In the name of Gaetano Capizzi: the name of the founder and historic director, who unfortunately passed away prematurely last autumn, hovers throughout the presentation of the 27th edition of “his” Cinemambiente festivalwhich returns to the Massimo cinema since 4 to 9 June directed this time by Lia Furxhiwho has long been his most faithful and knowledgeable collaborator.
«The festival is dedicated to him – explains the new director – who founded it 27 years ago and made it one of the most authoritative environmental themed festivals in the world, in the belief that films can be an extraordinary tool for understanding , and make people understand the importance of protecting the planet we live on”.
I am 76 titles in totalincluding Italian and foreign documentaries, shorts and a fundamental section made by and for the young and very young citizens of the future, Cinemambiente Junior. And then the usual extensive program of in-depth analysis on the topic, meetings and discussions: the environmental one is an increasingly central and pressing topic, thanks to cinema it can be easily understood at every level. All with free entry. The poster, a black sun on a blue sky that pays homage to Magritte (designed as always in recent years by Gian Paolo Berra), is at the same time a visible threat to the future of the planet and also the metaphor of the hole, impossible to fill, which You understand he left behind in the world of cinema and environmentalism. «In memory of Gaetano, this year an award is established to be given to an Italian film, to remember the important role that the Festival, under the guidance of its director, had in the birth and growth of national documentary production on environmental themes» .
We start on the 4th with an inauguration “cinephile”the screening of a rediscovered masterpiece of Brazilian silent cinema, “Amazonas, maior rio do mundo” from 1918thought to have disappeared for over a century, now restored and set to live music, and ends with “Voyage to the South Pole”the new work of Oscar winner Luc Jacquethistorical author of “March of the Penguins”.
Furxhi and the Cinemambiente working group presented a high-level programme, which would have made Capizzi proud: there are no certainties for the future yet («We must start working in view of the 30th edition», said the director of the Cinema Museum Domenico De Gaetano), but certainly changing the structure of the festival and entrusting this precious event to other people, as many fear, does not seem like the best idea today.
