (Journey into the Twilight, France – Italy 2021) because mixing with intriguing conceptual and visual breadth the rigour of archive work, the impulses of imagination and the fluidity of animation, the film reflects on Italy’s past and present identity, with stories where men, women and their aspirations are hostage to an oppressive family tradition, evoked by Bellocchio’s films, as well as to the course of history.

The Audentia Eurimages – Council of Europe Award (euro 30.000 for the next cinematographic project) assigned by the jury (Ursula Menih Dokl, Anne Laurent-Delage, Andrei Tănăsescu) goes to WOMEN DO CRY by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria – France 2021) with the following motivation: in an increasingly volatile social climate, the winner of this year’s Audentia Award answers the urgent call for change with ferocious immediacy, an uncompromising formal approach and all-encompassing exploration of the struggle for equality and the issues that still plague women in our society. Its rallying cry for women’s solidarity against misogyny, homophobia and toxic patriarchy is as local as it is universal, harnessing the empowering force of its multi-generational female cast to deliver a cinematic manifesto full of anger and tenderness, compassion and humour. For its unique cinematic voice and resolute bravery.

The SkyArte Award assigned by the Sky Arte HD tv channel through the acquisition and broadcast of one of the films in the TriesteFF Art&Sound section was awarded to MILAN KUNDERA: FROM THE JOKE TO INSIGNIFICANCE by Miloslav Šmídmajer (Czech Republic 2021)
The Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa Award to the best documentary film in competition goes to LOOKING FOR HORSES by Stefan Pavlović (The Netherlands – France – Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2021) because it is a celebration of an unusual friendship between the filmmaker and Zdravko, a fisherman who has retreated to live near a lonely lake after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The film describes the growing bond between Zdravko, who lost his hearing after a grenade blast, and the filmmaker who narrates his own lifelong struggle with stuttering. Slowly overcoming their communication barriers, the two men establish a unique relationship, based on a desire for mutual understanding that turns into a form of mutual healing. Stefan Pavlović explores issues of communication and trauma in an original and touching work where he is not afraid to reveal insecurities, fears, and doubts. Today more than ever, Looking for Horses sends a clear message to Bosnia and Herzegovina: even when the conditions are difficult, listening to and understanding each other is not only possible but can also become an extraordinary experience.

The CEI (Central European Initiative) Award to the film that best interprets contemporary reality and dialogue between cultures (euro 3.000) goes to KELTI by Milica Tomović (Celts, Serbia, 2021) with the following motivation: the story of a family and a birthday party set in Belgrade in 1993 become powerful metaphors for the break-up of a country and the loss of collective identity. The young Serbian director in this debut film demonstrates maturity, clarity of vision and humour.

The Tënk Award 2022 given to the best film in the Corso Salani 2022 Prize section, which consists of the acquisition of the film for the platform, goes to Des Portes et Des Déserts by Loredana Bianconi for the poetic impetus with which the director transfigures the crossing of migrants, making it a universal journey capable of giving new meaning to the material of our imagination.

The Cineuropa Award to the best feature film in competition goes to NË KËRKIM TË VENERËS by Norika Sefa (Looking for Venera, Kosovo – North Macedonia, 2021) because among the range of excellent films in this section, one film really stood out for its various cinematic qualities. Looking for Venera is impressive in its sincerity and precision. The director Norika Sefa has succeeded in portraying the complexity of the two main characters, magnificently played by the actresses Kosovare Krasniqi and Rozafa Çelaj. We must also salute the work of Luis Armando Arteaga, the director of photography, for making this beautiful coming-of-age film shine.

The PAG Jury Award – Progetto Area Giovani of the Municipality of Trieste, awarded by a jury of young people aged between 18 and 35 (Abel Gambini, Alberto Loschi, Chiara Stella Lorenzi, Elisa Chiodi, Emiliano di Summa, Franco Morellato, Iris Paparelle, Leonardo D’Angelo, Rosa Maria Roccatagliata), representatives of youth associations, to the best short film in competition, goes to SAMOGŁÓW by Jakub Prysak (Headfish, Poland, 2021, 24′) for a cinematic microcosm in which the characters have their own time to grow and evolve, in a realistic context full of symbolic references to contemporary society. The direction and photography contribute effectively to create a complete and impactful communication.
The jury also assigned a special mention to BIG by Daniele Pini (Italia, 2021, 14’)

The Eastern Star Award 2022 which awards a personality from the world of cinema whose work has contributed, just like the Trieste Film Festival, to building a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe, goes to KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ and KATA WÉBER
The Cinema Warrior Award 2022 which awards the obstinacy, sacrifice and madness of those ‘warriors’ – be they individuals, associations or festivals – who work (or rather: fight) behind the scenes for Cinema, goes Luciana Castellina

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: THE AWARDS proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

At the Rossetti Theatre at 10:30 am we find the feature film out of competition ŻEBY NIE BYŁO ŚLADÓW by Jan P. Matuszyński (Leave no Traces, Poland – France – Czech Republic, 2021, HD, col., 160′, Polish language version) The film was presented in competition at the Venice Film Festival 2021 and is Poland’s candidate for the Oscars for Best International Film. In 1983, Poland is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by the police. Inspired by real events, the film tells the story of Jurek, the only witness to the beating who, from one day to the next, becomes the number one enemy of the state.
From 2:00 p.m. Off the Beaten Screens presents two films in Italian premiere RENGETEG – MINDENHOL LÁTLAK by Bence Fliegauf (Foresta – I see you everywhere, Hungary, 2021, HD, col., 112′, v.o. Ungheria). The TSFF has been following Bence Fliegauf since 2005, and in this film the Hungarian filmmaker returns to the inspiration of his early work (it is no coincidence that the title is very similar to his first feature) with an impressive performance based on a circular narrative structure comprising 7 dramatic stories set in a single night and in interiors filmed at close range. A reflection on the impossibility of human and family relationships in today’s Hungary.
At 4pm we see SELINI, 66 EROTISEIS by Jacqueline Lentzou (Moon, 66 questions, Greece – France, 2021, HD, col., 108′, Greek language version), a complex, suffered, almost hysterical and shouted relationship between a daughter who has returned to Athens after years away and a very fragile and ill father. Lentzou’s camera stays on the two protagonists as in an observational documentary and obtains vibrant performances. A director who has demonstrated all the talent of the new generation of Greek filmmakers in a film that has been acclaimed all over the world since its premiere at the last Berlinale.
At 18:00 there is the out-of-competition feature VERA ANDRRON DETIN by Kaltrina Krasniqi (Vera dreams of the sea, Kosovo – North Macedonia – Albania, 2021, HD, col., 87′, language version Albanian) which tells us about Vera, a middle-aged sign language interpreter who leads a well-organised life: wife of a renowned magistrate, mother and loving grandmother. However, this serenity is shattered by her husband’s suicide and the unwanted, continuous and threatening appearance of relatives who claim ownership of the family home. Premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the “Orizzonti” section, the film won the Grand Prix at the last Tokyo Film Festival.
At 8:00 p.m. there will be the award ceremony of the 33rd Trieste Film Festival, followed by a special screening of the latest film by a great Hungarian filmmaker: A FELESÉGEM TÖRTÉNETE by Ildikó Enyedi (The Story of My Wife, Hungary – Germany – France – Italy, 2021, 35mm, col., 170′, language versions: English – French – Dutch – German – Italian). Jakob Störr, a grumpy Dutch sea captain, bets in a café that he will marry the first woman who enters. And along comes Lizzy, a small, intelligent, lively and totally unpredictable French woman. Störr’s great calm gradually begins to wane and little by little, Jakob’s life falls apart.
At the Ambasciatori Cinema from 11:00, again in the Off the Beaten Screens section, we see two films in Italian premiere: the first is TELO KHANA by Krystsina Savutsina (Khan’s Flesh, Germany – Belarus, 2021, HD, col., 57′, Russian-Belarusian language version), minimal stories in a Belarusian village apparently indifferent to the popular uprisings in Minsk. The young director, who has left the country, calls them “choreographies of everyday life” in a film about “rules that limit personal freedoms and at the same time make the social organism work…”
This is followed by NOTRE ENDROIT SILENCIEUX by Elitza Gueorguieva (Our Quiet Place, France – Bulgaria, 2021, HD, col, 68′, language: French – Russian – English). The Bulgarian-born director films her friend Aliona, of Belarusian origin, who is writing a book about her father who died many years ago. Both have long since settled in France, and the real theme of the film is how to create in a language and context different from their own, without getting lost “in translation” and rather trying to imagine a complex and different language, sweetly suspended between dream and reality.
From 4 p.m. we see two films from the Corso Salani Award section. DIVIDED: What language do you express love in? by Federico Schiavi and Christine Reinhold (Italy,
2021, HD, col., 78′, language: Russian – Ukrainian – Italian) a journey into the territories of the first European civil war of the 21st century: in Ukraine, after the dramatic events that followed the first protest in Maidan Square in Kiev in November 2013. Two photographers, Giorgio Bianchi and Christopher Occhicone, with different perspectives and political ideas, give voice to characters who are witnesses to different ideas of independence, each in their own theatre of war.
This is followed at 6:00 pm by the Italian premiere of INSULTATI. BIELORUSSIA by Caterina Shulha (Italy, 2022, HD, col., 84′, Italian language version) a project created to raise awareness of the terrible political situation in Belarus after the August 2020 elections. Andrej Kurejčik screenwriter, playwright and theatre director wrote a play on this theme, which is why he had to flee abroad following the threats he received. The text, staged in 25 countries around the world, was translated into Italian by Giulia Dossi. Caterina Shulha has decided to commit to staging this project in our country with many faces from the Italian show business.
At 9:30 p.m. we find the out-of-competition documentary BOSNIA EXPRESS by Massimo D’Orzi (Italy, 2021, HD, col., 70′, language: Bosnian-Italian-English). A train slowly travels through the heart of Bosnia Herzegovina: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Srebrenica, Konjic, Mostar. Women, religion, war, violence, art thrown on the screen like dice on a chessboard or played at Russian roulette. A dance school, the corridors of the faculty of Islamic pedagogy, the classrooms of rock music, the hill of Medjugorje… these are the places from which the characters set out on their quest.

At the Miela Theatre at 14:15 the focus turns to the Wild Roses debuts, which this year turns the spotlight on Georgian female filmmakers. The first film we see is GRZELI NATELI DGEEBI by Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon Gross (In Bloom, Georgia – Germany – France, 2013, 35mm, col., 102′, Georgian language version). Early 1990s in Tbilisi, in an independent Georgia after the collapse of the USSR. The country faces a war on the Black Sea coast (in Abkhazia) and episodes of summary justice plague everyday life. But for Eka and Natia, two inseparable friends of fourteen years old, life is opening up, in the street, at school, with friends and their older sister, for these two blossoming girls, life is blossoming.
At 16:15 we see KREDITIS LIMITS by Salomé Alexi (Line of Credit, Georgia – France – Germany, 2014, HD, col., 85′, Georgian language version) Forty-year-old Nino led a wealthy life in the days of the USSR, but in the Georgia of 2014 he finds it difficult to cope with the changes. Little by little he sinks into debt, the victim of a vicious circle he cannot escape. Nino’s story is that of 172,300 families, 14% of the country’s population, who lost their homes due to mortgages in 2009-2013.
At 18:15 we finally have ANAS CKHOVREBA by Nino Basilia (Anna’s Life, Georgia, 2016, HD, col., 108′, Georgian language version). Anna is a single mother who works several jobs to make a living and pay for the necessary treatment of her autistic son, who is in an institution. One day she decides to leave everything behind and take him to the United States. But getting a visa and buying tickets is not so easy. So she sells her flat and entrusts all her possessions to a man who can help her obtain false documents. But can she really trust him?

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 5 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

At the Rossetti Theatre we begin at 11:00 with the out-of-competition feature film CENZORKA by Peter Kerekes (107 mothers, Slovakia – Czech Republic – Ukraine, 2021, HD, col., 93′, Russian – Ukrainian language version) in which Lesya has committed a crime of passion for which she must serve seven years in a women’s prison in Odessa. She has just given birth to her first child and is now about to enter a world populated exclusively by women. The film was presented in the “Orizzonti” section of the Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Screenplay.
At 2:00 p.m. in the Feature Film Competition we find BEBIA, À MON SEUL DÉSIR by Juja Dobrachkous (Bebia, To My Only Wish, Georgia – UK, 2021, HD, b-n, 113′, Georgian/Russian language version). Returning home for her grandmother’s funeral, 17-year-old Ariadna – according to an ancient custom – must cross the wild Georgian countryside to reunite her soul with her body. As she traverses this gruelling and rugged landscape, Ariadna is forced to confront the complex and sometimes cruel role the matriarch played in her childhood.
At 16:00 we see the second part of the Short Film Competition and at 18:15 we have another feature film in competition, ÎNTREGALDE by Radu Muntean (Romania, 2021, HD, col., 104′, Romanian language version) Maria, Dan and Ilinca set off on their usual end-of-year humanitarian mission with a group of friends from work. In their big SUVs, they drive up unpaved mountain roads to remote villages to distribute donation packages to the locals. But when their car gets stuck in a ditch in the woods, the sawmill turns out to be abandoned, and they are forced to spend the night with the bewildered old man, their ideas about empathy and solidarity are put to the test.
At 8:00 p.m., also in competition is ORKESTER by Matevž Luzar (Orchestra, Slovenia – Croatia 2021, HD, b-n, 111′, Slovenian-German Austrian language version). The merry members of a Slovenian brass band travel by bus to perform in a small Austrian town. They sing, celebrate and drink the whole way. But not everything goes as planned. Five different stories show us how hiding one’s actions and intentions is the best way to make them awkward.
The day of screenings at the Rossetti ends with the out-of-competition screening of DURNA ÇIRAĞI by Hilal Baydarov (The Light of the Crane, Azerbaijan, 2021, HD, col., 101′, Azerbaijani language version) In a suspended landscape and time the mysterious story of four women, perhaps kidnapped or perhaps enlightened by young Davud, unfolds. The latest film, beautifully shot and set, by Baydarov, the talented filmmaker who has given cinematic visibility to a fascinating country like Azerbaijan and whom TSFF has been following for several years now.

At the Ambasciatori Cinema at 11:00 a.m. in the Corso Salani Awars section we see the film ISOLE by Mario Brenta, Karine de Villers (Italy – Belgium, 2021, HD, col., 78′, language: Italian – English – Spanish – French).
Presented at the last Cinemambiente Festival in Turin, the film is a choral tale of solo voices, a patchwork of more than seventy personal gazes, of singular visions of the world, sensitive fragments of an uncertain and changing actuality that invites us to think, to reflect.
At 2:30 p.m. in the Documentary Competition we see the Italian premiere of JUŻ TU NIE WRÓCĘ by Mikołaj Lizut (Never Coming Back, Poland, 2021, HD, col., 62′, Polish language version): a lonely teenager, abandoned to herself, grows up in a reformatory. She will do anything to love and feel loved. Even having a baby.
At 5:00 p.m. Art&Sound presents GIOVANNA, STORIE DI UNA VOCE by Chiara Ronchini (Italy, 2021, HD, col. & b-n, 90′, Italian language version), a portrait of Giovanna Marini who has been telling stories and history through music all her life. Since 1958 she has been composing, collecting and interpreting songs of oral tradition, weaving an “alternative” history of our country, made up of voices, people and paths that do not belong to the history of the great and famous. An astonishing voice, an incredible woman, outside any scheme or school, for sixty years she has been unstoppably crossing places, struggles and movements all over Italy with a guitar in her arms.
From 6:45 pm we return to the Documentary Competition with MUZEJ REVOLUCIJE by Srđan Keča (The Museum of the Revolution, Serbia – Croatia – Czech Republic, 2021, HD, col., 91′, language: Serbian). In 1961, plans were made in Belgrade to build a museum-tribute to socialist Yugoslavia. Conceived to “safeguard the truth” about the Yugoslav people, the project never went beyond the construction of the basement. The abandoned building now tells a very different story from the one imagined 60 years ago. In the damp, dark space live the outcasts of a society reshaped by capitalism.
At 8:30 pm we find DELO by Nina Guseva (The Case, Russia, 2021, HD, col, 76′, Russian language version). In the summer of 2019, Moscow is in the grip of opposition protests. Three thousand people are arrested and among them is the young political activist Konstantin Kotov. The courageous lawyer Maria Eismont fights against the Russian judicial system in her defence because she is convinced that the arrests are politically motivated.
At 10:30 pm LOOKING FOR HORSES by Stefan Pavlović (Looking for Horses, Netherlands – France – Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2021, HD, col, 88′, Bosnian-English language version) a film about the friendship between the director and a fisherman. One no longer speaks his mother tongue due to a stutter, the other has lost his hearing during the civil war in Bosnia. They look for ways to communicate, while the camera indulges in the growing bond between them.

At the Miela Theatre at 9:00 we have a screening for schools in collaboration with the Cinemambiente Festival of Turin. The film presented is called THE GREEN LIE by Werner Boote (The Green Lie, Austria, 2018, HD, col., 97′, language: German – English – Portuguese – Indonesian) and argues the thesis that multinationals would like us to believe that we can save the world by buying the right things: ecological electric cars, sustainably produced food, fair production, but this in the author’s opinion is a widespread and dangerous lie.
At 2.15pm the Carte Blanche Manskij tribute presents the Italian premiere of KOTLOVAN by Andrej Grjazev (In the Big Yard, Russia, 2020, HD, col, 70′, Russian language version), a found footage film made up of countless videos found on YouTube, in which the Russian people make a direct appeal to President Putin. A kaleidoscope of the country’s state of mind, from submissive pleas to pure rage at injustice and rampant corruption. In 1930 Andrei Platonov wrote the novel In the Great Yard about totalitarianism and utopia. Grjazev’s work is a kind of modern and passionate update of it.
At 4:00 p.m. the same section presents the Italian premiere of Dar’ja Sljusarenko’s DŽOJ (Gioia, Russia, 2020, HD, col., 63′, Russian language version) In the tent of the Gioia circus, the same things are repeated every day: the artists take down and put back up the tent with the dome full of stars, they perform and move on to the next place. Valera the clown always performs alone, until one day he is joined by a new companion, Yana, also a clown, and Valera begins to dream of conquering the circus world together with her. This is followed by Reka Valerik’s TICHIJ GOLOS (Silent Voice, France – Belgium, 2020, HD, col, 51′, language: English – Chechen – French) about Khavaj, a young and promising mixed martial arts fighter who has to leave Chechnya and flee to Brussels when his brother discovers his homosexuality and threatens him with death. In Brussels, due to the trauma of exile, Khavai is struck by mutism.
At 6:15 p.m. there will be the Italian premiere of the out-of-competition documentary GORBACHEV. HEAVEN by Vitalij Manskij (Gorbačëv. Paradise, Latvia – Czech Republic, 2020, HD, col., 100′, Russian language version). Ninety-year-old Mikhail Gorbačëv lives in a modest house outside Moscow, waiting for the moment when he will be called to join the ranks of the most significant personalities of the 20th century. History will judge Gorbačëv, but in this film he gives us his personal, final testimony.
The last film of the day at the Miela is Nikolaj N. Viktorov’s ČERMET (Beaumonde the Wrecker, Russia, 2020, HD, col., 71′, Russian language version), also in its Italian premiere. It tells the story of Ilya, who has learned the hard way in the harsh reality of the far north of Russia, books in literature lessons and the power of his fists from his father, who has tried to raise his son along the right path. Ilya aspires to a life more in keeping with his stature, but unstoppable inner demons are a major obstacle to his dream of conquering the nation’s capital.

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 4 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

At the Rossetti Theatre at 11:00 a.m. we begin with the out-of-competition feature film in international premiere DESET U POLA by Danis Tanović (A not so friendly neighbourhood affair), Bosnia and Herzegovina – Turkey, 2021, HD, col, 90′, Bosnian language version), premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival 2021 the film is set in the same city in May 2021, the old city is trying to recover after a long and difficult year since the beginning of the pandemic. When one morning a woman from Zagreb enters Enis’s shop and says she has come to eat “the best kebab in Sarajevo”, the question will cause a ruckus in the city…
At 14:00 Off the Screens presents the Italian premiere of DAS MÄDCHEN UND DIE SPINNE by Ramon Zürcher and Silvan Zürcher (The Girl and the Spider, Switzerland  2021, HD, col., 98′ German language version), a delicate sentimental comedy about two girls in modern-day Switzerland based on the narrative device of a move that interrupts their cohabitation. Described as “a poetic ballad about change and transience”, this is the second feature by the Zurcher twins, new talents in Swiss cinema, and was the surprise of the Encounters section at the last Berlinale, where it won several awards.
At 4:00 p.m. it’s the turn of the Short Film Competition with some of the most interesting proposals from Central and Eastern European cinematography.
At 6:15 p.m. the Feature Film Competition sees the Italian premiere screening of LUANESHAT E KODRËS by Luàna Bajrami (The Hill Where the Lionesses Roar, Kosovo – France / Kosovo – France, 2021, HD, col., 83′, Albanian language version) and takes us somewhere in Kosovo, to a small remote village where three young women see their dreams and ambitions suffocated. In their quest for independence, nothing can stop them.
Premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2021, the film won the Best Actress Award for Flaka Latifi, Uratë Shabani, Era Balaj at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
At 20:00 the Feature Film Competition presents WOMEN DO CRY by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova (Women Cry, Bulgaria – France, 2021, HD, col., 106′ Bulgarian language version), based on a true story where the fragility and absurdity of a contemporary Bulgarian family are portrayed against the backdrop of violent protests against gender equality, the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 in the “Un Certain Regard” section.
At 10:00 p.m. the Feature Film Competition presents the international premiere of MRAK Dušan Milić (Darkness, Serbia – Denmark – Bulgaria – Italy – Greece, 2022, HD, col, 104′, language: Serbian – English – Italian). In Kosovo after the Balkan war, a family lives under the protection of the KFOR military units, which defend the population only during the day. At night everything changes and fear takes over, stealing their sleep. There is no proof, but something sinister and terrifying is happening, and night after night their fears grow… Mrak is one of the selected projects, and winner of a special mention, at This is It, during the last edition of When East Meets West.

At the Ambasciatori Cinema from 10:30 am the Corso Salani Award presents two films: VIAGGIO NEL CREPUSCOLO by Augusto Contento (France – Italy 2021, HD, col. & b-n, 142′ Italian language version). Viaggio nel crepuscolo (Journey into the twilight) follows the roads that lead into the cold darkness of Italian decline: of the family, patriarchal society, educational institutions, religion… By mixing fiction and documentary, the film radically deconstructs narrative forms. Bellocchio’s films become poetic verses that create new meaning; the same applies to the archives, whose use is no longer functional to narration, but to poetry. Viaggio nel crepuscolo premiered at the last Venice Film Festival. Followed at 2:30 p.m. by DAL PIANETA DEGLI UMANI Giovanni Cioni (Italy – Belgium – France, 2021, HD, col.& b-n, 84′, language: Italian – French – English) Dal pianeta degli umani begins in the silence of the Ventimiglia border between Italy and France, a border that is no longer talked about, with thousands of migrants stranded, and it is even worse, this silence, as if nothing were happening. The film begins as a survey and becomes a fantastic fairy tale, narrated by a chorus of frogs. In this fairy tale a scientist experiments with a rejuvenation cure using monkey testicles. Dr Voronoff really existed, and in the 1920s his fame was worldwide. His villa is there, above the border that migrants try to cross. Premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.
At 4:30 pm Art&Sound presents the Italian premiere of MILAN KUNDERA: OD ŽERTU K BEZVÝZNAMNOSTI by Miloslav Šmídmajer (Milan Kundera: from The Joke to Insignificance, Czech Republic, 2021, HD, col. & b-n / b-w, 95′ v.o. Czech – French). Milan Kundera is an author shrouded in mystery, he has not given a single interview in 30 years and does not appear in public: we must therefore get to know him through his works.
At 6:30 p.m. we reconvene with the Documentary Competition in Italian premiere with KRAI by Aleksey Lapin (Austria 2021, HD, b-n, 123′ language: Russian – German – English – Italian). Russian-born director Aleksey Lapin returns to Jutanovka, his family’s home village on the Ukrainian border, where he used to spend the summer, claiming that he came to shoot a historical film that will be set in Jutanovka itself.
At 20:45, Marija Zidar’s ODPUŠČANJE (Reconciliation, Slovenia – Serbia – Montenegro – Kosovo, 2021, HD, col, 82′, Albanian language version) tells us about an 18-year-old girl killed in a bitter family feud in the Albanian highlands. The grieving father is tormented by pressure from the local bishop and the president of an NGO, who ask him not only to forgive the imprisoned murderer and his family, as Christians, but also to reconcile with them, as the ancient tribal code, Kanun, once required. Best documentary at the last Slovenian Film Festival.
At 10:30 p.m. the last in the competition of the day FILM BALCONOWY by Paweł Łoziński
(From the Balcony, Poland, 2021, HD, col., 100′, Polish language version), an observational documentary film project. The director observes people from the balcony of his flat in Warsaw, doing what he likes best: observing the world around him. Łoziński devoted more than 2 years, conducting more than 1,000 interviews. The conversations reveal emotions, thoughts, ways of behaving and show a sincere reflection on the human condition. Grand Prix of the Settimana della Critica at the Locarno Festival.

Also on Sunday the Teatro Miela is the home of the TSFF DEI PICCOLI. Before the theatre, however, a walk in the harbour, a hidden treasure, is proposed for children in search of the hidden treasure in the Old Port! Imagine action and scenes from the movies with industrious sailors, a power station that energizes the port and makes the cranes move, a drawbridge over the Grand Canal and many other surprises. Many clues with which children will put together a colourful puzzle.
At 11:00 a.m. MY FIRST TIME AT THE CINEMA! by Igor Prassel of Animateka presents a selection of short films of 40 minutes each aimed at children aged 2 and over. Carefully selected films, without dialogues, funny and engaging. Auteur shorts and episodes from internationally successful series: colourful animals, fantastic creatures and drawn puppets await you at the cinema for a special journey!
At the same time and for older children Costanza Grassi has thought of LEGGENDARIA: LABORATORY OF EPIC TRAMES AND MYTHIC STORIES which will be held in via Pescheria 4: Trieste is the perfect set. It has beauty, magic, landscapes, legends and secrets. Trieste is the perfect set. It has beauty, magic, scenery, legends and secrets, and the stories it can inspire are many and of all genres: dealing with unlucky ladies turned into rocks, princesses so desperate that they cry a river of tears, the king of the winds and his mischievous daughter Bora, we will play at inventing an epic, intricate, imaginative plot and complete an ideal map of where to shoot a film.
At 11:30 a.m. at the Miela we will again have the workshop LE MERAVIGLIE DEL PRECINEMA organised by Schermi e Lavagne / Cineteca di Bologna. On 28th December 1895 Auguste and Louis Lumière introduce the cinematograph to the public. It was the invention that shook the art (and not only) of the coming century. However, attempts to trick our eyes into seeing what is not actually there – movements, distances, figures – had begun long before that. The workshop will allow us to discover thaumatropes, zootropes and many other curious objects that preceded and accompanied the birth of the cinematograph.
Completing the weekend for children at 4pm is THE MAGIC LANTERN, MAGIC LIGHTS… BEFORE THE CINEMA by Paolo Venier. All magic requires a magician, and ours is called a lantern maker, with whom you will live a unique experience illuminated only by the light of a lamp. The workshop will let you discover how magic lanterns work, which, even before the birth of cinema, represented the attraction of projected images. Stories will be invented and drawings made to relive the fascination of this machine of wonders that has enchanted adults and children for more than two centuries.
On 22 – 23 January a selection of short films from the TSFF dei Piccoli will also be online at www.cinetecamilano.it Single ticket €5 for the entire programme.
For every workshop/walk ticket purchased a ticket for a TSFF DEI PICCOLI screening is free.
INFO +390403476076, prenotazionitsff@gmail.com

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 3 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

The second day at the Teatro Rossetti begins at 10:30 with the Italian premiere of the feature film out of competition FABIAN ODER DER GANG VOR DIE HUNDE by Dominik Graf (Fabian, Germany 2021, HD, col, 176′ german language version) already at the Berlinale 2021 and in the film we are in the Berlin of 1931 with Jakob Fabian, an advertising executive by day and cynical viveur by night until he meets Cornelia and just when he begins to have a more positive outlook on life, a wave of layoffs sweeps him away while Cornelia instead pursues a career as an actress. Fabian’s world is shattered, but he is not alone.
The long screening of the Feature Film Competition begins in the afternoon, with Dina Duma’s SESTRI (Sisters, North Macedonia – Kosovo – Montenegro, 2021, HD, col., 91′, Macedonian language version) presented at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2021 where it won the Special Jury Prize. The film delves into the symbiotic friendship between two teenagers, Maya and Jana, which is seriously compromised when they become involved in the accidental death of one of their classmates.
At 4:00 p.m. we then see KELTI by Milica Tomović (Celti, Serbia 2021, HD, col., 106′, language: Serbian). In the Belgrade of 1993, the adventures of Marijana and her friends in search of strong, authentic experiences move against the backdrop of a country, Yugoslavia, that has begun its disintegration.  Premiered in Berlin in 2021 in the Panorama section, Kelti has been screened at many international festivals including Sarajevo, where it won the Best Director award.
At 6:00 p.m. it is the turn of MURINA by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Croatia – Brazil – USA – Slovenia 2021, HD, col., 92′ Croatian-English language version) selected at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes 2021, where the film won the Caméra d’Or as Best Debut Film and where Martin Scorsese is among the executive producers of the film which is presented in Trieste as an Italian premiere. Julija is a restless teenager with an oppressive father and the tension between them increases when an old family friend visits their home on a Croatian island. The new and influential guest offers her a taste of freedom that will push Julija to ask for more.
The last title in competition is STRAHINJA BANOVIĆ by Stefan Arsenijević (Strahinja Banović or As Far as I Can Walk, Serbia – Luxembourg – France – Bulgaria – Lithuania 2021, HD, col, 92′ language: Serbian – English). Inspired by a true story, the film is a retelling of the Serbian epic poem “Strahinja Banović”, in which African migrants take the place of Serbian national heroes. Urgent and timeless, this adaptation questions notions of identity, tradition, race and love, and won Best Film at the Karlovy Vary 2021 Film Festival.

At the Ambasciatori Cinema at 11:00 a.m. the section Art & Sound presents the out-of-competition documentary ROBERTO BAZLEN – CON UNO ZAINO PIENO DI LIBRI by Giampaolo Penco (Italy, 2021, HD, col. & b-n, 72′, Italian language version). A brilliant and eclectic reader, Bazlen lived as a solitary nomad with a dense network of human and professional relationships that made him a diviner of undiscovered literature, a dispenser of literary illuminations, a protagonist of publishing ventures, such as the birth of the Adelphi publishing house in 1962. The film is a search for the person through those who knew him and his literary and psychoanalytical paths.
The afternoon sees the start of the long roundup of the Documentary Competition, with Srđan Kovačević’s TVORNICE RADNICIMA (The Workers’ Factory, Croatia 2021, HD, col., 105′ Croatian language version) at 2:30 pm. The occupation of a Croatian factory in 2005 is transformed into an alternative form of production, against the capitalist economy. The film follows the workers’ 10-year struggle to prevent the closure of the factory and keep their collective vision alive.
At 16:30 we continue with REKONSTRUKCE OKUPACE by Jan Šikl (Reconstruction of the Occupation, Czech Republic – Slovakia 2021, HD, col. & b-n, 100′, Czech – Slovak language version). Documentary filmmaker Jan Šikl spent many years researching and collecting private and amateur film archives. Thanks to this work, Šikl has found several hours of footage showing the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. Rekonstrukce okupace is a cinematic adventure of an archaeological nature in which anonymous faces are transformed into living witnesses to the days that forced Czechoslovakia into two more decades of slavery.
At 6:30 p.m. the section Art & Sound presents ŽŽŽ (Žurnal o Želimiru Žilniku) by Janko Baljak (ŽŽŽ Diary on Želimir Žilnik, Serbia 2021, HD, col., b-n, 92′, Serbian language version). A documentary that is a road movie that crosses half a century of Želimir Žilnik’s cinema. A committed and courageous director, but above all free, making low-budget films for decades. but also a journey through the history of Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists.
Followed at 20:30 by the Italian premiere of BŪSIU SU TAVIM by Virginija Vareikytė, Maximilien Dejoie (I’ll be by your side, Lithuania – Italy – Switzerland, 2021, HD, col., 73′ Lithuanian language version). Two women, a psychologist and a police officer, undertake a challenging mission: to reduce the record number of suicides in their rural town. Valija and Gintare offer empathy and compassion door-to-door, caring for the loneliest members of their community.
The last documentary in competition of the day is RENÉ – VĚZEŇ SVOBODY, Helena Třeštíková (René – The Prisoner of Freedom, Czech Republic, 2021, HD, col., 102′, Czech language version) presented in Italian premiere. Documentary filmmaker Helena Třeštíková first met René during the communist period, in a juvenile prison. To make the film René (2008), she observed him with a camera for 20 years. In René – Vězeň svobody, we follow René’s life at a fast pace, from the film’s premiere in 2008 to today, as he tries to avoid prison at all costs.

At the Miela Theatre the day is completely dedicated to the TSFF DEI PICCOLI: an exclusive programme of screenings and workshops dedicated to children and young people.
But before entering the cinema at 10:30 there is time for A WALK IN THE PORT, A HIDDEN TREASURE. A children’s walk in search of the treasure hidden in the Old Port! We’ll let our imaginations fly as we imagine action and scenes from the movies with industrious sailors, a power station that powers the port and moves the cranes, a drawbridge over the Grand Canal and many other surprises. We’ll be looking for clues to help us put together a colourful puzzle!
At 11:00 a.m. in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna – Schermi e Lavagne presents at the Miela Theatre A CIASCUNO IL SUO CINEMA & RACCONTI D’INVERNO, two reviews of funny and original short films chosen by Schermi e Lavagne, the educational department of the Cineteca di Bologna for the audience of young cinephiles. In A Ciascuno Il Suo Cinema (28′) we rediscover the pleasure of the cinema experience through many films, animated and not, in which the cinema itself is the protagonist. The darkness, the beam of light from the projector and the magic of the film will transport you into a world of stories and emotions to be experienced together. The second selection of short films Racconti d’inverno (36′), on the other hand, brings together many small stories from countries and eras far and near, to warm up a cold winter afternoon.
At the same time, at 11.00 a.m., THE SPECIAL EFFECTS SHOP, organised by Luca Gabrielli and Jan Sedmak in Via Pescheria 4 in collaboration with La Collina, involves children in a real special effects workshop: explosions, thunder and sounds! During the activity the children, using simple and common materials, will experiment with a series of techniques to create visual, optical and sound effects. The workshop is divided into explosions, disappearing and appearing, macro photography and frastuoni (the art of making noises). The activity is partly inspired by the pioneering work of Pavel Klushantsev (1910-1999).
At 11:30, again at Miela and organised by Schermi e Lavagne / Cineteca di Bologna, the Festival proposes the workshop THE WONDERS OF PRECINEMA 28 December 1895: Auguste and Louis Lumière present the cinematograph to the public. It is the invention that shakes up the art (and not only) of the century to come. However, attempts to trick our eyes into seeing what is not actually there – movements, distances, figures – had begun long before that. The workshop will allow us to discover thaumatropes, zootropes and many other curious objects that preceded and accompanied the birth of the cinematograph.
At 4 p.m. Paul Venier presents THE MAGIC LANTERN MAGIC OF LIGHT… BEFORE THE MOVIE
Every magic needs its magician and ours is called the lantern maker, with whom we will live a unique experience illuminated only by the light of a lamp. The workshop will introduce you to the workings of magic lanterns which, even before the birth of cinema, were the attraction of projected images.
Finally, at 4:30 p.m., MEDVEDI KAMCĂTKI. NACČALO ŽIZNI by Irina Žuravleva, Vladislav Grišin, (The Bears of Kamchatka. The beginning of life, Russia, 2018, 60′, a Russian documentary made by two young filmmakers in the protected area of the South Kamchatka Federal Sanctuary, known as the “paradise of bears”. The documentary stands out for the total absence of human voices and interference, allowing the viewer an immersive experience in the beauty of a wild and uncontaminated nature, among ancient volcanoes, waterways and wild animals, evoking the deepest desire to investigate and preserve what is still precious to us. Produced in collaboration with the CinemAmbiente Festival.
On 22 – 23 January a selection of short films from the TSFF dei Piccoli will also be online at www.cinetecamilano.it Single ticket €5 for the entire programme.
For every workshop/walk ticket purchased, a free ticket for a TSFF DEI PICCOLI screening.
INFO +390403476076, prenotazionitsff@gmail.com

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: DAY 2 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

The first day of the 33rd edition of the Trieste Film Festival begins at 6 pm at Theatre Rossetti with two screenings preceding the opening ceremony. The first is è FREIKÖRPERKULTUR, 19’ by Alba Zari (Italy, HD, col., 19′ language: Italian in Bisiacco dialect). Premiered at the Venice International Film Critics’ Week 2021, Zari filmed a family spending the summer months on the Costa dei Barbari near Trieste in the intimacy and beauty of their naked bodies, a poetic short film “about a lost love, about a time gone by when everything was perfect. A time that will never come back” in the director’s words.

This will be followed by the world premiere of TULLIO KEZICH, A PROPOSITO DI ME by Gioia Magrini (Italy 2021, HD, col. & b-n, 60′, Italian language version), a recollection of Kezich’s multifaceted activity as a film critic, producer, playwright and writer, enriched by the private photographic archive of Alessandra Levantesi Kezich’s private photographic archive, together with the repertory of the Luce Cinecittà Historical Archive, has made it possible to set and retrace Tullio’s life from his birth in Trieste. The choice “was not to resort to the usual testimonies of friends and collaborators, but to let him tell his story himself, with the lightness that distinguished him”.

At 8:00 p.m. there will be the opening ceremony of the Trieste Film Festival followed by the Italian premiere screening of the special event opening film EVOLUTION, by Kornél Mundruczó (Germany – Hungary 2021, HD, col., 97′ Hungarian-German language version). Three stories, three different eras. with no apparent connection, but in reality profoundly linked: being Jewish in Central and Eastern Europe, told through the lives of three generations and three places: Auschwitz, Budapest and Berlin. Evolution looks at inherited traumas and whether we can decide to get rid of them. Evolution premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2021.

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL STARTS NOW! proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

The festival will launch with a showing of Evolution, the new feature directed by Kornél Mundruczó and written by Kata Wéber, following the remarkable success of Pieces of a Woman (which won prizes at Venice and was nominated for an Academy Award). Evolution was presented out of competition at Cannes 2021 where it was well received and is currently being released in Italian cinemas on 27^th January (Teodora Film distribution). The film tells a story of extraordinary intensity, with Martin Scorsese acting again as executive producer.

The film chronicles a family’s coming to terms with the legacy of the Shoah across three generations, from the miraculous birth of Éva in a concentration camp to the daily lives of her grandson Jonas and his mother in today’s Berlin. Inspired by real events, Mundruczó and Wéber’s film is a powerful reflection on memory and identity, with compelling performances and stunning staging characterised by incredible sequence shots.

“Every new movie by Mundruczó and Wéber comes as a welcome shock to the senses for the viewer and for the filmmaker – they never stop advancing into uncharted territory,” Scorsese said in a statement. “With Evolution, they find a way to dramatize the movement of time itself, the ways that we remember and the ways that we forget.”

The screening of Evolution is linked to one of the two traditional prizes awarded by the Trieste Film Festival – the Eastern Star Award. Established to celebrate cinema personalities whose careers have built bridges between East and West (previous recipients include Irène Jacob, Monica Bellucci, Milcho Manchevski, Rade Šerbedžija, Kasia Smutniak and Miki Manojlović), this year’s award goes to Mundruczó himself and screenwriter Kata Wéber. Mundruczó is a Hungarian director who has shot to international stardom in recent years, winning recognition at some of the main international film awards, including the Oscars.

This year’s Cinema Warrior Award, created to reward the tenacity, sacrifice and “madness” of those who fight for cinema, goes to Luciana Castellina, for being an indefatigable leading figure in Italy’s political and cultural life, and for her keen interest in cinema and Europe.

At the core of the festival, as is customary, are the three international competitions dedicated respectively to feature films, shorts and documentaries.

Eleven films make up the Feature Competition (the jury comprises film critics Dubravka Lakić and Emanuela Martini, and film programmer Edvinas Pukšta).

Murina by Croatian director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović centres on the growing tensions between a teenage girl and her obsessive father, worsened by the arrival at home of a male friend of the father. These conflicts are seen as a metaphor for a whole country increasingly drifting towards chauvinism (under the pretext of preserving the nation’s “cultural heritage”). The film was backed by Martin Scorsese as executive producer and was awarded the ‘Caméra d’or’ for best first feature at Cannes last year. In the female ensemble film Women Do Cry, by Bulgarian directors Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova (and starring Maria Bakalova, who shot to international acclaim with Borat 2) another family story offers the directors an opportunity to describe a society constitutionally (the adverb is not used casually) sexist and patriarchal, shaken by nationalist protests against gender equality. Two directors, who have already been fêted in Trieste in previous years, inhabit worlds perched between fairytale and epic, realism and metaphor. Stefan Arsenijević’s As Far as I Can Walk is an adaptation of the medieval poem Strahinja Banović. The film, set in modern-day Belgrade – a city at the centre of the Balkan migration route – turns a young Ghanaian man into Serbia’s national hero. Romanian director Radu Muntean uses a fairytale structure in his Întregalde (complete with a hero’s journey) to question, or rather subvert, the certainties about solidarity and empathy of a group of friends who are about to set off onto a humanitarian mission at the end of the year.  Bebia. À mon seul désir by Juja Dobrachkous, tells the story of a young female model returning home, forced to come to terms with the complex, and at times cruel, role that her recently deceased grandmother played in her childhood. This film also “introduces” the festival’s tribute to Georgian female filmmakers to whom is dedicated this year’s ‘Wild Roses: Women Filmmakers in Europe’ (see below). Also, two films from Serbia: Milica Tomović Celts, where Marijana’s personal dissatisfaction in 1993’s Belgrade mirrors the public disintegration of Yugoslavia; and Darkling by Dušan Milić – a reflection on the legacy of the war in Kosovo, and the psychological traumas it caused, that relies on the mystery and thriller genre tropes (and archetypal human ancestral fears). Kosovo also features in two female-based tales: Luàna Bajrami’s The Hill Where Lionesses Roar, presented at Cannes’ Quinzaine – about the dreams, ambitions and hopes of a group of young female friends; and Norika Sefa’s Looking for Venera, winner of a prize at Rotterdam, where two teenage girls with a complicated life are hoping to escape the strict patriarchal society. Bullying (including cyber) lies at the centre of Dina Duma’s delicate Sisterhood from North Macedonia; whereas Slovenia is represented by Matevž Luzar’s Orkester, a portrayal in b&w of the secrets and lies of a brass band on tour in Austria.

Two special events not in competition: apart from the previously mentioned Evolution, the Italian premiere of The Story of My Wife (scheduled for theatrical release in Italy by Altre Storie distribution) by another great Hungarian director – Ildikó Enyedi. Presented in competition at Cannes last year, the film is a grand-scale romantic drama featuring a stellar international cast led by Léa Seydoux, Gijs Naber, Louis Garrel, Sergio Rubini and Jasmine Trinca.

Six other films not in competition include: 107 Mothers by Slovak director Peter Kerekes, shot entirely inside a female prison; Not So Friendly Neighbourhood Affair by Oscar-winner Danis Tanović, a romantic comedy shot in Sarajevo during the pandemic; Fabian – Going to the Dogs by Dominik Graf, from a novel by Erich Kästner, a portrait of Berlin in the early 1930s; Piccolo corpo (Small Body) by Laura Samani, one of the most surprising and well-received (including at Cannes’ ‘Semaine de la Critique’) debuts of Italian cinema in recent years; Vera Dreams of the Sea by Kaltrina Krasniqi, about a mature woman whose life is shaken by her husband’s suicide; and Leave No Traces by Jan P. Matuszyński, a reconstruction of the Grzegorz Przemyk case – a high school student beaten to death by the police in Poland in 1983.

The Documentary Competition presents twelve titles (the jury comprises Georgian director Nino Kirtadze, Italian director Gianfranco Pannone and Serbian director and videoartist Marta Popivoda).

Tomasz Wolski’s 1970 recreates the protests that erupted in communist Poland in 1970 from the unusual perspective of the oppressors. Listening to recorded telephone conversations and peeking from behind the closed doors of government officials, the atmosphere of the time inside the Home Office is vividly brought back to life (thanks also to the use of stop-motion animation); moving from Warsaw to Prague, Reconstruction of Occupation by Jan Šikl has dug through private and amateur film archives to show – through faded vintage home movies – the city’s invasion by the Warsaw Pact’s troops. Unique images, not seen for decades, in which anonymous citizens become living witnesses to those dramatic days in the history of Czechoslovakia. I’ll Stand by You by Virginija Vareikytė and Maximilien Dejoie shows the commitment of two women – a psychologist and a police officer – to reduce the record number of suicides in their charming little town in Lithuania; The Case by Nina Guseva, focuses on the case of the young political activist Konstantin Kotov, who was arrested in Moscow in the summer of 2019; The Balcony Movie by Paweł Łoziński, winner of an award at Locarno, is an original example of an observational documentary completely filmed from the balcony of the director’s flat, in Warsaw; Never Coming Back by Mikołaj Lizut portrays four young female inmates in the Youth Educational Centre in Goniądz near Białystok, in Poland; Krai by Aleksey Lapin, shows the director’s return to his family’s native village on the Ukranian border, where he himself used to spend his summers; Looking for Horses by Stefan Pavlović is about the friendship between the director and a fisherman who lost his hearing during the Bosnian civil war and retreated to a lake to live in solitude; Museum of the Revolution by Srđan Keča tells the story of a building that was never completed, that had been designed to celebrate socialist Yugoslavia and is now occupied by the outcasts of a society that has been reshaped by capitalism; Marija Zidar’s Reconciliation shows us forgiveness and reconciliation in an Albania still ruled by the ancient Kanun code of law; René – The Prisoner of Freedom by Helena Třeštíková is the latest instalment in a film-biography that has now lasted more than thirty years; and Factory to the Workers by Srđan Kovačević, ten years of working class battles in a Croatian factory which turns into an alternative form of production, against the capitalist economy.

The seven documentaries not in competition are: Babi Yar. Context by Sergej Loznica; Bosnia Express by Massimo D’Orzi; Freikörperkultur by Alba Zari; Gorbachev. Heaven by Vitalij Manskij; The Jungle by Cristian Natoli; Tullio Kezich – A proposito di me by Gioia Magrini; L’ultimo calore d’acciaio by Francesco De Filippo and Diego Cenetiempo.

The Short Film Competition presents thirteen titles, with Italy being represented by Daniele Pini’s Big and Federico Demattè’s Inchei. (The jury comprises director Špela Čadež; Wim Vanacker, member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition at Cannes; and deputy managing director of sixpackfilm, Gerald Weber.)

Two new sections that were created last year make a return: ‘Off the Beaten… Screens’ and ‘Wild Roses: Women Filmmakers in Europe’.

“With ‘Off the Beaten… Screens’ – explain the artistic directors – we wanted to create a new window dedicated to innovative filmmaking perspectives and forms, to host titles that present ‘looser’ narrative structures, irregular durations and cross-fertilisations between genres and styles”. This section welcomes young talents as well as established auteurs. The programme includes: Crane Lantern by Hilal Baydarov, Khan’s Flesh by Krystsina Savutsina, The Girl and the Spider by Ramon Zürcher and Silvan Zürcher, Our Quiet Place by Elitza Gueorguieva, Forest – I See You Everywhere by Bence Fliegauf, and Moon, 66 Questions by Jacqueline Lentzou.

“The section ‘Wild Roses: Women Filmmakers in Europe’– continue Fabrizio Grosoli and Nicoletta Romeo – is a space we intend to dedicate to women directors from Central and Eastern Europe (who, by the way, have always featured prominently at the festival), focusing on a group of female filmmakers from a different country every year. Audiovisual industry data reveal how films made by women experience more hurdles globally in finding funding, regardless of their artistic merits; therefore, we thought it important to play our part in celebrating and promoting European female directors through a dedicated section.” The spotlight this year is on Georgia, with a selection of films made in the last eleven years. These will include both works of fiction and documentaries. Through their distinctive voices and styles, these films will offer opportunities to reflect on the condition of women in a country that has been torn by civil wars and that today appears to still be pulling backwards to ancestral traditions, while also pushing forward to modernity. Here are the films in programme: The Pipeline Next Door by Nino Kirtadze; In Bloom by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross; Line of Credit by Salomé Alexi; Anna’s Life by Nino Basilia; House of Others by Rusudan Glurjidze; Glory to the Queen by Tatia Skhirtladze; How the Room Felt by Ketevan Kapanadze; Taming the Garden by Salomé Jashi; and Wet Sand by Elene Naveriani.

The ‘Art&Sound’ section – supported by Sky Arte, which will reward one of the films by acquiring it and showing it on their channel – presents four premières which explore the most diverse artistic fields: Bobi Bazlen – Con uno zaino pieno di libri by Giampaolo Penco; Giovanna, Storie di una voce by Chiara Ronchini, dedicated to Italian singer Giovanna Marini; Milan Kundera:  From the Joke to Insignificance by Miloslav Šmidmajer; and Janko Baljak’s ŽŽŽ (Journal About Želimir Žilnik).

The Corso Salani Award 2022, as is customary, presents five Italian films completed in 2021, but still looking for a distributor. The prize (€4,000) is intended as an incentive for the theatrical release of the winning film. The nature of the shortlisted works remains unchanged: these are independent films, that cannot easily be labelled within specific genres or formats, and which are therefore innovative, in the spirit of Corso Salani’s own cinema. This year’s films are: Dal pianeta degli umani by Giovanni Cioni, Des portes et des déserts by Loredana Bianconi, Divided: What language do you express love in? by Federico Schiavi and Christine Reinhold, Isole by Mario Brenta and Karine de Villers, Viaggio nel crepuscolo by Augusto Contento, and lastly, not in competition, Insultati. Bielorussia by Caterina Shulha.

The TsFF pays two tributes this year. One is dedicated to the Artdocfest festival, a symbol of Russian opposition to that country’s central power. It is not by chance that the festival has had to move its operations to Riga, in a forced exile. Its director, the great documentarist Vitalij Manskij, will present to the public in Trieste a special selection of some of the most interesting talents he has discovered in the last few years. The other tribute is dedicated to Vesna Ljubić (1938-2021), the first female filmmaker of Bosnia Herzegovina, who will be remembered with the screening of her Ecce Homo (1994) and Adio Kerida (2001).

Having reached its 12^th edition this year, When East Meets West is an event organised by the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Audiovisual Fund together with the Trieste Film Festival, EAVE, Creative Europe Desk Italy, and with the support of Creative Europe – Media Programme, Direzione Generale per il Cinema/Italian Ministry of Culture, CEI (Central European Initiative), Film Center Serbia and Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia. It will take place in Trieste from the 24^th to 28^th January.

The 2022 hybrid edition will be a five-day event both in-person and online dedicated to producers, commissioning editors, markets and regional funding bodies from Italy, Europe and beyond. Our aim is, as ever, to create an event that can generate close ties between the participating regions and countries. Cinema professionals from various countries meet through a series of roundtables, masterclasses and case studies, making WEMW a unique point of reference for producers who are looking to find collaborations to realise their projects. Numerous commissioning editors, distributors and representatives of funding bodies and markets will take part both physically in Trieste and through online accreditation, so as to present the whole range of production and distribution opportunities, as well as financial resources, available to the industry.

Moreover, WEMW is maintaining its commitment to exploring and researching specific production contexts in the East and the West, bringing to Trieste, for the first time, a special selection of projects from the geographical areas in focus this year – Russia and the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the USA. The core of the event continues to be the co-production forum dedicated to documentaries and features in development, maintaining the same elements as in previous years, but adding some new and important features. Day after day you will discover new aspects which will make WEMW 2022 an opportunity for dialogue and discussion, to rethink the present and find new inspirations for the future.

The Trieste Film Festival and When East Meets West present the seventh edition of ‘Last Stop Trieste’, a section dedicated to documentaries that are still in progress, i.e. fine cut projects that have previously been developed or presented at one of the other platforms participating in the scheme: Ex-Oriente Film Workshop, BDC Discoveries, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Baltic Sea Docs, ZagrebDox PRO and When East Meets West. In this special edition of both festival and market events, documentaries that are at the fine cut stage will be presented to an exclusive international audience of sales agents, festival programmers and TV commissioning editors, with the aim of being selected by the most important international film festivals and increase the likelihood of finding distribution.

‘Last Stop Trieste’ is organised by Alpe Adria Cinema – Trieste Film Festival and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, with the support of Creative Europe, Direzione Generale per il Cinema/Italian Ministry of Culture and Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia. The initiative is co-ordinated by Rada Šešic, programmer at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

When East Meets West and the Trieste Film Festival present the fifth edition of ‘This is IT’, a section entirely dedicated to fiction features and hybrid works with a strong visual and creative approach, produced or co-produced by Italian production companies (as majority or minority stakeholders). The selected teams will be able to present their projects and show ten minutes of their films online to an exclusive panel of sales agents, festival programmers and international buyers.

Thanks to the continuing partnership with Milano Film Network (MFN), all the projects presented at ‘This is IT’ have also been considered by their selection panel. The aim is to offer a double opportunity to Italian producers, increasing their chances of finding distribution partners both at national and international level.

Participating Countries

Albania – Austria – Azerbaijan – Belgium – Bosnia Herzegovina – Brazil – Bulgaria – Canada – Croatia – Czech Republic– Denmark – Finland – France – Georgia – Germany Greece – Hungary – Italy – Kosovo – Latvia – Lithuania – Mexico – Montenegro – Netherlands – North Macedonia – Poland – Romania – Russia – Serbia – Slovakia – Slovenia – Switzerland – Turkey – Ukraine – United Arab Emirates – United Kingdom – United States of America.

The 33^rd Trieste Film Festival has been realised with the contribution of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia; Creative Europe – Media Programme; Direzione Generale per il Cinema – Ministero della  Cultura; and Promoturismo FVG. It has been co-organised with Comune di Trieste; with the support of CEI – Central European Initiative; Fondazione Benefica Kathleen Foreman Casali; Fondazione Osiride Brovedani Onlus; Polish Institute in Rome; Fondazione Pietro Pittini; Georgian National Film Centre – Tbilisi; Film Center Serbia – Belgrade; Comunità Greco Orientale di Trieste; Associazione Corso Salani; and with the patronage of Università degli Studi di Trieste and Sissa-Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati di Trieste;

With the collaboration of
Animateka – Ljubljana; ArtDocFest; Associazione Casa del Cinema di Trieste; Casa della Poesia – Salerno; Cinemambiente – Torino; Cineteca di Bologna; Cineteca di Milano; Cineuropa; Cizeoruno – Trieste; Claimax; Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Tartini” – Trieste; Cooperativa Bonawentura – Trieste; Cooperativa La Collina – Trieste; Corep – Turin; Creative Europe Desk Italy MEDIA – Turin Office; DoubleRoom arti visive – Trieste; IoDeposito – Udine; Eurimages; Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund; Fluido.tv; FVG Film Commission; Erpac – Ente Regionale del Patrimonio Culturale della Regione FVG; Istituto Luce Cinecittà; Milano Film Network; MIDPOINT – a training and networking platform for film & series development – Prague; Nexo+; Osservatorio Balcani, Caucaso e Transeuropa; PAG – Progetto Area Giovani – Comune di Trieste; Slovenski Filmski Arhiv – Ljubljana; Lo Scrittoio – Milano; SNCCI – Sindacato Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani; University of Bristol; and When East Meets West.

Media partners
Anonima Cinefili; Mymovies; DAFilms-Doc Alliance Films; East European Film Bulletin; FilmTV; FRED Film Radio; Il Piccolo; Quinlan; Taxi Drivers; Tënk.

Web media partners
Cineclandestino; Cinematographe; In Trieste; insidertrend.it; ItaliaMagazine; Just Cinema Tabloid; La Nouvelle Vague; Oubliette Magazine; Venezia legge i Balcani; Vero Cinema.

Media coverage
Sky Arte HD.

Technical partners
Art&grafica; B&B Hotel; Cafè Rossetti; Clear Channel; DoubleTree by Hilton Trieste; Elita; Eventival; Grand Hotel Duchi D’Aosta; Hotello; Ideando Pubblicità; InAsset Srl; Savoia Excelsior Palace; Tipografia Menini; Wyth.

Sponsors
Antico Caffè San Marco; Gravner; Parovel; Piolo & Max; Zidarič.

Trieste Film Festival is a member of AFIC Associazione Festival Italiani Cinema.

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Established in the years immediately preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Trieste Film Festival is the leading Italian event dedicated to the cinema of Central and Eastern Europe. For over thirty years it has promoted the cinema of countries and directors which are often unfamiliar – or even unknown – to Italian, and, in general, Western audiences.

L'articolo 33. TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL: THE PROGRAMME proviene da Trieste Film Festival.

After the extraordinary success of Pieces of a Woman, which won an award at Venice and was nominated for an Oscar, Evolution offers a powerful reflection on memory and identity, once again with Martin Scorsese as executive producer. On release in Italian cinemas from 27 January, distributed by Teodora Film.

EVOLUTION, the new feature film directed by Kornél Mundruczó and written by Kata Wéber is the opening film of the 33rd TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL where it will have its Italian premiere. It follows on from the extraordinary success of Pieces of a Woman (awarded at Venice and nominated for an Oscar). Much acclaimed in the out of competition section at the last Cannes Film Festival, and on release in Italian cinemas on 27 January, distributed by Teodora Film, Evolution tells an extraordinarily intense story, and again has Martin Scorsese as executive producer.

The film’s protagonist is a family that across three generations confronts the legacy of the Shoah, from the miraculous birth of Éva in a concentration camp to the daily life of the grandson Jonas and of his mother in today’s Berlin. Inspired by real-life events, Mundruczó and Wéber produce a powerful reflection on memory and identity, thanks in part to a formidable cast and a staging that leaves you speechless with its incredible sequence shots.

“Each new film by Mundruczó and Wéber,” declares Scorsese, “comes as a salutary shock to viewers and filmmakers alike: these are two directors who never stop venturing into uncharted territory. With Evolution they manage to dramatise the very movement of time, the way we remember and the way we forget“.

Festival directors Fabrizio Grosoli and Nicoletta Romeo declare: “We are happy to open the 33rd Trieste Film Festival with the new film by one of the most interesting personalities of Hungarian and European cinema, Kornél Mundruczó, who has already been a guest on several occasions. It is a film written, like the previous Pieces of a Woman, by Kata Wéber and offers a story structured as a triptych exploring three generations of a family that, from the Nazi concentration camps to the multicultural Berlin of today, tries to recover from the wounds and traumas of history: and it is the young people who give us a lesson in hope and humanity, in a Europe that is perhaps finally open to coexistence between different cultures“.

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Born on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Trieste Film Festival is the leading Italian event dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema: For over thirty years it has promoted the cinema of countries and directors which are often unfamiliar – or even unknown – to Italian, and, in general, “Western” audiences.

L'articolo EVOLUTION BY KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ IS THE OPENING FILM OF TSFF33 proviene da Trieste Film Festival.