“A new start, towards something different, unexplored, unexpected. A festival for people that don’t have any preconceptions, that are eager to be surprised.”
Eleventh edition
The submission deadline has passed, the selection is in progress. A thorough search through film schools, producers, distributors and independent festivals resulted in the submission of more than 2000 films from more than 90 countries: from Mexico to Palestine, from South Africa to Finland, from India to Chiapas.
The eleventh edition is a chance to start anew: the Festival will be a meeting point for film lovers, for not-festival-goers, for children, for music enthusiasts, for professionals, for students, for people that believe that films can portray important aspects of the world.
At the eve of a new decade, Milano Film Festival focuses its attention and energies on its various parts that are blended together to create a unique all-round event.
The Festival
For eleven years Milano Film Festival has attracted films and filmmakers from all over the world. It is independent – from the interests of major distributors, from institutional politics, from money, from fashion, from critics. But it is also dependent – on the filmmakers’ creativity and talent, on the expertise, the experience and the skills of the people that organize it, on the work and commitment of hundreds of volunteers, on the curiosity and willingness to take risks of the selection committee. This Festival scouted and promoted emerging talents, for whom the Festival has often been a springboard to international success. For ten days, this festival transforms places and people that pass through them.
Overview of the 2005 edition:
85,000 visitors
80 journalists with accreditation card
1,200 film professionals involved in the Borsa Democratica del Cinema
495 films screened
130 filmmakers attending the festival
250 international guests – directors, producers, actors and film enthusiasts
First information on the competitions and out-of-competition sections
Short film competition and Feature film competition
The competitions are open to short and feature films of any genre and running time, on any format and in any language, provided that they were produced after January 1st, 2005. They won’t be divided into sections and will be screened in their original language with English and Italian subtitles. Filmmakers are invited to present their films to the festival audience.
Colpe di Stato
A collection of documentaries that depict crimes, injustice and slaughters under the banner of freedom, security and religion. These screenings mark an interesting but disturbing journey around the world.
Histoire(s) du cinéma – Cinema according to Jean-Luc Godard
Through the quotes scattered in the Histoire(s) du cinéma, a video by Jean-Luc Godard in which the filmmaker traces the history of filmmaking, this season aims to show this entire work for the first time in Milan and to highlight different central films from which this flow of images moves.
In collaboration with Fondazione Cineteca Italiana – Spazio Oberdan.
motion&picture against poverty
The UN campaign for the 8 Millennium Development Goals relies on alternative means of communication, including films.
The motion&picture against poverty section, which is currently under construction, was first launched during the festival’s 2005 edition to create a film season dedicated to human rights and to different issues linked with the development goals. This section is particularly focused on countries that produce films despite economic, political and social hindrances.
Incontri italiani
This section features young Italian filmmakers, screenings and meetings to help directors get together, exchange ideas and projects and create new collaborations.
Focus animazione
A search through different styles, traditional techniques and cutting-edge technologies.
Salon des refusés
A section managed by non-selected directors – democratic, open to all the films submitted to the festival.
Borsa Democratica del Cinema
After the success of the first edition and the positive feedback from exhibitors, professionals and visitors, the 2nd edition of the Borsa Democratica del Cinema will run from 21st to 24th September at the Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta.
Directors, screenwriters, actors and set designers, producers and distributors, film schools, institutions and young independent filmmakers will gather to present ideas and projects and analyse the current situation of the film industry. The aim is to perform a change by creating new cultural, professional and business relationships.
For further information: expo@milanofilmfestival.it.
Holiday project – Filmmakers’ House
The Filmmakers’ House is a project developed to offer alternative hospitality to filmmakers, professionals and film lovers that will attend the festival in Milan – a facility set up as a solution to the lack of low-cost accommodation in Milan, to become a meeting point and a common area.
For further information: holidays@milanofilmfestival.it.
Accreditation and discounts
Milano Film Festival has launched an accreditation campaign that offers discounts to different typologies of applicants: students, film professionals, journalists, people aged over 65.
For further information: info@milanofilmfestival.it.
Festival organization
Milano Film Festival is organized by esterni – an association of young people that have organized cultural events for eleven years. Through public spaces such as squares, tunnels, parks, disused factories and building sites, esterni boosts culture and social interaction.
Main aim of the association is the implementation of the cultural role of public spaces by means of big events such as Milano Film Festival, the Sciopero Nazionale dei Telespettatori (National TV Viewers’ Strike) and the Salone dell’Arredo Urbano (Street Furniture Fair).
For further information on esterni and its events: media@esterni.org, www.esterni.org.
For further information:
media@milanofilmfestival.it
www.milanofilmfestival.it
tel. +39 02 713 613
International Press Office
Dewi Gigengack – cell. +39 328 4618 511
Milano Film Festival
Via Paladini 8
20133 Milano, Italy
tel/fax +39 02 713613
info@milanofilmfestival.it
www.milanofilmfestival.it
Competitions and out-of-competition sections
Short film competition and Feature film competition
These two competitions have achieved international success thanks to their high quality. The films are screened without being divided into categories, in original language with Italian and English subtitles. The filmmakers are invited to present their films to the festival audience.
Colpe di Stato
A collection of documentaries that depict crimes, injustice and slaughters under the banner of freedom, security and religion. This sort of deliberate terror is used by different so-called democratic governments against civilians, to ban dissent or slant news coverage. These screenings mark an interesting but disturbing journey around the world, from South America to Iraq, from Russia to the Middle East, from Italy to the United States. They help us remember that the truth is far from the softened and soothing news the media deliver us everyday.
Histoire(s) du cinéma – Cinema according to Jean-Luc Godard
The 2006 special season is focused on Histoire(s) du cinéma by Jean-Luc Godard, a work in four episodes released between 1988 and 1996. This section aims to show this entire work for the first time in Milan and to highlight different central films from which this flow of images moves.
Beside a series of masterpieces that have found general acceptance thanks to the enthusiasm of Nouvelle Vague directors, the programme will include some films that are crucial to the evolution of Godard’s work and to the thesis he expresses in his Histoire(s). As in the previous seasons featured by Milano Film Festival, the purpose is to highlight films that are essential to the views of particular filmmakers. Since Jean-Luc Godard has disappeared from the scene 16 years ago in Italy – Nouvelle Vague was the last film released in 1990 – while in France he has been celebrated with an all-round retrospective and an exhibition in the Centre Pompidou, this could be a good opportunity to reintroduce a critical analysis on this director in Italy. The starting point will be the Histoire(s) du cinéma, a work on critics that is not addressed to professionals only, but to a general audience that will have the chance to see precious and difficult film masterpieces, as great historical films will introduce the Histoire(s) du cinéma.
In collaboration with Fondazione Cineteca Italiana – Spazio Oberdan.
Incontri italiani
This section features young Italian filmmakers, screenings and meetings to help directors gather, exchange ideas and projects, create new collaborations. A prize is decided and awarded by the directors themselves to the best short film of this section.
Focus animazione
An overview on a film genre that has achieved increasing success. Non-stop screenings, workshops and seminars to discover the most innovative technologies. A research among traditional styles and techniques and cutting edge technologies.
Salon des Refusés
A section managed by non-selected directors – democratic, open to all the films submitted to the festival, created to give the filmmakers a chance to show their films, debate with the audience and other directors, discuss the choices of the selecting committee…
motion&picture against poverty
The UN campaign for the 8 Millennium Development Goals relies on alternative means of communication, including films. Milano Film Festival supports the UN campaign and has tried to describe its goals in 2005 with the film season: motion&picture against poverty.
The second edition, which is currently under construction, will be run during the eleventh Milano Film Festival and then exported to other countries, so as to transpose this innovative project on an international level.
Awards and juries
The composition of the juries reflects the tireless commitment of Milano Film Festival towards the exchange of ideas and opinions on different interpretations of the current times.
Feature Film Award
The prize is awarded by important figures of the cultural field both in Italy and abroad: filmmakers and actors, but also writers, musicians and various cultural operators, so as to gather different artistic expressions and views on contemporaneity.
Short Film Award
The prize is awarded by professionals of filmmaking, or of the visual arts in the broadest sense. Usually, the short film jury is made of a group of experts used to working together: for example the editorial office of a magazine, the members of a film association or a syndicate.
Aprile Award
This important prize is awarded by the selection committee to the most significant films that best represents the artistic choices of the festival.
Audience Award
At the end of each screening, the festivalgoers can assign a coin to their favourite films. The film that receives the highest number of coins wins the entire sum. This award implies the real involvement of the public which can effectively judge the films in competition.
Incontri Italiani Award
This prize is decided by the young Italian filmmakers that take part in the Incontri Italiani section which traditionally offers a unique opportunity to filmmakers to share their experiences and opinions. The award usually consists in a material prize that is strictly linked to filmmaking. The prize is offered by Canon.
“Fa’ la cosa giusta” award
This prize is decided by the organizers of “Fa’ la cosa giusta” (Do the right thing), a fair dedicated to sustainability and fair-trade products, by the street traders of “Terre di Mezzo” newspaper and by the association “Insieme nelle Terre di mezzo”. It is awarded to the short film that best portrays aspects of social integration and awareness or highlights issues linked to social marginalization, alternative economy, environmental protection and rights of workers.
Filmmakers’ Award
This prize is decided by the competing filmmakers that attend the festival in Milan.
Staff Award
This prize is decided by the Festival’s organizers and collaborators.
Students’ Award
This prize is given by a group of high school students coming from different Milanese schools.
Borsa Democratica del Cinema – 2nd edition
Milan, 21 – 24 September 2006 > Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
The second edition of Borsa Democratica del Cinema (Democratic Film Exchange) will run from September 21st to 24th 2006. This event will be part of the 11th edition of Milano Film Festival, which will expectedly welcome more than 85,000 festivalgoers (last year’s figure).
The Borsa Democratica del Cinema will be set up in the Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta, in the centre of Milan, between the Castello Sforzesco and the Teatro Strehler.
Conceived as an informal and interactive area dedicated to all the members of the film market, the Borsa is a meeting place for those who produce, promote and distribute films.
The Borsa Democratica del Cinema results from a deep analysis suggested by the organization of Milano Film Festival, that has worked on the promotion and distribution of independent films for eleven years. This projects aims to boost the creation and development of new cultural, professional and business relationships.
The 1st edition has answered to the need to share experiences and implement small or large projects in the film market. Its success and the positive feedback from professionals and film lovers urged Milano Film Festival to focus its energies on the Borsa, so as to promote it and transpose it to an international level.
The event includes different sections and features a programme that is rich in screenings, presentations and workshops. The Borsa is divided into five major areas:
·Promotion: an area where exhibitors provide information and display their works and materials.
·Meetings: an area dedicated to film production and distribution, with the participation of filmmakers, producers and screenwriters.
·Screenings: an area dedicated to non-stop screenings of films provided by international festivals, producers and guests of Milano Film Festival.
·Workshops: an area dedicated to seminars and workshops open to the public that focus on different issues: from shooting techniques and editing to cinematography.
·Bookshop: an area for publishers and exhibitors.
For further information on applications, prices and place availability, please write to:
expo@milanofilmfestival.it.
Holidays at the festival – The Filmmakers’ House
15-24 September 2006: Milan makes a change.
For 10 days the city will change its aspect: transit places will turn into meeting points, into areas for cultural exchange and entertainment.
Hundreds of visitors will flow in the streets and squares of Milan: film screenings, live music performances, dj sets, drinks and open forums on filmmaking and film culture will liven up the city at the end of September.
This is the best time to discover secret corners of Milan, both for its citizens and for visitors coming from other cities or countries. This is the ideal spirit of Milan – a city that is open, that can offer unique opportunities to meet. An unusual and different possibility not only for film lovers, but also for music enthusiasts and for visitors that want to discover and live the city.
The Filmmakers’ House
For the third time the Filmmakers’ House complements the Festival: a temporary hostel, set up in unusual spaces and designed as a real house, becomes a workshop, a place to gather and interact.
The project has been developed to offer alternative hospitality, as a solution to the lack of low-cost facilities in a city that is expensive and often inhospitable. The House is a chance for students, film lovers and professionals, journalists and directors to experience the true festival atmosphere. The House is a place where new networks and friendships are started.
Accommodation and festival at a fair price
During their stay, the guests of the Filmmakers’ House receive a free accreditation card to the Festival and are therefore entitled to attend all screenings, concerts, meetings and workshops featured in the programme. Accommodation fares range around 25 euro per night, with price reductions for longer stays and a wide offer of services and discounts throughout the city and at the Festival.
A rich programme
The Filmmakers’ House offers a large number of lunchtime get-togethers with film professionals and workshops, evening screenings and concerts to transpose the real festival’s atmosphere.
The facility
The House is set up in collaboration with design and furniture companies and includes a common area with cafeteria and international press, a screening room where filmmakers are free to show their works, an exhibition area and a section open to the public. The Filmmakers’ House provides about 150 beds.
For further information and fares: holidays@milanofilmfestival.it.