ANTOINE CHAPON'S BASATEEN WINS BOTH THE INTERNATIONAL JURY PRIZE AND THE YOUNG JURY PRIZE, TELEMACH WIESINGER'S 12 ASTERISCI OBTAINS THE CRITICS UNION PRIZE AND THE INTERNATIONAL JURY'S SPECIAL MENTION, FLOW WINS THE PFF CIRCUS PRIZE

ENEA COLOMBI BEST DIRECTOR IN THE VEDOMUSICA SECTION WITH THE VIDEOCLIP LA MIA PAROLA

The three juries of the official competition met and each decreed their own winners, but the verdicts indicated a convergence on some titles of the competition that certainly struck more than the others both the youngest and the journalists and professionals of the industry and that highlighted how cinematographic art can also be an expression of resistance, reflection and denunciation of the present.

The international jury, composed of Rodrigo D’Erasmo, Anna Marziano and Alain Parroni, decreed the winner of the International Jury Award of the 61st edition of the Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema to AL BASATEEN by Antoine Chapon for the following reason: a film that transforms an advertising landscape into a landscape of resistance, giving voice to the inhabitants of a neighborhood that continues the opposition to an unjust regime. The promise of mere luxury and the carelessness towards the degradation of the ecosystem are contrasted visually and sonically with the ambition of welding the real space to the imaginary one. Playing on the fragile balance between the digital and physical worlds, the film reaffirms an active role in redefining the one's relationship with reality.

In addition to the main prize, the jury has determined two special mentions: the first special mention goes to 12 ASTERISKS by Telemach Wiesinger for its acute and profound ability to openly question us on the condition of the European continent, revealing the sinister echoes of closed borders and past wars, urgently putting back into our hands the singular and plural responsibility of actively opposing violence. In particular, the film innovates the relationship between sounds and images, through the composition of a soundtrack that becomes a real essay, to be listened to and read; the second special mention goes to DESIRE by Giuseppe Boccassini because through the ecological practice of recycling archive images, the film plays with the form of melodrama trying to separate the driving force of desire from the power dynamics connected to it in the representation of interactions between genders, in a period that precedes the explosion of struggles for equality and that inspires us to carry them forward.

The young jury, composed of students from universities throughout Italy with courses in film history and from the main film schools and fine arts academies, has chosen to award the Yung Jury Award to AL BASATEEN by Antoine Chapon for the political and human urgency of the story that, through the innovative use of technical tools, restores voice and dignity to Syrian families, erased not only physically from a place but also symbolically from history. The film goes beyond traditional documentary forms and imposes itself as a powerful subversive act.

The young jury then determined a first special mention for LO QUE CREEMOS ES LO QUE CUENTA PARA NUESTRA VIDA by Assia Piqueras for the use of the split screen technique, allowing the editing to communicate by narrative subtraction, strengthening the viewer's gaze. For the synaesthetic contrast between visual and sound, coldness and warmth. For having dealt with post-colonial themes by evoking a collective memory through the ritual of remembrance.

The second special mention goes to DUAS VEZES JOÃO LIBERADA by Paula Tomás Marques for its ability to reinvent and renew the classic nature of the biopic, addressing issues such as gender identity and the representation of the body. For its drive to bring viewers closer to experimental cinema through irony and humor without renouncing the self-critical dimension of the cinematographic medium.

The jury composed of critics from the Sindacato Nazionale dri critici Cinematografici Italiani (SNCCI) - Fabrizio Croce, Vittorio Renzi and Sarah Van Put - awarded the SNCCI Award to 12 ASTERISCI by Telemach Wiesinger for its ability to show through images, both concrete and symbolic, the contemporary political and (anti) human drift. The author, through his layered work on sound, also evokes a historical dimension that allows the past to be reflected in the present, raising disturbing questions about the future.

The critical jury then awarded a special mention to DUAS VEZES JOÃO LIBERADA by Paula Tomás Marques for the way in which the director used the meta-cinema device with intelligence and originality to tell the story of the persecution and repression that throughout history have prevented and continue to prevent the free expression of one's gender identity. The film questions the hegemonic point of view with which these themes have always been addressed by proposing an alternative vision.

The Vedomusica section dedicated to the video clip competition, with the jury composed of Simone Emiliani, Federica Illuminati and Donato Sansone, awards LA MIA PAROLA by Shablo, Guè and Joshua directed by Enea Colombi as the winner for the compositional balance with which the choreography of the movements is rendered, for the functional use of black and white photography at the service of the story and for the effectiveness of the direction and staging. Special mention for J'EXISTE by Novze directed by Marco Pacchiana for the alternative way in which the director, escaping the typical canons of the Italian video clip and inspired by the world of cinema, experiments with a hybrid language.

Also awarded was the best animated film of the PESARO FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUS curated by Giulietta Fara. After a week of creative workshops and screenings dedicated to the little ones, the jury of children awarded FLOW by Gints Zibalodis as the best animated film of this edition.

The following awards were also given to the winners of the LINO MICCICHÉ AWARD FOR FILM CRITICS, a competition organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics – Emilia-Romagna Marche Group together with the festival:

SECTION A – YOUNG PEOPLE (reserved for secondary school students):

1st PRIZE Bianca Cicala for the critical essay on the film “Conclave” by Edward Berger

2nd PRIZE Diego Gessi for the critical essay on the film “Il tempo che ci vuole” by Francesca Comencini

3rd PRIZE Andreana Cimino for the critical essay on the film “L’abbaglio” by Roberto Andò

SECTION B – YOUNG PEOPLE (reserved for students of universities, film schools, fine arts academies, conservatories, ISIA, members of film associations):

1st PRIZE Davide De Conte for the critical essay on the film “The Brutalist” by Brady Corbet

2nd PRIZE Gabriele Stefani for the critical essay on the film “Here” by Robert Zemeckis

3rd PRIZE Samuele Beriotto for the critical essay on the film “The Substance” by Coralie Fargeat

The (Ri)Montaggi Il cinema attraverso le immagini competition, curated by Andrea Minuz and Chiara Grizzaffi and its jury composed of Simone Emiliani, Federica Illuminati, Donato Sansone, awarded the prize to SPECTRAL EXISTENCES by Giovanni Venturato for the respectful way in which the work addresses such an important theme, without leveraging the emotional aspect and maintaining a strong political connotation both from a thematic and formal point of view.

From the jury, a special mention to COI PIEDI PER TERRA by Eliana Iorio for the creativity of the editing and for how it brings out, through a skillful archive work, the female condition and above all its emancipation.

This 61st edition, which ended with great public success and the Pesaro Nuovo Cinema Award to Gianni Amelio, was made possible with the contribution of the Ministero della Cultura – Direzione Generale del Cinema e dell'Audiovisivo, the Municipality of Pesaro and the Regione Marche and with the artistic direction of Pedro Armocida.

Artistic director Pedro Armocida states: “The Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, 60 years later, is increasingly a laboratory dedicated to the new languages ​​of cinema with a program designed for many different audiences who, in recent days, have attended all the sections of the festival with great participation. My thanks and gratitude go to them”.

The President of the Fondazione Pesaro Nuovo Cinema, Giuliana Gamba, also agrees: “The 61st edition of the Pesaro Nuovo Cinema exhibition was truly a success, there was a great turnout of the public and very interesting conferences and meetings. It is the first year that I have been President and with the municipal administration and with the mayor Biancani we have some beautiful projects that I hope and indeed I am sure that we will be able to bring to fruition and that will give a cultural contribution to the city. We must continue to carry out permanent activities, throughout the year and above all restore the archive that many scholars from all over the world want to access. I am very happy with my role because I think that by collaborating with the institutions of the territory we will be able to carry out beautiful activities”.