There are also two Forlì events among the 41 projects dedicated to cinema and audiovisual that will be supported by the Region with 1 million and 165 thousand euros in total, which will be divided between the various entities: these are the Sedicicorto festival and the Meet the docs! review.
The regional council has approved the ranking of the applications received following the call for proposals to co-finance and support the organization and realization of important regional film events. “Festivals and reviews enhance the film industry and give even niche productions the opportunity to show themselves to the public and strengthen themselves,” commented the regional councilor for Culture and Landscape, Mauro Felicori. “The Region continues to invest in these events that aim to make Emilia-Romagna the production capital of the audiovisual sector.”
The Sedicicorto festival, now in its 21st edition, is dedicated to the world of short films and is an unmissable event for film buffs who, every autumn, have the opportunity to attend screenings of works from all over the world. The festival has received 36 thousand euros for the next three years, “a thousand more than last time,” underlines artistic director Gianluca Castellini. “A small thing, almost symbolic, which, however, demonstrates confidence in our project. The overall figure, in any case, gives us some breathing space for future programming.”
The Sedicicorto team, after all, has been working on the next edition for some time now and knows well how much titanic efforts are hidden behind a rich program, even from an economic point of view. “Our hope, now, is all for the Municipality: the last three-year call for proposals dedicated to cultural projects, in fact, saw a reduction of about 10 thousand euros for us. The new call for proposals should be released in 2025 and the hope is that they will choose to invest more, otherwise the festival will be at risk, and it’s a shame because Sedicicorto is now an indispensable piece of culture for the city”.
Meet the docs! also received regional funding, coming first in the ‘reviews’ category (in fact, unlike Sedicicorto, it does not provide for any awards). In this case the call is valid for an annual period and the sum allocated is 15 thousand euros. The review has existed for eight editions and, for three days, sees the screening of documentaries of different genres and on the most diverse themes, united each year by a common thread.
“We are very happy both for the financial contribution that will arrive and for the recognition of our work – comments the artistic director Matteo Lolletti –. We have now reached the eighth edition that will be held in October and for us it is very nice to see the value of what we propose recognized”.
Even Meet the docs!, however, has seen its municipal contribution decrease in the last three years: “With the last call for proposals it was almost halved. We still appreciated the help of the culture councilor, but it must be said that we were faced with a choice: either propose a subdued event or invest from our own pockets. We opted for the second option, but it is not always easy. Despite this, we do not intend to stop”.
