Encouraging discussion, sharing ideas and promoting Italian cinema abroad: the ninth edition of the Giffoni Macedonia Youth Festival started yesterday with an opening ceremony attended by authorities and 180 jurors. Among the speakers were the Giffoni Macedonia director Darko Basheski, the Italian Ambassador in Skopje Andrea Silvestri and the OSCE Ambassador Clemens Koja. Giffoni founder and director Claudio Gubitosi thanked the organizers on a video call, whereas managing director Jacopo Gubitosi presented a gift from Giffoni to the Italian Ambassador in Skopje and the OSCE representative: “Going back abroad in person is a concrete message of restart for Giffoni: next year will mark 10 years of the Giffoni Macedonia Youth Festival and we will celebrate this anniversary with a great event involving delegations of young people from over 20 countries”, he underlined.
Ambassador Andrea Silvestri’s speech was intense and much appreciated: “This is the first Giffoni festival I have ever attended and also the first festival that is going back to the cinemas and classrooms − just as hundreds of young people have known and loved it for years − after having held the last edition almost entirely online. It was indeed a difficult experience that, however, has demonstrated the resilience of this Festival, its ability to reinvent itself and find new formulas”, he said. “In spite of the reduced numbers due to security protocols, this year the festival will be attended by 180 young people, who will be joined by over fifty peers connected online from five Macedonian cities and a dozen European countries. These young people, aged 11 to 19 and grouped as usual into three age categories, will be the recipients of a varied program that will go on until Tuesday”.
The program is very extensive and includes films from Italy and the rest of the world, with creative workshops led by professionals, master classes and meetings with young filmmakers and other guests, as well as debates addressed to the young and related to topics and issues that are both crucial and sensitive for social and personal development. To sum up, this will be a great opportunity for the jurors to be enriched, to exchange ideas and to improve their artistic abilities, an experience that will help them grow and enhance their critical awareness.
“Dear boys and girls, I am sure that taking part in the festival and being part of a jury made up of young people of many different nationalities will give you the chance to have a great exchange of ideas and points of view, which will undoubtedly foster your growth”, stressed the ambassador. “I am sure that you will fulfill your duties in the best possible way. You will carry them out with a great sense of responsibility, but also with the pleasure of having the opportunity to see good films. Last year was a very difficult one, the pandemic caused a lot of suffering, especially for you, who have been deprived of any company and chance to interact with your peers and adults for many months. The great Italian poet Dante Alighieri, to whom the next Italian language and culture week is dedicated, closed the first part of his Divine Comedy, which describes his journey to hell, with the renowned verse: E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle (And thence we came forth to see the stars again). This is a message of hope, the demonstration that even the hardest obstacles can be overcome and that you can look up to the sky again. This festival, too, wants to help you turn your gaze back to the sky and to all the good things life has in store for you. Your enthusiasm is the best evidence that North Macedonia is in good hands”.
Director Claudio Gubitosi expressed his satisfaction: “I am very pleased that the delegation of Giffoners is growing and that a new generation of collaborators is emerging. Starting from November, Giffoni will embark on a new path. Giffoni’s new international experience is beginning from Skopje: we will be taking our 50 years of experience wherever they are needed”.
The initiative is co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Culture – Directorate-General for Cinema and the North Macedonia Film Agency. It is supported by the Italian Embassy in Skopje and organized by Giffoni and the association Planet M.
The structure of the festival will be similar to that of #Giffoni50Plus: a jury of 180 young people divided into three categories − juniors (10 to 14 years old), cadets (14 to 16 years old) and seniors (16 to 19 years old) − will be joined by other boys and girls from Macedonian and foreign hubs, who will attend live movie screenings, debates and online workshops. The event is organized with the backing of the OSCE Mission in Skopje and supported with funds from the “Building bridges” program for inclusion and cooperation between educational institutions.