Siff 2012 | 9^ Edizione

After 2 years of absence, the Salento International Film Festival returns to Tricase from 8 to 15 September (SIFF) which reaches its ninth edition this year. It is an international film festival, dedicated to independent production: an innovative formula characterized by the high quality of the contents and careful research on contemporary cultural expressions.

In just a few years, SIFF has managed to make space for itself in the panorama of festivals dedicated to the “tenth muse”, and not only for its attention to the work of young artists from all over the world, but for its ability to export a Festival that was born in Salento, but becomes increasingly international. The main intent of the organization is in fact to offer an increasingly large and international audience independent cinema programming that deserves to be recognized and appreciated throughout the world. There are now too few opportunities offered to young independent cinema, in a context in which the market logic of blockbusters prevails.

One example among all: in Hong Kong, last May, the SIFF honored the great actress Diane Ip (winner of the Coppa Volpi at the 2011 Venice Film Festival), presenting her with the Salento Award for lifetime achievement, presence, among others, of the Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong.

The curtain therefore opens on the 2012 edition: exceptional locations will be the Throne Room and the Atrium of the Palazzo dei Principi Gallone in Tricase. The Pre-opening Night will kick off the refined film fair with the out-of-competition film, “Maternity Blues” by Fabrizio Cattani, which will address the delicate topic of post-partum depression.

“Bewitched by a Dream”, a film by Italian-American director Mark Bacci, will open the festival in all respects on Sunday 9 September. A story with a bitter taste and at the same time an overwhelming passion that pushes the protagonist to chase a dream even beyond the imaginable, a true story entirely set in Puglia. A program saturated with originality, freshness and audacity, starting from the ten films in competition from the United States, Jamaica, Bangladesh, England, France, Indonesia, Taiwan and Jordan, which will compete for the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Actress awards. Among the feature films out of competition there will be the entertaining ” Anchese è Amore non si Vede” by Ficarra & Picone and “Sleepless”, a surreal creation by Maddalena De Panfilis.

Not to be underestimated are the sections of documentaries and short films to which the organization pays particular attention, presenting nine documentaries, of which six are Italian and three are international, and as many as forty short films made by young filmmakers from all over the world. The final evening will be held in Piazza Pisanelli with the prodigious concert by the South African Jean-Michel Bayron, ex TOTO, directly from the United States.