Ravenna, 11 October 2019, 11:30 am. In the hall of the municipality of Ravenna, on the occasion of the press conference presenting Visioni Fantastiche, the new Festival dedicated to fantastic cinema, and Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest, the historic event dedicated to the dark side of movies, the following speakers, directly involved in the projects, intervened: Elsa Signorino, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Ravenna; Agostina Melucci, Office Manager X – Ravenna Territorial Area; Franco Calandrini, Artistic Director of both Festivals; and finally Maria Martinelli, Start Cinema Communications Manager.
Councilors Elsa Signorino, Culture and Ouidad Bakkali, Public Education and Childhood, declare: “We are very happy to welcome in the city and collaborate as an administration in a new festival dedicated to cinema, Visioni Fantastiche, a project that springs from the experience of Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest and adds an important element in the cultural and educational offer aimed at young people. Visioni Fantastiche in fact has the unique peculiarity of being dedicated to schools, but at the same time open to all cinema lovers: a beautiful opportunity to share between generations and to provide children and girls with the cultural tools for a critique of the present and for to counter iconic illiteracy.”
Inspired by the Giffoni Film Fest, Visioni Fantastiche will be completely free and open to everyone. It will be possible for all movie-goers to take part in the 18+ Competition for free, on the mornings of 28 and 29 October, to watch the films and vote them, playing both the roles of spectators and jurors. There are also numerous Master Classes, focusing on various topics, including seriality, fantastic cinema and new media. The evenings of the Festival will be marked by the Fantastic Premieres: a cycle of first visions of auteur films little known to the greatest international distribution. Special Selection will present a selection of the best short films from the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. Particularly important will also be Tribute to the Masters, the section dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki, that will be proposing: My neighbor Totoro, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and the documentary-interview by Kaku Arakawa Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki. There will be also Interactive Spaces, permanent laboratories: La Stanza dei Lego, in which participants will create with LEGO scenes to be included in the narration and Virtual Reality, in which they will live a unique experience of virtual reality. Last but not least, Showcase Emilia-Romagna, the section dedicated to cinema produced in our region, will propose a unique selection of short films.
Official guest of the Festival will be the writer and journalist Marta Perego, author of the book The Great Women of the Cinema, which she will present in an exclusive meeting, conducted in collaboration with ScrittuRa Festival, on Friday 25 October at 6.00 pm.
Agostina Melucci comments: “Undoubtedly, Fantastic Visions contributes for the current school year to implementing the National Cinema Plan for the School and the Territory, promoted by MIUR and MIBAC, cinema and culture together. In fact there are various initiatives for which there is a large quantitative and qualitative response. If going to the movies is no longer a usual behaviour, then why move and keep the fascination of the hall? Why propose to children the various declinations in which fantastic cinema is articulated? It is important for children to know the cinematographic language that stimulates creativity and critical thinking. In fact, cinema and audiovisuals speak according to various languages, while fruition and production intensify emotions and emotions and thus cinema becomes an identification of value. That is why it is important to educate children to understand the language of cinema.”
The Festival also makes use of the precious collaboration with Filmagogia Foundation. “Filmagogia is an international foundation with Swiss statute that for years has been dealing with the dissemination and promotion of audiovisual and film education, theory and practice in educational and media contexts in schools and universities, in particular for updating teachers through contests, international projects, conferences and advanced training courses in collaboration with national and foreign universities. We are happy to be able to start this collaboration with Visioni Fantastiche, in the name of a substantial commonality of intent, and to present the Festival’s contents in the context of our future projects” says Chiara Bigondi, junior editor and digital comunication of the Foundation.
