28/06/2017 - Among the 101 works selected for young audiences, we find animated adventures and true stories, tales of love and friendship, films about war and docs on immigration

From the atrocities of war to the complexities of one’s first love, via stubbornness, the will to make one's dreams come true, and asserting one’s real self as one makes the transition from childhood to adulthood: these are just some of the themes addressed by the stories in competition at the 47^th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival (14-22 July 2017). There are 101 titles in all, comprising fiction features, shorts and documentaries, selected from among the 4,500 works received for shortlisting. The movies will be screened across the seven competitive sections and will be judged by the 4,600 jury members, divided by age group. It will be the jurors themselves, hailing from 52 countries, who will decide on the winners of the Gryphon Award in each section.

First up is Elements +3, in which the very youngest viewers will be able to discover – probably for the first time in their lives – the magic of cinema. It will be up to the festival’s youngest jury to weigh up a total of 20 short films in competition, hailing from the four corners of the Earth. But there will also be three features out of competition: acclaimed Norwegian director Arne Lindtner-Naess helmed Casper and Emma Go Hiking [+see also:
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film profile] (which is being sold by Canada’s Attraction Distribution); another Norwegian filmmaker, Rasmus A Sivertsen, was behind In the Forest of Huckybucky [+see also:
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film profile], an animated film being sold by SF Studio; while Germany’s Ute Von Munchow-Pohl directed his third movie, Rabbit School – Guardians of the Golden Egg [+see also:
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film profile] (sold by Sola Media), starring the adorable Max the Rabbit. It is also his third film to be presented in competition in the +3 category.

Moving on to Elements +6, the central idea running through all the titles here is friendship, parent-child relationships, and the minor and major challenges that crop up during the coming-of-age from childhood to adolescence. Following last year’s sneak peek at the teaser, Italian director Marco Renda’s Edhel [+see also:
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film profile], produced by Vinians Production, is now taking part in the competition; other titles include Big Bad Fox [+see also:
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film profile] (France, international sales by StudioCanal) by Benjamin Renner (who took part in Giffoni in 2012 with Ernest and Célestine [+see also:
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interview: Benjamin Renner, Vincent Pa…
film profile]) and Patrick Imbert, Tesoros by Maria Novaro (Mexico, sales by Figa Films), Wendy (Germany, sales by Beta Cinema) by Dagmar Seume, Master Spy (the Netherlands, sales by Incredible Film) by Pieter Van Rijn, and Little Spirou [+see also:
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film profile], with which director Nicolas Bary is making his return to Giffoni after nine years (he presented Trouble at Timpetill [+see also:
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film profile] in 2008). In addition, for the first time ever, two works from Mongolia will be in competition at the gathering, one of which is showing in the Generator +13 section: Zolbayar Dorj’s Children of Genghis (sales by California Pictures).

Elements +10 sees a former jury member return as a director: young Joya Thome is in competition with Queen of Niendorf [+see also:
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film profile], her feature debut. And then we have Mountain Miracle – An Unexpected Friendship [+see also:
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film profile] (Germany, sales by Arri Media International) by Tobias Wiemann, Cloudboy [+see also:
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film profile] (Belgium, sales by LevelK) by Meikeminne Clinckspoor, At Eye Level [+see also:
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film profile] (Germany, produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion) by Joachima Dollhopf and Evi Goldbrunner, Nina [+see also:
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interview: Juraj Lehotský
film profile] (Slovakia, sales by Kaleidoscope) by Juraj Lehotsky, Hero Steps (Colombia) by Henry Rincon and Room 213 (Sweden, sales by Media Luna New Films) by Emelie Lindblom.

The cementing of family ties and the will to make your own dreams come true are the main topics tackled in Generator +13, a section made up of seven features. From the USA come Walking Out by Alex Smith and Andrew Smith and The Bachelors by Kurt Voelker, and from Sweden we have Strawberry Days [+see also:
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film profile] by Wiktor Ericsson. Based on the book of the same name by Tim Crothers and directed by well-known filmmaker Mira Nair, Queen of Katwe (Uganda, distributed in Italy by Sky Italia/Walt Disney Studios) recounts the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a chess prodigy from Uganda. The cast also includes Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o. Meanwhile, Russia will offer Good Boy (sales by Art Pictures Studio) by Oksana Karas. This year, audiences at Giffoni will once again be able to meet director Vibeke Idsoe (she presented Karlsson on the Roof in 2003) with The Lion Woman [+see also:
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interview: Vibeke Idsøe
film profile] (Norway/Germany, sales by TrustNordisk). Another film in competition from Mongolia is White Blessing by Sengedorj Chanchivdorj, based on the true story of judoist Sumiya Dorjsuren.

Generator +16 will portray the obstacles that need to be overcome on the path to adulthood, as well as road trips. The titles include Do It Right [+see also:
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film profile] (France, sales by Films Distribution) by Chad Chenouga and The Next Skin [+see also:
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interview: Isa Campo, Isaki Lacuesta
film profile] (Spain/Switzerland, produced by Corte y Confeccion de Peliculas) by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo, starring Emma Suárez, who played the titular character in Julieta [+see also:
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Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile] by Pedro Almodóvar and who also stars in April's Daughter, in competition in the Generator +18 section. We also have Handsome Devil [+see also:
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film profile] (Ireland, sales by Radiant Films International) by John Butler, starring Nicholas Galitzine; The Inland Road (New Zealand, sales by LevelK) by Jackie Van Beek; and Weirdos (Canada, sales by Double Dutch International) by Bruce Mcdonald. Lastly, Ari Maniel Cruz helmed the Puerto Rican movie Before the Rooster Crows, while Sj Chiro directed Lane 1974 (USA).

Generator +18 maps out the complexity of human relations, paying particular attention to family ties: the titles here inclue We're Still Together (Canada) by Jesse Klein; Little Harbour [+see also:
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interview: Iveta Grófová
film profile] (Slovakia/Czech Republic, sales by Loco Films) by Iveta Grofova, performed entirely in Yiddish, a language that has not been used on the big screen for decades; Menashe (USA) by Joshua Z Weinstein, sold by Mongrel International; Garden Lane (Sweden) by Olof Spaak; and Cat Skin (UK, produced by Grasskamp Films) by Daniel Grasskamp. The director of Downton Abbey, Philip John, has made Moon Dogs [+see also:
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interview: Philip John
film profile] (Ireland), centring on two brothers heading to Glasgow to catch the Up Helly Aa, the biggest firework festival in Europe.

Lastly, Gex Doc has chosen works based on seven true stories, narrated in documentary format: They Call Us Monsters (USA, 2016) by Ben Lear; Born in Syria [+see also:
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film profile] (Spain, 2016 – sales by Java Films) by Hernan Zin; the animated doc A Bastard Child (Sweden, sales by Taskovski Films) by Knutte Wester, the grandson of the actual protagonist; Everyday Heroes (France, sales by TF1 Studio) by Anne-Dauphine Julliand; 69 Minutes of 86 Days [+see also:
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film profile] (Norway, sales by Taskovski Films) by Egil Haskjold Larsen; and The Other Side of the Wall [+see also:
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film profile] (Spain, sales by First Hand Films) by Pau Ortiz. The section is rounded off by the Finnish title Hobbyhorse Revolution [+see also:
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film profile] (produced by Tuffi Films) by Selma Vilhunen, who received a nomination for the Oscar for Best Short Film for Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? in 2014. 

(Translated from Italian)