The 27th CinemAmbiente Festival ends its competition part today, Sunday, June 9, with the awards ceremony for the winning movies, at 7 pm, at the National Cinema Museum – Mole Antonelliana.
A selection of 44 titles among those presented in theatres in the 27th edition can be viewed free online through the Festival’s website, www.festivalcinemambiente.it, until June 18, on the OpenDDB platform (capacity of 500 accesses for each title).
AWARDS
The awards given at he and of the 27th edition of CinemAmbiente Festival are:
➤ Asja Prize for the best documentary in the international section, awarded by a majority vote of the jury composed of Luciano Barisone, Rachel Caplan, Davide Ferrario, Diana Garlytska, Stefano Mancuso, to:
The Battle for Laikipia by Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi (Kenya/USA 2023)
with the following motivation:
This engaging work powerfully captures the complex legacy of British colonialism in Kenya, balancing the precarious current position of the descendants of white settlers with the devastating impacts of climate change on indigenous communities. The filmmakers cleverly outlined an empathetic portrait of the individuals involved in this conflict, giving viewers an articulate view of both sides. Through its incisive storytelling, masterful shots of breathtaking wildlife and landscapes, and deep intimacy with its characters, the film reveals the no-holds-barred struggle for land and resources. The Battle for Laikipia is a pivotal and timely investigation of environmental and social issues that invites the audience to formulate personal conclusions and is distinguished by its delicate narrative of the unbreakable bond between man and his land.
The jury also assigned a special mention to:
Once Upon a Time in a Forest by Virpi Suutari (Finland 2024)
with the following motivation:
This work captures the viewer with vivid details and extraordinary shots of biodiversity, while an engaging soundtrack amplifies the beauty of the scenes. The young protagonists, with their sincerity and naiveté, succeed in conveying their love of nature from the screen straight to the audience’s heart. Their fervour and commitment to environmental activism resonate clearly, making the experience close to all viewers. The film wins hearts with its placid nature scenes, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in the peaceful stillness of Finnish forests.
➤ SMAT Prize for the best short film in the international section, awarded by the jury composed of Joana Fresu de Azevedo, Natalia Beatrice Giannitrapani (Nathalie), Alessia Iotti (@alterales), to:
The Feast by Rishi Chandna (India 2023)
with the following motivation:
Lightness in the narrative, power of the images, and the strength and tenacity of the women in taking charge not only of the microeconomic management of a complex system such as fishing, but also of the need for environmental protection so as not to forget their past and traditions are the ingredients of a dinner that could be indigestible. But they make watching the short film enjoyable and powerful because of the sensitivity and irony with which the events are told.
The jury also assigned a special mention to:
Bat Boy by Aaron Lemle (USA 2023)
with the following motivation:
For the ability, in a subtle way, to address multiple themes while maintaining a balance between narrative and technique and creating an empathetic environment with the characters. Whether they are young boys or animals normally discriminated against by society.
➤ IREN Audience Award for Best Documentary in the International Competition, awarded by Festival viewers to:
Lonely Oaks by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl, Jens Mühlhoff (Germany 2023)
Distinguishments and special awards:
➤ Special recognition “Gaetano Capizzi” for the best film in the Made in Italy section, awarded by the relevant committee, composed of Enrico Camanni, Serenella Iovino, Giovanni Iozzi, to:
Un paese ci vuole. Zavattini, Luzzara and the Po by Francesco Conversano and Nene Grignaffini (Italy 2023)
with the following motivation:
In a dense and poetic film with spectacular photography, the filmmakers take us to the Great River for an epic and minimalist tale about the poetry of roots, revealing that our belongings are mobile, open and becoming. And that to be is to imagine. Luzzara is a landscape of Resistance, but it is also a landscape of resistance: poetic and narrative resistance, resistance of imagination. With delicacy and irony in perfect Zavattinian style, the film shows us a landscape where imagination detaches itself from things and guides the gaze, putting us (Gianni Celati would say) “in a state of love for something out there.” The film moves through this horizon with the slightly melancholy gaiety and magical realism of obstinacy dear to the founder of this festival.
➤ Slow Food Prize, founded by the Festival and Slow Food Italy, for the movie that best investigates the relationship between food and the environment and the themes of sustainable food and conscious food consumption, awarded by the jury composed of Barbara Nappini, Serena Milano, Roberto Burdese, Piero Sardo, to:
Common Ground by Josh and Rebecca Tickell (Mexico/USA 2023)
with the following motivation:
A great film cast, screenplay, cinematography and direction to match the leads: it is quite rare for so much talent and quality to be put to the service of a cause so important and yet so little considered. Without fertile soil there is no life, and yet in less than a century we have dramatically eroded this precious and indispensable heritage for the survival of humankind. We have dispersed millennia of knowledge in the name of the obtuse pursuit of profit for the few. But there is still hope, those who have already embraced change are showing us the way forward, and a film like Common Ground can do a great deal to spread the message. This feature film skillfully succeeds in combining the spirit of CinemAmbiente and the themes dear to Slow Food, in a perfect synthesis that could not fail to win an award.
The jury also assigned a special mention to:
Until the End of the World by Francesco De Augustinis (Italy 2024)
with the following motivation:
When we order fish at a restaurant, the usual question is whether it is caught or farmed. We know nothing about farmed fish, but we know that wild fish tastes better. A gourmet question then. As farmed we think of ponds and lakes, which harm no one but the fish, but the fish don’t talk, they don’t moan, they don’t complain. De Augustinis confronts us with a very different reality: he maps out many of the world’s coastlines where the presence of million-fish farms is overwhelming sustainable local economies and depleting the sea. De Augustinis’ account opens wide to us new, very serious environmental and social issues. The film’s title is deliberately ambiguous: it alludes to the journey taken for the filming, but also to the fact that we are facing a frightening impoverishment of the marine environment. And if the sea dies, the fate of humanity does not stand a chance. Life was born in the sea and here it will end.
➤ Environment and Society Award, founded by the Festival and the Cooperativa Sociale Arcobaleno, for the movie that best combines environmental issues and the social dimension, chosen by the workers of the Cooperative, awarded to:
Food for Profit by Giulia Innocenzi, Pablo D’Ambrosi (Italy 2024)
with the following motivation:
If cinema, in addition to being a valid artistic expression, must also be an action of denunciation and assumption of responsibility, Food for Profit fulfils this mission by courageously denouncing the dangerous disconnect between words and action and even more so between shared principles and their conscious betrayal.
➤ Casacomune Prize, founded by the Festival and Casacomune Scuola e Azione, for the best movie or the best author, that was able to reflect themes related to spirituality in the sense of a dimension closely linked to the nature of which we are a part, awarded to:
Virpi Suutari (Finland), director of Once Upon a Time in a Forest
with the following motivation:
For her ability to enter with extreme delicacy into the heart of the forest, recounting the wonder of nature in a film that, on the one hand, denounces the risks and dangers it faces all over the world due to the actions of man, but on the other hand brings out the strength and determination with which young people – guardians of hope for the future – stand up as its defenders and guardians.
