theme
BE DIFFERENT
JURIES: 3.340 jurors from 41 Countries: Argentina (San Martín de los Andes), Armenia (Yerevan), Australia (Adelaide), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Antwerp), China (Guangzhou), Croatia (Zagreb), Denmark (Copenaghen), Egypt (Cairo), England (Brighton & Hove, London), Estonia, France (Saint Quentin, Rouen), Georgia (Tbilisi), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Piliscsaba), India (New Delhi), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy, Jordan (Amman), Lebanon, Lithuania (Vilnius), Macedonia (Skopje), Malta (La Valletta, Gozo), Moldova (Chisinau), The Netherlands (Amersfoort), Poland (Tarnów), Qatar (Doha), Romania (Slatina), Russia (Moscow), Serbia (Belgrade), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Spain (Madrid, Gijon), South Africa (Johannesburg), South Korea (Seoul), Sweden (Stockholm), Switzerland (Locarno), Tunisia (Susa), Turkey (Istanbul), USA (New York, Chicago, Seatle).
COMPETITIVE SECTIONS
Elements +3, competitive section for children aged 3-5. There were two extra days for this section in 2014. The first four days were dedicated to four feature films out of competition. 25 animated shorts from all over the world from 20 Countries were In competition. The shorts were made with various techniques from traditional animation to stop-motion and 3D. German short "Wombo" about a Potato shaped alien, by Daniel Acht won the competition. Italian short OBLÒ by Martina Carossa, Ilaria Giacometti, Eura Pancaldi e Mathieu Narduzzi won the Super Bè-Bè award. The short was produced by "Corso d’Animazione del Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia di Torino".
Elements +6 (jurors aged from 6 to10). The section is made up of fiction and animation feature films and short films carefully selected so as to both entertain and draw children's attention to high quality films capable of striking the right note with the young jurors. Adventure, action story-telling and magic journeys for kids to follow. The most appreciated titles were Spanish feature by Oskar Santos "Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang", inspired by one of the most famous and followed Spanish comic books and Norwegian short "Sissy", by Siri Rutlin Harildstad. Second place for features went to the British "Pudsey the Dog: the movie", by Nick Moore, whose main character was the dog, BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT's sixth edition winner .
For Elements +10 (jurors aged from 10 to12) Feature films and shorts introduce kids to more challenging themes and narrative forms: besides fairy-tales, action and fantasy there are realistic dramas about this day and age. The kids enjoyed all the films however Dutch feature "Finn", by Frans Weisz stole the show (it is about the passion for music of the main character named Finn), together with short animated film "Ropes", by Pedro Solís. "The Legend of Longwood" (co-production of the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany) by Lisa Mulcahy came second. Italian short "Thriller", by Giuseppe Marco Albano was also much appreciated.
Generator +13 (jurors aged from 13 to 15). Jurors watch and sit on international cinema. Flicks are often about coming to terms with social and existential issues, complex dramas. The main characters are teens and jurors find it easy to identify with them. Cuban "Behaviour", by Ernesto Daranas Serrano won best feature film. – it is about the clash between education and viciousness (in schools and street life) – . Second place for Dutch flick "Boys", by Mischa Kamp; Lithuanian film "The Excursionist", by Audrius Juzenas, won the CGS Youth Award (Cinecircoli Giovanili Socioculturali) - for – telling the story of the aftermath of the second world war […] for showing how though the Soviet regime brought about the loss of human virtue it could never defeat the desire for freedom and hope of Lithuanian people". It was also the debut of an animated feature in Generator +13 with the French "Jack and the cuckoo-clock heart", produced by Luc Besson and inspired by a best seller by song-writer and singer Mathias Malzieu, who also directed the film with Stéphane Berla.
Generator +16 (jurors aged from 16 to 17). Films proposed in this section are sometimes controversial and at the same time innovative. The stories unveil feelings, passions, and dreams of contemporary youth. The new generation keeps evolving, it is restless looking for its own identity clashing against society and institutions like their own family. Best feature film was awarded to German flick "Exit Marrakech", by Caroline Link, director of Academy award winner for best foreign film "Nowhere in Africa" in 2003. Korean "Han Gong-Ju" took second place and British Film Institute Certificate, The film by Sujin Lee had already won the Hivos Tiger award at the 2014 Rotterdam Festival. Swedish film "Broken Hill Blues", by Sofia Norlin, won the CIAL award for environment sensitivity. French Columbian film MATEO, by Maria Gamboa won the Crystal Griffin “Banca della Campania”.
Generator +18 is addressed to university students as well as parents, teachers and film buffs. It is even more focused on the clash between adults and youth and the dramatic at times extreme outcome. Korean HOPE by Joon-ik Lee won best feature (it deals with the tragic real story of an eight year old girl). South African "Four Corners", by Ian Gabriel came second, while Polish "Little Crushes", by Aleksandra Gowin and Ireneusz Grzyb, won the British Film Institute Certificate. Worth mentioning "Notebook", directed by János Szász and inspired by the first part of the book “Trilogy of the city of K.” by Ágota Kristóf, and "Living is Easy with eyes closed", directed by David Trueba starring Javier Cámara who has often worked withPedro Almodóvar's. Italian English co-production "The Nostalgist", by Giacomo Cimini, won best short film while French "Supervénus" by Frédéric Doazan. won best animation. Last but not least the Social World Film Festival awarded Argentine short by Eitan Pitigliani "Me reencontraràs dentro de ti" the Golden Spike Award and a special mention to Danish short "Helium", by Anders Walter.
In 2014 GEx Doc, a new competitive section dedicated to documentaries, debuted. There is a huge production of documentaries for young people and this section came to fill a void. Kids and youth are the protagonists of these documentaries which unveil the challenges they have to deal with such as diversity in a world which often turns out to be hostile and where discrimination is very common, from racism to boundaries of all sorts. USA-Siria "#Chicagogirl - The Social Network Takes on a Dictator", by Joe Piscatella won best feature. Nineteen year old Ala’a uses social networlks from her home in CHicago to support the Syrian revolution. "The Brain That Sings" (U.A.E), by Amal Al-Agroobi (it is about music therapy as a cure for autism) won second prize and the Giffoni Valle Piana municipality award. Amnesty International Award winner Swiss "Lucky Devils", by Verena Endtner (about Upsala, which tries to rescue children from the streets in Saint Petersburg) and the winner of Hospital Bambino Gesù award, the Russian "Linar", by Nastia Tarasova (broadcast by Rai), about a Russian child who is denied a heart transplant by the restrictive laws of his Country. Three Italian documentaries were also presented out of competition: "Ci vorrebbe un miracolo" by Davide Minnella, "Sarà un paese" by Nicola Campiotti; "Walt Disney e l'Italia - Una storia d'amore" (broadcast by RAI) by film critic Marco Spagnoli.
MyGIFFONI
MyGiffoni celebrated its 5th edition in 2014. Giffoni Experience organizes a competition together with schools and cultural associations dedicated to shorts made by school kids and young video makers . There are three sections for children and youth aged 6-10 anni, 11-13 and 14-20. The winners of the 2014 Giffoni Experience edition were: "Superkids", by Marco Di Gerlando and Ludovica Gibelli (Associazione Culturale Zuccherarte, Genova); "Terra sporca", by Ivan Marangio (I.C. 3 “Karol Wojtyla” / Asd Enjoy Arzanese Basket, Arzano, Napoli); "Una favola V/Nera", by Fabrizio Denaro and Claudio Falcone (Associazione Soleventi di Girando Intorno al Vesuvio, Sant’Anastasia, Napoli). The Audience Award was won by: "Rispettiamo l'ambiente" (Respect the environment), by Francesco Cicciarello (Istituto Comprensivo Raffaele Uccella, Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta); "Il Quattro gigante", by Biagio De Giovanni, Ludovica Saracca, Valerio Lorito e Pasquale Lorito (L.A.A.V. Officina Teatrale, Salerno); "L'ultimo gettone", by Alex Di Giorgio (Associazione Crescere Insieme, Pontecagnano Faiano, Salerno).
MASTERCLASS
Masterclass 2014 celebrated its 6th edition. The section is for jurors aged 18-25 who had stood out during previous Festival editions and/or who would like to work in film or entertainment business. The jurors had extraordinary masters with whom they had the chance to study script writing with PATRIZIA PISTAGNESI and MASSIMO GAUDIOSO, acting with YARI GUGLIUCCI and BARBARA ENRICHI, stop motion animation with director STEFANO BESSONI and BigRock (new technologies in computer graphic school), journalism with ETTORE DE LORENZO. The classes were divided into two different times: in the morning the teaching part and the meeting part to follow in the afternoons with an insight of what had been taught in the morning. Special guests in Masterclass 2014: VITTORIO STORARO, one of the best cinematographers in the histroy of cinema, three time academy award winner who was awarded by the Giffoni Experience the "François Truffaut” award for lifetime achievement; GINO PAOLI; ALBERT ESPINOSA, author of best seller “Braccialetti rossi”; THE JACKAL and NIRKIOP, Youtubers; actor LUCA MARINELLI, who starred in Oascar winning “La Grande Bellezza” by Paolo Sorrentino; director from Salerno SYDNEY SIBILIA and Roman actor PAOLO CALABRESI, with their hilarious “Smetto quando voglio”; CLAUDIO DI BIAGIO and LUCA VECCHI with their “Dylan Dog - Vittima degli eventi”, realized thanks to crowfunding; poet DAVIDE RONDONI; magistrate ANTONIO MARINI.
The Masterclass Short Competition, was won by short animate French film "Faded Finery", by Sonia Gerbeaud and Mathias de Panafieu, while short Italian film "Piume", by Adriano Giotti, won the l’Amnesty International Award.
NON COMPETITIVE SECTIONS
PREMIERES AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Giffoni premieres: "Planes 2: Fire & Rescue", by Bobs Gannaway (Disney); "The Fault in our Stars", directed by Josh Boone and inspired by John Green's best seller (20th Century Fox); "Step Up: All In", by Trish Sie (M2 Pictures: with stars Ryan Guzman, Guè Pequeno and Lorella Boccia); "Nicholas on Holiday", by Laurent Tirard (Bim Distribution); "Begin Again", by John Carney, with Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo (Lucky Red); "The Pirate Fairy", by Peggy Holmes (Disney); "Señales del fin del mundo" (Disney Channel); "Winx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss", by Iginio Straffi (teaser – 01 Distribution: The first ten years of the Winx were celebrated in Giffoni); "Maya the bee", by Alexs Stadermann (teaser – Notorious Pictures); "I 7N", by Alfred Gimeno (Disney).
The special events were: "Io rom romantica", by Laura Halilovic, who was a Festival guest together with Marco Bocci (Wildside); "The Wind Rises", by Hayao Miyazaki (Lucky Red); "Hello Kitty" shorts (Jim Jam), to celebrate the 40th anniversary; short film "Il pianeta dei calzini spaiati", by Emiliano Pepe, and short film "Teatro dei ricordi", eighteen year old Angela Bevilacqua's debut.
MARATONA MARVEL
For the fourth year running the day before the official start of the Giffoni Experience, young film buffs and adorable nerds like us had the opportunity to plunge into a marathon. 2014 was MARVEL MARATHON year. Back to back films describing the wonders of super-heroes created by Marvel Comics,the legendary comic books publisher founded in 1939: "The Avengers" (2012), by Joss Whedon; "X-Men: The Beginning" (2011), by Matthew Vaughn; "Thor" (2011), by Kenneth Branagh; "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011), by Joe Johnston; "Iron Man" (2008), by Jon Favreau.
PARENTAL CONTROL
How about kids telling parents what they can watch? Well this is what happens with Parental Control. Stories told through the lenses of youth; stories about families, parents children's expectations and challenges both parents and children must face. The films selected were the following: "The Mafia Kills Only in Summer", by Pif (Festival guest); "I Can Quit Whenever I Want", by Sydney Sibilia (Festival guest); "Gabrielle", by Louise Archambault; "Misunderstood", by Asia Argento; "Amori elementari", by Sergio Basso.
GUESTS
2014 was a spectacular edition. Fantastic international talent such as RICHARD GERE, ALAN RICKMAN, ANDREA OSVART, was awarded by Giffoni Experience with the Explosive Talent Award 2014; MATT BOMER, LEA MICHELE, DYLAN O'BRIEN, MICAELA RIERA. From Italy: FERZAN ÖZPETEK, ISABELLA FERRARI, LUCA ARGENTERO, CLAUDIA GERINI, PIF, CESARE BOCCI, PAOLO CONTICINI, GIULIA MICHELINI, MAX GIUSTI, MARGARETH MADÈ, PAOLO RUFFINI and FRANK MATANO; BRACCIALETTI ROSSI, with the director GIACOMO CAMPIOTTI, the producer CARLO DEGLI ESPOSTI, director Rai Fiction ELEONORA ANDREATTA, the author of the book who inspired the series, ALBERT ESPINOSA (Masterclass guest); MARCO D'AMORE, SALVATORE ESPOSITO and MARCO PALVETTI, actors of "Gomorrah" tv series; FRANCESCO ARCA, ALESSIA PIOVAN, MARTA GASTINI, ROBERT DANCS, the young actor of Checco Zalone's film "Sole a catinelle"; director NICOLA CAMPIOTTI and ORNELLA MUTI, special guest of the final night of the Festival.
GIFFONI MUSIC CONCEPT
The Giffoni Music Concept 2014 was overwhelming with performances of great music stars on the “Giuseppe Troisi” stage who blew everyone away: NEGRAMARO, GIORGIA, ROCCO HUNT, EMIS KILLA, ZERO ASSOLUTO, PAOLA IEZZI, DEBORAH IURATO, GEMITAIZ & MADMAN, COEZ, LEF, JFK & LA SUA BELLA BIONDA, THE BURLESQUE, MARCO BRUNO & NAMARÀ, DJ RALF, GIULIA FROM ABOVE, PINK IS PUNK.
GIFFONI ENTERTAINMENT
Giffoni Entertainment or the widespread Festival is the side of the festival animating small and big piazzas all around Giffoni Valle Piana, making children and families happy thanks to spectacular, engaging shows in every corner of the town turning it into a sort of happy entertainment park. Eleven locations spread all over the city, thirty-eight companies from all over italy, from France, Spain, Belgium; 200 shows including stage acts, story-telling, ludobus, travelling libraries, living statues, face painting, dog shows, hairdressing art, street buskers, entertainment and games.
The following acts performed in Giffoni 2014: The ensemble of Teatro San Carlo in Napoli; Association Fracasse de 12 (France); Osadia company (Barcellona); Andréanne Thiboutot (Canada/Belgium); La Fabiola company (Torino); travelling theatre (Pavia); the Flying Mattacchioni(Modena);Sirteta Company and Ziba Company(Prato); Teatro Pirata Company (Jesi, Ancona); Teatro Verde Company(Roma); Le Nuvole (Napoli); Ammuina Animation Company(Napoli); Baracca dei Buffoni (Arzano, Napoli); Jeu De Dames Company with Alessandra Calabrese (Ischia); Giò Ferraiolo Company (Battipaglia); Daltrocanto Company (Salerno); Associazione Culturale Company “Tra il dire e il fare” (Ruvo di Puglia, Bari); Joculares Company (Catania); ANSPI; Saltamartino di Manuel Pucci (San Benedetto del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno); Weronique Art (Napoli); Associazione “Salerno in Fantasy” (Salerno); Associazione FantaExpo (Salerno); “La Girandola” Anffas Onlus by Salerno; Associazione “Orchidea del Picentino” by Anna Tedesco; Associazione “Angelo Azzurro” by Norberto Tedesco; Il Paese delle meraviglie Ludoteca (Giffoni Valle Piana); Roberto Mucelli, Annalisa Badi, Alessandro Romano e Simona Falcone for “Giffoni Dogs Experience”; Mabo Band (Monte San Giusto, Macerata); Gruppo Bandistico “L. Rinaldi” (Giffoni Valle Piana); la Libreria itinerante per bambini e ragazzi Ottimomassimo; Ludoteca Playhouse (Giffoni Valle Piana); Marco Raparoli (Gallarate, Varese); Michele Cafaggi (Milano); Davide Demasi (Torino); Monsieur David (Torino); Luigi Ciotta (Cuneo); Unnico (Ferrara); Dante Cigarini (Reggio Emilia); Simone Romanò (Roma); Gianluca Marra (Lecce).
GIFFONI INNOVATION HUB
Giffoni Innovation Hub is the new department of Giffoni Experience uniting technology and creativity supporting innovative ideas, startups, digital and cultural enterprises and it was created in 2014. It is a real and virtual place for networking, sharing ideas and different cultures. New work opportunities for youth who are the core of digital culture. During the Festival, Giffoni Innovation Hub presented a series of workshops, open to public and held in the Old Copper Factory and at the Saint Francesco Monastery: Many were the themes discussed: pubblicly from the drones (with Marco and Mattia D’Agostino); digital fabrication (with architect Amleto Picerno Ceraso, promotor of Medaarch and the Mediterranean FabLab); crowdfunding and “Giffoni Idea”, the first new enterprise of Giffoni Innovation Hub, a crowdfunding platform made in collaboration with DeRev.com to support new business ideas digital education (with Agnese Addone and Caterina Moscetti, two mentos by CoderDojo Italy, a community in which children and youth learn to create software using open technology for free); the web series market (with Maximilian Gigliucci, generale director of the Roma Web Fest, the first Italian Festival for web series only); the future of music (with professor Lello Savonardo, from the University of Napoli Federico II); smart city (with professor Roberto Parente, director of Master in Public Management at the University of Salerno); startup support (with Luca Ruju, Ceo and founder of Lr Ventures, advice company aimed at supporting European and Italian businesses, especially the Italian ones who would like to invest in hte Brazilian market); mechanisms of art in development (with Francesco Cascino, president of Arteprima, with Paola Perna, professor at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano); digital storytelling and expressive possibilities of storytelling considering new technologies. Through the experimental project OUT OF WATER, form the partnership between Dipartimento della Gioventù of the Italian Government and the Film and Television (TFT) of the University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA (with Alice Tomassini, script writer and director; Alessandra Grassi, director and web developer; Barbara Ciriello, production designer and web designer; Lucia Marengo, producer and web developer); rural identity and green trade and rural social innovation with undersecretary to the environment Silvia Velo, with Alex Giordano, founder of“Ninja marketing” and director of research centre Etnografia Digitale, and Francesco Paolo Innamorato, president of Campania Eco Festival). Furthermore Giffoni Experience and ItaliaCamp, the network linking good ideas to potential investors of the ideas created GiffoniCamp, the barcamp dedicated to innovation, investments and new employment. Experts from institutions, businesses, Universities and communication met with creative talents who proposed new ideas and spoke about how investing in innovation is a gretat opportunity for creating new jobs. Claudio Gubitosi, director and founder of Giffoni Experience; Fabrizio Sammarco, president of ItaliaCamp; Antonio Somma, coordinator of ItaliaCamp in Campania; Paolo Russomando, mayor of Giffoni Valle Piana and chairman of Fondazione Giffoni; Domenico Arcuri, CEO of Invitalia; Giovanni De Caro, Investor Manager Atlante Venture; Giuseppe De Nicola, coordinator of Best Practices Confindustria Salerno; Antonio Prigiobbo, director Vulcanicamente; Alessandra Rosati, responsable for research and development of Biouniversa, spin-off of the Università degli Studi di Salerno. During the Festival, Giffoni Innovation Hub became a gathering place for young talents who wish to see their ideas realized. It was a great opportunity for them to meet and talk with potential mentors, investors, partners, companies, innovators.
GIFFONI YOUTH MEDIA MARKET
In 2014, Giffoni offered professionals its know-how aimed at promoting and supporting cinema for youth. Main tool was the Giffoni Video Library, with a catalogue accessible to all accredited professionals. The space was also used for screenings arranged by production and distribution companies. Buyers, distributors, producersi, directors, festival selectors, writers, cultural authorities met at the Giffoni Youth Media Market, in order to discuss about possible co-production strategies. GYMM was held at the old copper factory where one-to-one meetings workshops and panels were organized.