19/03/2010

For its 40th anniversary, the Giffoni Film Festival (July 18-31) is unveiling Giffoni Multimedia Valley. A creative and culture project for children, it has received €20m from the Campania Region and the City of Giffoni and aims to become a hub of national and international attention that creates jobs and concentrates youth energy.

This year, the festival will offer audiences several important premieres, such as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a modern reinterpretation of the Mickey Mouse episode in Fantasia, directed by Jon Turteltaub (with a cast that includes Monica Bellucci); and the first 10 minutes of Winx 2: 3D, the sequel to the film directed by Iginio Straffi, which will be distributed by Medusa domestically on October 29, 2010.

The 2010 Truffaut Award will go to Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore, to whom a mini-retrospective of five films will be dedicated. The festival’s guest of honour will also teach a Masterclass on directing.

This theme of this year’s edition is love, around which will centre all the discussions, encounters and screenings (of approximately160 films). A 2,800-strong youth jury, whom the festival will bring to Giffoni, will enjoy the best of the world panorama of children’s cinema.

The festival’s 14 days will be divided into two parts: the first week for children ages 3-12, and the second for adolescents and young adults aged 13-23.

Festival films are divided among six sections, according to age group. The first six titles, almost all of which are from 2009, have been announced: Ineke Houtman’s The Indian (Netherlands), Christian Lo’s Rafiki (Norway), Ifa Isfansiah’s Garuda in my Heart (Indonesia), Giacomo Campeotto’s Storm (Denmark), William Dear’s The Perfect Game (US), Lars Berg’s East and Angels (Norway), Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s Oscar and the Lady in Pink (France/Belgium/Canada), Stefanie Sycholt’s Themba (Germany/South Africa, 2010), Ana Kokkinos’ Blessed (Australia), Frieder Wittich’s 13 Semester (Germany) and Cracks [+see also:
trailer
interview: María Valverde
film profile] (UK/Ireland) by Jordan Scott.

(Translated from Italian)