IL CAMMINO DEL FILM FESTIVAL DELLA LESSINIA
1/1995
In 1995 in the conference room of the Hotel Bellavista in Bosco Chiesanuova, Piero Piazzola, president of the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense, presents the “Premio Lessinia - Amateur Video Film Festival,” which he created with the director Mario Pigozzi. The Festival is inserted into the program of “Cimbri in Celebration” and the sixth “Meeting with the Cimbri of Triveneto” and has as its symbol the newly-born Regional Natural Park of Lessinia. The young Massimo Maimeri wins the first edition of what will become the Film Festival of Lessinia with the film Eppur son stelle nella cenere.
2/1996
Director Gideon Bachmann is called to preside over the international jury of the second edition of the Festival, held in Erbezzo. The Festival, presented as a “Competition and review of films and videos dedicated to parks and natural oases. Lessinia Video Competition,” is entrusted to the artistic direction of Ugo Brusaporco. Carlo Malacchini wins first prize with the film Una macchina ad acqua. The program also includes the film Sera i oci, te conto na storia… by Alessandro Anderloni, who will become the artistic director of the Festival the following year.
3/1997
Involved in the organization since the first edition, in 1997 Alessandro Anderloni is officially appointed by the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense to direct the Festival, which moved to Cerro Veronese and returned to the name of the first edition: “Premio Lessinia.” Giancarlo Corradi begins his collaboration with the Festival and will be its president until 2020. In homage to the town that will host it for ten years, since 1997 the Festival names the main prizes the Cerro d’Oro and Cerro d’Argento. The Cerro d’Oro, dedicated to “ethnic groups in Italy,” was awarded to Claudio Redolfi for the film Caserando.
4/1998
In 1998, the Festival announces the theme that distinguishes it to the present day, “mountain life, history, and traditions,” and choses to exclude films about alpine sports and mountaineering. Twenty films were presented in the fourth edition. For the first time, the Festival hosted films of international origin, submitted to a jury that remained substantially stable until 2007, with some new jurors joining from year to year. Some of the very first supporters of the Festival were part of it: Giovanni Padovani, Giuseppe Brugnoli, Averardo Amadio and Guariente Guarienti. The Cerro d’Oro was won by Fredo Valla with the film Ripòsino in pace.
5/1999
In the fifth edition in Cerro Veronese, Pietro Barzisa, founder and soul of the Circolo del Cinema di Verona, and Piero Zanotto, one of the greatest experts in mountain cinema and former director of the Film Festival Città di Trento, also join the Festival’s jury. The Cerro d’Oro is awarded to Enrico Costanzo for the film Le stagioni di cervo e capriolo. Awards also go to Josef Schwellensattl for the film Im Buchenstein, to Rudy Kaneider for Il mistero cimbro, and to two films that tell the story of Lessinia: Fregole by Nerina Poggese and Le Sfingi di Camposilvano by Tiziano Zatachetto.
6/2000
In 2000, the Festival jury, which also included co-founder Mario Pigozzi, awards a prize to one of the films destined to become an icon in the history of the event: L’è uscìa by Urs Frey and Mike Wildbolz. With twenty-four works in competition, the Festival has now established its international character and is, in particular, a reference point for films dedicated to the ethnic-linguistic minorities of the Alps. The Lessinia Mountain Community Award goes to Giorgio Pirana for the film Il pane di ogni giorno, while the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense Award goes to Carlo Rossi for Mouren la reina.
7/2001
Beginning in 2001, the Film Festival Premio Lessinia consolidates itself as an event exclusively dedicated to life in the mountains. The screening days become five and the Cerro d’Oro is won by one of the directors who will become one of the Festival’s greatest friends and admirers, Sandro Gastinelli, with the film Arriverà il sole. Giorgio Pirana and Lino Mazzurana, directors who will mark the history of the Festival with their works dedicated to Lessinia and presented in many subsequent editions, also receive awards. There is also an award for a young director, Emanuele Miliani.
8/2002
In its eighth edition, the Festival inaugurates the new program, “Il Premio Lessinia a Scuola,” dedicated to short films made by students of the schools of Lessinia. Among the twenty-six presented, Il guardiano dei segni by Renato Morelli is awarded. The “Premio Parco della Lessinia” is conceived for films dedicated to mountain parks. The artistic director Anderloni writes: “Natural life demands the right to be protected, like languages in danger of extinction: not to create reserves or zoos, but to safeguard what, without rules, would be in the hands of building adventurism, speculation, the habits of certain hunting or the over-exploitation of mountain resources. Let's defend the parks! And lucky Lessinia, to have one!”
9/2003
At the ninth edition of the Festival, the Teatro di Cerro Veronese welcomes an ever-growing audience. Applause goes to the artists who have been able to recount authentic experiences of life in the mountains: Alberto Cogo and Guido Ostanel with Recinti, winners of the Lessinia-Cerro d'Oro Award; Daniele Cini, who wins silver with Sorprese d'inverno; Fausto Caliari, awarded by the Comunità Montana della Lessinia for Una strana storia sguerza and Sandro Gastinelli, awarded by the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense for Marlevar.
10/2004
In 2004, the Film Festival Premio Lessinia celebrates its tenth anniversary and honors it with two tribute retrospectives, one to Cerro Veronese and one to Lessinia, with a round table and two illustrious guests: Mario Brenta, who presented the film Barnabo delle montagne in the Cerro Veronese Theater, and Marcello Baldi, director of the film Italia K2 and protagonist of the documentary Non solo K2… le pupille di Marcello by Renato Morelli. Urs Frey wins the Cerro d’Oro again with the film Chaus e muntognas.
11/2005
With the 2005 edition, the Festival expands the scope of its research, with half of the twenty-four films presented being of international origin. Ermanno Olmi is honored with the screening of Il tempo si è fermato, while the director Fulvio Mariani comes to Lessinia for the first time with the speleologist Andrea Gobetti to present the film L’ombra del tempo. The Cerro d'Oro goes to the Austrians Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson for The Devil’s Miner, while that of the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense is awarded to Sandro Gastinelli for A l’avirùn ed l’àibu.
12/2006
In 2006, two important initiatives are born: “The Film Festival at the Table,” which hosts food and wine producers of Lessinia and “Aperitif with the Author,” in which storytelling shows and concerts are staged, in addition to the films and screenings of the “Premio Lessinia a Scuola,” with short films made by students of the schools of Lessinia. The guest of honor is the French director Henri Agresti, protagonist of the evening From Sahara to Afghanistan. The Cerro d’Oro goes to the Irishman John Murray with Bezad’s Last Journey.
13/2007
If the 2006 edition marked the pinnacle of the ten-year journey of the Festival in Cerro Veronese, the event has now reached such a size that it requires larger and more equipped spaces. In 2007, the Teatro Vittoria in Bosco Chiesanuova was inaugurated and it is there that the Festival returns, in the town where it was born, with the definitive name, “Film Festival della Lessinia,” and the new logo designed by Giannantonio De Maldè: the fada. Lessinia d’Oro to the film Un noël au Tibet by Jean-Baptiste Warluzel, Falk Van Gaver and Constantin De Slizewicz and Argento to Das Kalb in der Kuh und das Korn in der Kist by Josef Schwellensattl, the film that in the following years would have the highest number of screenings among all those in the history of the Festival.
14/2008
The 2008 edition opens with the extraordinary concert of the Caucasian Chamber Orchestra that arrives in Lessinia from Tbilisi and to which the film that will win the Lessinia d’Oro is dedicated, Grozny Dreaming by the Swiss directors Fulvio Mariani and Mario Casella. Also arriving from Switzerland is the guest of honor Fredi Murer, who presents the film Höhenfeuer, one of the absolute masterpieces of mountain cinema. The “Piazza del Festival” is enriched with spaces dedicated to food and wine, with the Trattoria and the Osteria del Festival.
15/2009
The fifteenth edition, in 2009, pays homage to the character of Heidi with the photographic exhibition, Heidi. A myth of the mountain created with the National Mountain Museum “Duca degli Abruzzi” of Turin. With the retrospective dedicated to the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Television), the Festival inaugurates an exploration, which will continue in the following years, in the programming dedicated to life in the mountains of European television. Lessinia d’Oro goes to the film Carmen Meets Borat by Mercedes Stalenhoef and the Lessinia d’Argento goes to Himalaya, la terre des femmes by Marianne Chaud, a much-loved French director. The Festival’s guest of honor is the director Mario Piavoli.
16/2010
In 2010, the Film Festival della Lessinia association was founded, with Giancarlo Corradi as president until 2020. The international jury chose a short film, Felicità by Salomé Aleksi, for the Lessinia d’Oro, but the Festival was won over by the young Tibetan monk who starred in Himalaya, le chemin du ciel, which again saw Marianne Chaud awarded the Lessinia d’Argento. The first prize assigned by children also arrived, awarded to Masha and the Bear, which had its Italian premiere at the Festival. The closing ceremony was hosted by Gigliola Cinquetti.
17/2011
In 2011, the MicroCosmo Jury, composed of inmates, was created in the Verona District Prison. Cancelled due to a violent storm that did not even allow the musicians to get off the bus, the film Safety Last! by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, with live music by Michael Lösch and his jazz group, was supposed to open the seventeenth edition. During the nine-day program, the Festival presents a national preview of Werner Herzog’s new documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and hosts the mountaineer Fausto De Stefani, who talks about his solidarity projects in Nepal. The Lessinia d’Oro is awarded to the French couple Anne and Erik Lapied for Voyage au bout de l’hiver.
18/2012
In 2012, the Festival inaugurated the “Higher Words” program dedicated to published works about the mountains, which are explored through conversations with authors. The “Mountain Bookshop,” managed by the publishing house founded by Gianni Bussinelli Editore, becomes the cultural hub of the Piazza del Festival, which comes alive with editorial presentations and concerts. The jury, which includes director Edoardo Winspeare, awards the Lessinia d’Oro to Norway for Vinterlys by Skule Eriksen and the Argento to Ub lama by Egle Vertelyte.
19/2013
Among the guests of “Higher Words” in 2013, the writer Paolo Rumiz, traveler and investigator of border lands and war, arrives for the first time in Bosco Chiesanuova to present his latest release, Morimondo. Júlia Murat wins the Lessinia d’Oro with the film Histórias que só exsistem quando lembradas and the Lessinia d'Argento goes to Der Imker by Mano Khalil. L'ultimo pastore, by Marco Bonfanti, wins the audience award.
20/2014
With the slogan “it’s nice to be twenty,” the Festival reaches the milestone of its first two decades in 2014, presenting 83 films from 34 countries with 25 Italian premieres. For its ecological commitment, it is awarded the “Green Drop Award” at the Venice Film Festival. The Norwegian director Frode Fimland triumphs with the film Søsken til evig tid, which wins the Lessinia d’Oro, the Audience Award, and the Jury Award MicroCosmo del Carcere di Verona.
21/2015
In 2015, the Festival became part of the Italian festivals supported by MIBACT. The program takes on an increasingly international profile, embracing all film genres with a growing focus on animated films for children and young adults. The Festival has now established itself in Italy as an international film competition dedicated exclusively to films about life in the mountains, excluding themes of mountaineering and sports. The international jury awards the Lessinia d’Oro to a Chinese film, Gtsngbo (River) by Sonthar Gyal, and the Lessinia d’Argento to Vahram Mkhitaryan for Mleczny brat.
22/2016
The world premiere of the new soundtrack by Mauro Ottolini for Francesco Bertolini’s film Inferno (1911) and the special event La catastròfa with Etta Scollo and Paolo di Stefano open a record-breaking edition, that of 2016, which has among its guests the French documentary maker Marianne Chaud and which sends the Lessinia d’Oro to Iceland for the film Sparrows by Rúnar Rúnarsson. The “Log To Green” Award is born, awarded to the film that best expresses and promotes the values of eco-sustainability; it goes in exaequo to Sila and the gatekeepers of the Arctic by Corina Gamma and Arreoby Tato Moreno.
23/2017
The twenty-third edition of the Lessinia Film Festival features the writer Maurizio Maggiani, the philosopher Adriana Cavarero, and the anthropologist Annibale Salsa, guest of the conference Bandits and Outlaws in the Mountainsorganized by the Curatorium Cimbricum Veronense. The winner of the Lessinia d’Oro is the film Wolf and Sheep by Shahrbanoo Sadat, while the Lessinia d’Argento goes to The Land of the Enlightened by Peter-Jan de Pue.
24/2018
With the international project “SÅM– Visual Exploration of Lessinia” the Film Festival della Lessinia inaugurates the audiovisual artistic residencies in 2018, hosting six artists of international origin under the curatorship of Steve Bisson. The international jury awards the Lessinia d’Oro to Sengirė by Lithuanian director Mindaugas Survila. The members of the jury of the twenty-fourth edition are Stefan König, Montserrat Guiu, Massimiliano De Serio, Elena Alessia Negriolli, and Daniel Burlac.
25/2019
In 2019, the Festival marks its quarter century by being granted the High Patronage of the European Parliament for knowing how to “illustrate the diversity of European traditions and shine a spotlight on the process of European integration.” Among the 67 films presented, the Lessinia d'Oro goes to Honeyland by Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska, which shortly thereafter became the first documentary to receive two Oscar nominations. Guests include director Franco Piavoli and meteorologist Luca Mercalli. The mayor of the Municipality of Bosco Chiesanuova, Claudio Melotti, awards the Derlo d'Oro recognition to the Film Festival della Lessinia for its 25 years of history.
26/2020
In 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, the Film Festival della Lessinia is held both live and, for the first time, online. The “FFDLgreen” section is also born, with the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and WWF Italy. The Bhutanese film Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom by Pawo Choyning Dorji triumphs, with the public vote replacing that of the international jury suspended due to travel restrictions. Presented as an Italian premiere at Bosco Chiesanuova, the film will soon conquer the world, receiving Bhutan’s first Oscar nomination, in the category of Best International Feature Film.
27/2021
2021 marks perhaps the most difficult year in the history of the Festival, to be reconciled with the safety measures of the pandemic. The program manages to present live at Bosco Chiesanuova and online on MyMovies, the main Italian platform for films on demand, 66 works from 36 countries. The international jury in attendance has been reinstated, and the director Irene Gutiérrez is awarded with the film Entre perro y lobo. The new MicroCosmo Jury of the Montorio Prison is also ready to choose its winning film, The postcard by Asmae El Moudir.
28/2022
2022 is the year of rebirth. The 28th edition records 31,159 participants, the absolute record for number of spectators. The Festival returns to its natural dimension, with the “Piazza del Festival” and the new exhibition spaces in the Socio-cultural Center. It is inaugurated with the screening of the film Cainà accompanied by live music by Mauro Palmas. The directors Michelangelo Frammartino and Pupi Avati arrive in Lessinia as does the astronaut Luca Parmitano, among other guests. The Lessinia d’Oro is awarded to Drii Winter by Michael Koch and two Lessinia d’Argento awards go to Tardo Agosto by Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini and Gavazn by the Iranian Hadi Babaefar.
29/2023
The 29th edition boasts the highest number of events in the history of the Festival: 122. Opening in the Piazza della Chiesa of Bosco Chiesanuova with “Vertical Movie,” the Festival continues with a tribute to the “Grand Tour of the Italian Mountains,” created in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and narrated by Fabio Testi. The Festival pays homage to mountain holidays and gives new impetus to initiatives aimed at social issues, with a new jury in the women’s prison on the Giudecca in Venice and the opening of the “Trattoria Sociale.” The Lessinia d’Oro is awarded to the Moroccan director Adnane Baraka for Fragments from Heaven.
