A cry of joy for the opening ceremony of #Giffoni50Plus with the hope that next year it will turn into a cry of freedom. This is how Claudio Gubitosi, founder and director of Giffoni, kicked off the 2021 edition welcoming Vincenzo De Luca, President of the Regione Campania, at the Cittadella del Cinema. He was greeted by a large number of jurors in a feast of flags, the Italian tricolour, the European stars and the coat of arms of the Regione Campania, in order to represent the institutional cohesion that is part of Giffoni's genetic heritage.
Director Gubitosi accompanied President De Luca in a colourful parade of jurors, divided by category. A greeting for everyone, starting from the Parental Experience section, the parents who are one of the pillars of Giffoni. And then the IMPACT! jurors up to the Elements +3: "They are the heart of Giffoni" said Gubitosi. And then the hymn to life with the delivery of pushchairs to the 44 families from Giffoni Valle Piana who have had a baby since the start of 2021, a special baby bonus created by Giffoni to celebrate the family and support the birth rate. On the Giffoni blue carpet the families who, together with their wonderful children, have received the gift. The triumph of life could not have a better image. "I will undoubtedly be envied by all Festival directors - said Claudio Gubitosi in greeting the new parents - because we open #Giffoni50Plus in a special way. Giffoni does these surprises. This is our hymn to life. We welcome the babies born in Giffoni in 2021. So far there are 44 of them and it is to them that we offer this gift, a pushchair, which will accompany them on their first journeys to discover life". The families were welcomed by the president of the Ente Autonomo Pietro Rinaldi, the managing director of Giffoni, Jacopo Gubitosi, and the first citizen of Giffoni Valle Piana, Antonio Giuliano.
After that, President De Luca cut the ribbon of #Giffoni50Plus in front of a large number of authorities, starting from the first citizens of the municipalities of the district. Once again, Giffoni connects and brings the institutions together. In the Sala Truffaut there was a meeting with the jurors and the youngsters of the IMPACT! section. "With the pandemic - said director Gubitosi in his speech - we reacted as we did last year. Giffoni is happening and it is happening in total safety so that you can stay healthy. Just think of the innovative air purification and sanitation system we use in our theatres thanks to the patent of Refinair, an innovative company from Salerno. It has cost us a great deal of effort, including economic effort, but it is necessary. I thank President De Luca for his presence. I thank him for the beautiful message he sent us on the occasion of our meeting in Bergamo a few weeks ago to present the programme. I read it and I was touched. I was proud of those words. In this edition there will be more Italy, there will be more Campania. In recent days we have held a wonderful meeting at the Archaeological Museum of Pontecagnano and then in Scampia. In this festival we are proud to be on two occasions alongside the mayor of Procida, Italian Capital of Culture 2022. Then we are ready with Green Giffoni, a project dedicated to the themes of ecology and sustainability in which our green province, Avellino, will play an important role. Together with Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, we will create a very interesting project with the children of Scampia, who will not be mere visitors but the protagonists. We have also signed agreements with film festivals in Campania, particularly those in the suburbs, as a means of cooperation and collaboration within the more general network created with festivals and exhibitions throughout Italy. This is how we want to start again, from the young people for whom we have a very strong sense of respect. This year, then, they will be on stage and they will be the protagonists because they are autonomous and it is right that they have this responsibility".
Before starting the debate, a summary of the docufilm "This is Giffoni" dedicated to the 50 years of the festival's history, an exciting gallery of faces, images, presences, emotions, dreams and reality. The word then goes to the young people from the IMPACT! section who are on stage. It was their task to encourage considerations and offer President De Luca ideas for a debate. "An affectionate greeting to you and your families," began the governor. "Thanks to Claudio Gubitosi and those who organise this wonderful event, which is culture, civil society, human exchange and economic growth”. An appeal is the meaning of De Luca's words to the young people. The theme is that of the pandemic and the need to behave appropriately in order to avoid the upturn of contagion. On this point De Luca used authoritative and decisive tones, as he always does on these occasions: "We have seen these beautiful images of Giffoni in the days when it was possible to hug one another - continued De Luca - Today this is not possible. We are the only region in Italy where it is still compulsory to wear a mask even outside. I therefore tell you to always use it". He made a heartfelt final appeal: “If you find yourselves in a group,” he told the young people, “don't let yourselves be conditioned. The logic of the group must not push us towards stupidity. If the pandemic has had one advantage, it is that it has helped us rediscover a hierarchy of values. We have learnt a great lesson: goods considered normal are things that are fundamental to our lives. Once again, in order to become human again, we must have rigour and sense of responsibility. I hope that we can really get back to the joy of living that we used to have, to a system of relationships worthy of human beings and not of soldiers who have to protect themselves from a greeting or a hug".
