Siff 2008 | 5th Edition

5th INTERNATIONAL SALENTO FILM FESTIVAL

A GREAT INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT CINEMA FESTIVAL

The 5th edition of the Salento International ended on 14 September in the splendid Villa Conte Rosso in Tricase, which was the setting for a splendid gala dinner immersed in an Arabian atmosphere, with the performance of the sensual odalisque of Fatima Sabbar. Film Festivals; an established reality in the panorama of national and international cinematographic events which has given the rare opportunity to see true international independent cinema, made up of works and authors outside the large-scale distribution circuit, concluded its fifth edition this year.

Over the ten days of the event, it presented 78 competing films from 24 countries around the world, including 4 world premieres, 14 European premieres, 14 Italian premieres and 8 regional premieres. The main goal of SIFF, founded and directed by Gigi Campanile, is to highlight all the nuances of cinematic art, premiering some of the best independent films from around the world. SIFF 2008 can in fact boast the participation of cinematographic works from 24 different nations and different cultures, with the awareness of the fact that cinema is today the most powerful language of cultural communication and bond between cultures and peoples. The evocative Atrium of Palazzo Gallone was the setting for the screenings of the 9 feature films in competition, 56 short films and 13 documentaries

WINNERS Siff 2008

Best Film:
Bliss (Mutluluk) directed by Abdullah Oguz | Türkiye 2007;
Reason: For the narrative freshness, the extreme importance of the topic, urgent for a country like Turkey, half immersed in archaic traditions and half in an authentic drive for renewal and modernity.

Best actor:strong,
Mario Opinato, protagonist of the film L’aria del lago directed by Alberto Rondalli, Italy 2007
Motivation: For having been able to create a character that surpasses not only the intensity of the role but also some fragilities of the film’s narrative structure.

Best actress:
Monica Mana the little protagonist of the film Zoè directed by Giuseppe Varlotta, Italy 2008
Reason: For managing to never realize that she was acting in a film, thus giving the character a look of constant spontaneity and naturalness.

Special Jury Prize (ex – aequo)

Liberarsi – Children of a Minor Revolution Directed by Salvatore Romano, Italy 2008
Reason: For the exemplary clarity with which the film conducted the investigation into the violence during the fights for Reggio Calabria as the capital, violence that we have learned to define as “State Crime”, the same crime that was expressed in Italy with the four Great Massacres known as “State”: the Milan massacre – the Brescia massacre – the Italicus massacre and the Bologna massacre.

Nevando Voy debut feature by Candela Figueira and Maitena Muruzabal – Spain/Argentina 2007.
Motivation: For the courage with which it faces the condition of precarious work and of human solidarity capable of growing and developing especially in territories of submission and exploitation.

SHORT FILMS

Category: Women Like Short
Best Short: Mother Mine Directed by Susan Everett, UK 2007

Category: Italian shorts
Best Short: H5n1, Directed by Roberto De Feo, Italy 2008

Category: The World in Short
Best Short: Wiambu, Directed by James Bunn, South Korea/USA 2008

DOCUMENTARIES,
Best Documentary: .L’isla chatarra (The Island of Ferraglia), Directed by Karen Rossi, Karen Rossi-Coughlin – Puerto Rico 2008 – European premiere