The sixth edition of the Verona International Film Festival took place last week with fully sold out screenings at Multisala Rivoli. The festival team would like to thank all of their guests for coming out and enjoying three face-masked evenings packed with independent cinema gems!
A big thank you also to all filmmakers for sending in their work. Out of over a thousand submissions, eighteen wonderful films from Italy and around the world made it to the final selection for 2021. After lengthy consideration, the jury members chose to award the following films:
The award for Best Narrative Feature Film was given to Yellow Cat (Kazakhstan) by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. “Ex-con Kermek and his beloved Eva want to leave their crime-infested lives on the Kazakh steppes behind. He has a dream: building a movie theater in the mountains. Will Kermek's love of Alain Delon be strong enough to keep them out of the violent clutches of the mafia?”
Olyan Dolgok - Things like (Austria) by Kálmán Nagy was awarded as Best Narrative Short Film. “Éva lives a nightmare. She has the terrible suspicion that her husband has done something to her five-year-old daughter. Éva seeks help from her best friends. But can they help her?”
Quaranta cavalli (Italy) by Luca Ciriello won Best Documentary Short Film. “'Quaranta cavalli tells us of the summer trips of a group of kids from Chioggia, their dreams on the water and their expectations.”
Best Super Short Film was awarded to The Moth (United Kingdom) by Geordie Leyland. “A lonely lightbulb remembers the love of its life.”
Best Animated Film went to Helfer (Hungary) by Anna Szöllősi. “Helfer is about a young woman who is struggling with anxiety and recurring nightmares that she wants to end. She seeks out a helper, who offers an alternative solution, but in the process she must confront her greatest fears. The film details their relationship in a surreal world through symbolic events.”
The award for Best Experimental Film was given to Letter to my mother (Iran) by Amin Maher. “A heartfelt letter to tell the mother the most painful of secrets. Amina, who in 2002 was the small protagonist of Ten by Kiarostami is now a transgender director who tries to make her voice heard, understood, and be understood.”
The prize for Best Music Video went to ATLAS (France) by Jim Vieille. “Dark and poetic, this music video depicts a rite of passage : the liberation of an inhibited personality. First, the night, rough, wild and frenetic, to let out all the accumulated frustrations. Then the next day, appeased, like a rebirth, a return to life.”
And last but not least, Best Italian Film was awarded to My Father’s Naples (Italy) by Alessia Bottone. “Through archival material, Bottone gives an intimate and personal reflection on the of the man who has inspired her since she was a child.”
ABOUT VIFF
A film festival focussing on the complexity of human relationships set in Shakespeare's city of love Verona, Italy. Does it get any better than this? The Verona International Film Festival presents films which revolve around relationships in their different forms whether spiritual, physical, interpersonal, familial, and humanitarian and can even touch upon relationships between nations and political parties. Films can tackle the complexity, ever-changing dynamics, adversity, and multi-faceted aspects pertaining to these different types of relationships.
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