INTERFACCIA DIGITALE 2023

INTERFACCIA DIGITALE 2023

Programma

• 09.30 Proiezioni del 10 film finalisti
• 10.30 Discusisone plenaria tra le Giurie degli Studenti e degli Spettatori (*)
• 11.30 Proiezione del nuovo film LINE (**) realizzato da Francesco Margarolo, vincitore del Premio Interfaccia Digitale 2022 e proiezione dei vincitori delle menzioni speciali dell'edizione 2022. A segure proiezione del film fuori concorso Resurrection under the Ocean di Serkan Aktaş (***)
• 12.00 Annuncio del Vincitore del Premio Interfaccia Digitale 2023 e asegnazioni delle Menzioni Speciali
• 12.30 Cerimonia di chiusura con proiezione dei film premiati

VINCITORI / WINNERS:

MOSE3  by Pablo Girolami - INTERFACCIA DIGITALE AWARD 2023

A glance into the camera catches us and catapults us into a vortex. An erotic, pulsating dance. A rigorous, ironic, surprising choreography.  Free, powerful, seductive performers. A tight editing, a direct dramaturgy, an encompassing photography. Spaces, lights, colours and hypnotic music envelop us and never leave us.

LET’S CALL IT A TIE  by Vasiliy Zhitlov, Maya Selezneva - HONORABLE MENTION

For the high cinematic quality of the editing and photography, the organic development of the narrative arc, the complexity of the subject matter and the originality of the interweaving of dance, choreography, screenplay and soundtrack.

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Artistic Direction of the Festival, by the Interdisciplinary Jury and the Jury of Critics and Scholars together.

I HAVE A DREAM  and INTANGOUT by Vito Alfarano - HONORABLE MENTION

For the clarity of the narrative through sensitively and inventively developed editing and writing with those living a path of marginalization on their own skin.

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Jury of Critics and Scholars.

THIS IS CONCRETE  by Alice Gosti, June Zandona - HONORABLE MENTION

From military to artistic practices. An architecture is reborn to new meanings. In video, an unknown corner of this land becomes a stage to the world. Music, costumes, photography transport us to another dimension. A disturbing and rigorous choreography, concrete, brute, compact, seductive.

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Interdisciplinary Jury.

GLOAMING  by Alana Da Silva - HONORABLE MENTION

A perfect harmony between nature, architecture and the body. A succession of silences, breaths, sounds and noises of nature in absolute balance. As in balance are the chiaroscuros of photography, of day and night, immersed in a pristine environment. Images that also give back through the movement of bodies a poetry in which the elements converge symmetrically and coherently.

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Artistic Direction of the Festival.

LET’S CALL IT A TIE  by Vasiliy Zhitlov, Maya Selezneva - HONORABLE MENTION

For the right balance between stage movement, construction, and filmic dialogue; the color choice of photography that supports the concept and evokes pictorial references combined with the intensity of gesture. The film is contemporary with the events of the Russia-Ukraine conflict transposed into the family dynamic as an allegory of power.

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Audience Jury.

VIVIDREAM  by Matteo Di Loreto, Tom McKenzie - HONORABLE MENTION

The Honorable Mention is assigned by the Jury of Students.

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FINALISTI in ordine alfabetico / THE FINALISTS in alphabetical order:

• A BUTTERFLY IS KNOCKING ON THE WINDOW  by Mohammad Hasani (Islamic Republic of Iran)
• GLOAMING  by Alana Da Silva (USA)
• I HAVE A DREAM  by Vito Alfarano (Italy)
• IMPLIED LINES  by David Valolao (Italy)
• INTANGOUT  by Vito Alfarano (Italy)
• LET’S CALL IT A TIE  by Vasiliy Zhitlov, Maya Selezneva (Russian Federation)
• MOSE3  by Pablo Girolami (Germany/Italy)
• PESO PIUMA COLLECTIVE  by Matteo Maffesanti (Italy)
• THIS IS CONCRETE  by Alice Gosti, June Zandona (USA)
• VIVIDREAM  by Matteo Di Loreto, Tom McKenzie (Denmark) 

Note / Notes

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A BUTTERFLY IS KNOCKING ON THE WINDOW 

by Mohammad Hasani (Islamic Republic of Iran)

Injuries do not always manifest themselves as visible scars.

Director Biography: Mohammad Hasani

Filmmaker “Writer and Director” Born in 1992 Hamedan, Iran Scholar of Cinematography. Bachelor Degree of Directing in Cinema

Mohammad Hasani is from Hamedan a Part of Iran in West, He can Speak Both Persian and Turkish, and also he can speak in English too. He started his work from Tehran (Iran Capital) in Iranian Youth Cinema Society.

After a year he has been accepted in Art university and studied in Cinema director course and participated in the workshops. 36th Fajr International film festival Talent Campus, Tehran international film festival, 11th Cinema verite.

He directed his first professional film “Stencil” when he was 25 years old at the university which was accepted in several international and national Film festivals, and that was the beginning of his Career as a Filmmaker.

Director Statement

It all started from a ruined house whose window glass was broken. I think that when women are harmed by their family or society, they are broken like the window glass of a house, and now this breaking can take many forms.

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GLOAMING 

by Alana Da Silva (USA)

A winter dance duet between two souls moving in and out of each other’s worlds.

Director Biography - Alana da Silva

Alana da Silva hails from Gothenburg, Sweden where she has worked in corporate filmmaking for the past 15 years.

She has explored the world of dance as a member of the audience at various live performances, and since 2019 has immersed herself in the task of creating a new experience for the dance observer, striving toward a feeling of closeness to an artform otherwise experienced at a distance.

She grew up in Canada, born into a richly multicultural family full of Guyanese, Caribbean and Greek heritage. Her BA in Communications was earned at Adelphi University with a concentration in moving image production.

Director Statement

This film was created during the pandemic, as a collaboration between countries, disciplines and individuals. I was tasked with creating a piece inspired by the choreography of Flock (Florian Lochner and Alice Klock) and danced by Emilie Leriche and Sabine Groenendjik both of the Gothenburg Opera Dance Company. At the time, we were looking for a glass house, to bring the exterior environment closer to the interior. Buster Delin of Delin Arkitektkontoret allowed us to film in his summer house in Hälsingland, which gave us a stunning backdrop and became almost like a third dancer.

When filming movement, dance and especially intimate stories, I try to have a camera as close to the dancers as possible without losing perspective or view of their incredibly athleticism and artistry. We also wanted very much to move between the inside and outside of the house, to give the viewer the sense of being privy to something almost private, then being drawn into the room with the dancers.

Everything came together smoothly and with an incredible contribution from all parties. Emilie and Sabine created a lovely and collaborative atmosphere on set, and Flock provided them with a foundation of choreography which they could build and expand upon.

It was truly a formidable experience that for me exemplifies the nature of combining dance and filmmaking, two disciplines that really bring out the best in each other when the stars align.

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I HAVE A DREAM 

by Vito Alfarano (Italy)

Direction and choreography by Vito Alfarano Dancers : Tourè Lanfia, Alpha Bah, Samuel Adel, Emmanuel David, Lamine Soure Mohammed, Mike Eghe Production by AlphaZTL Compagnia d’Arte Dinamica With the financial support of Auxilium Soc. Coop. Soc. Under the patronage of Amnesty International Italy

The video dance is inspired by the principles of Martin Luther King who had a dream: that all men could be equal and that people should not be judged by the color of the skin but by the content of their personality. The dream has not yet been accomplished: so much still needs to be done to accept the other, the different, the refugee, the one fleeing from misery, the civil war to arrive after so many sacrifices and so much pain on our lands considered as a new opportunity for live. The dream of these men and women with their children is a new life in a world where they are not yet fully accepted. Years later we realize how these words can be current today because this dream has not yet been accomplished and we are experiencing it in the first person with the problem of immigration. The performance tells the journey experienced by immigrants and all the difficulties encountered: thirst, hunger, torture, death and hope.

Director Biography - Vito Alfarano

Brindisi 15.01.1978. He started his carrer as freelance dancer working with various choreographers. He created choreographies for dance companies and festival: Fabula Saltica, SIDance (Seoul International dance festival), Biennale danza in Venice, KoDance. With his choreographies he won first prizes in international competitions. He is the director of AlphaZTL Company of Dynamic Art based in Brindisi (Italy) deals of contemporary dance, video art and publishing working also with prisoners, immigrants, psychiatric detention patients, deaf people, and with Down Syndrome. As video dance director, his videos are selected and screened in over 35 world festivals receiving a special mention from the former President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano.

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IMPLIED LINES 

by David Valolao (Italy)

Non finito / Implied lines dance movie about otherhood A reflection on plurality. Presences, absences, languages, realities. When a body is put into relationship, what does it say? How can it be looked at? How can it collaborate with other bodies even if they seem hostile? How can it recognize their identities, potentials and limits? How can it be received? How does it receive them? How do I keep a fluid perception of the border between what is me and what is not me? Going slowly up and downstairs. Walking or rolling, adapt to the presence of other bodies on the way. Unforseen a priori, the choreographic action reveals the reasoning of the body through slowness, repetition, adaptation and subtle changes of physical states. The work speaks of the relationship / transformation; bodies before an encounter and bodies during an encounter. Identity and otherness refer to each other while a new body is born, the result of adaptation.

concept: Francesca Pedullà and Sabrina Marzagalli video and editing: David Valolao original music: XU Circle-Alessandro Bartolena performers: Daniel De Luca, Konstandinos Katsamakis, Sara Parisi, Francesca Pedullà props: Ad Hoc legno e disegno drawing: Sabrina Marzagalli photography: Beatrice Testa and Federica Guglieri Support: LuzzatiLab -Teatro della Tosse, Genova.

Director Biography - David Valolao

David Valolao graduated with a degree in Graphic and Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Genova, Italy. He discovered his passion for storytelling when he was 20, and from that moment began to study narrative and philosophy and writing and directing short films. His first short was Exit, a thriller. He received Tim Vison Awards for the short L'anima Nascosta (The Hidden Soul). His latest short is the award-winning Una partita ai confini del mondo (A Match at the Ends of the Earth).

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INTANGOUT 

by Vito Alfarano (Italy)

After attending a 6 month Tango course, the prisoners of the Brindisi District Office are the protagonists of the video art dance INTANGOUT inspired by the origins of Tango, when they danced among lonely men, highlighting the similarities that unite the Tango to the condition of life of a prisoner, to his life in prison, in the male section, projected "sentimentally" out of necessity dances with another man. Hybrid dance of hybrid people, the tango feeds on friction and victimism.

Intangout will not tell any story but will speak of feeling, of distance, of the absence of the person you love. When the body is not in connection with the mind because it travels perpetually between the memories of the loved person and the memory arouses antithetical feelings: pain and joy, freedom and possession, carnality and depth, sweetness and anger, passion and revenge. The songs of Tango celebrate the shadow of the unsaid, the melancholy of lost and distant things, feeds on sadness, loneliness, loss not only of love but also of friendship, of abandonment not only of the beloved person but also of the country of origin, of the traditions, of the house, the same condition in which a prisoner finds himself living in a place of privation and far from his affections.

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LET’S CALL IT A TIE 

by Vasiliy Zhitlov, Maya Selezneva ( Russian Federation)

Gathering for the late fancy evening celebration eleven members of one family are joyfully meeting each other around one table under the roof of parents` house. While the dinner is being served with every stage of festive family tradition they go through the sequence of memories, revealing the brokenness, ties glass fragility and swelling rift between them under the dominance of parents in charge and especially mother`s figure.

Starting point of film research became the personal experience of some project participants based on break appeared in many families in Russia after the beginning of war in Ukraine because of Russian propaganda influence.

Director Biography - Vasiliy Zhitlov, Maya Selezneva

LET'S CALL IT A TIE is a collaboration of two directors: Vasily Zhitlov and Maya Selezneva

Vasily Zhitlov - director and cinematographer, specializing in short films, music videos and commercials.

Starting with stage lighting and projection mapping, Vasily moved on to video production. Filmed in Russia, Holland, Germany and Israel. Worked with David Zambrano (short documentary "Zambrano"), Edivaldo Ernesto, Alexandros El Greco, Dance Academy Russia and many local dance companies.

Won several social media festivals: #ZhiyunMobileFilmFestival 2022 - 1st place in the category "Music and dance"; #GetInTheLoop 2022 Artlist - 1st place in "Lighting" category; #Artgrid edit challenge 2021 - 2nd place in "Brand Ad" category; #filmWithZhiyun Challenge 2021 - 3rd place.  Education: ITMO University Master's degree in lighting design, 2016

Director 2/ movement director and choreographer

Maya Selezneva - movement director and choreographer in the field of screen dance, contemporary dance, movement and performing arts, based in Italy/ Germany.

She is interested in moving, creating, and teaching towards the meeting boiling point of contemporary dance, street dance tools /physicality and theatre to embrace new touch of move and groove on the borders

She has been working as a performer/dancer with Alina Belyagina, Elena Churilova, Jammes Finnemore, Guy Shomroni and Yaniv Abraham, "Naprimer d.C", Li Nekrasova, Tomislav English, Mualem/de Fillipis Project, Third Rail Projects and in her own creations

She worked as a performer and artist with venues and residencies such as with Nuova Officina della Danza, Schloss Brollin, Dance House Lefcosia, GES-2 , CN-D artistic residency, Napa gallery , Young Arctic artists residency and Netzwerktanz, Escabo stage residency

She studied in Nuova Officina Della Danza, RESEARCH international dance program, Vaganova ballet academy and graduated from there with MD in choreography, College of arts, Northern State Medical University with degree in psychiatry  Maya was representing Russia in frame of artistic cultural bridge with nordic countries in between barents region, where she danced, taught and choreographed for UKM/Tromse (2014-2022)

Her pieces «Bubbleland», «The Playground», «Sleep tight», «Gone», «Bien, maman» and «Mandragoras» were presented for «Open look festival», «Pyatiletka» and «Novie formi festival» for new stage/Alexandrisky theater, «Escabo C.D.S.», Skorohod stage, Vittoria theater in Russia, Finland, Norway, Italy.

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MOSE3 

by Pablo Girolami (Germany/Italy)

Alone, as if I was under the influence of hallucinogen, I begin to enter a trance. I create a deep andpalpable tension with a single dancer, like a nightmare in which I lose control and lucidity. This trip helps me gain access to the gate of my fantasies. It is up to me to open the door and let my desires and imagination flow. On the other side we distinguish three male bodies, intertwining, caressing, playing. I allow myself to enter this world of pleasure and turning my visions into reality. Focusing on the physicality of sensuality, I create waves and bounces where bodies mix, match and get attached to one another.

Director Biography - Pablo Girolami

Pablo Girolami born on the 22.04.1994 is Italian and Spanish.He started his professional dance studies in 2009 at the Dance Academy Zürich.In 2014, he joined the Hessisches Staatsballett Wiesbaden/Darmstadt In 2018, he danced with Spellbound Contemporary Ballet in Rome and since May 2019 he is working as a freelance artist.In 2017, he created “I see you over there” for the Hessisches Staatballett and in 2018, he created ‘’Mose3’’ in collaboration with DeDa Production and Café Klatsch.In 2019, he created ‘’Manbuhsa’’ which is currently being performed in various Festivals. ‘’Manbuhsa’’ won the Premio Twain_DirezioniAltre2019 and the price for the performance and interpretation in the CortoinDanza 2019 in Cagliari as well as the audience award at the 33. choreographic competition of Madrid. ''Manbuhsa'' was also selected for the Anticorpi XL Platform for young choreographers.

Director Statement

As an artist, I often feel that I have the duty to represent reality. However, I am more interested in aparallel fantasy. Almost like another dimension where time, space and, or sensation are altered, dilated or flipped. A dimension that allow us to change our vision on what it means to be a human.

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PESO PIUMA COLLECTIVE 

by Matteo Maffesanti (Italy)

The video was born from the encounter between Balletto Teatro di Torino and choreographer Silvia Gribaudi. The performance is a physical practice of duration that enacts an empathic ritual starting from an individual dimension and transporting performers and audience to a collective dimension.
 Sound and bodywork lead into a space poised between the abstract and the earthly. The performance is inspired by "The Dying Swan”, Michel Fokine's choreographic solo on the musical piece by Camille Saint-Saëns and is part of the “Swans never die” project. This video has never been presented.

Director Biography - Matteo Maffesanti

Director, filmmaker and social theatre operator, in 2008 he founds the Elevator Bunker association, which develops projects and workshops of participatory video and theater. In 2009, in collaboration with the University of Verona he writes and directs the short film Cinquanta di questi giorni, a pedagogical study on sexuality in the presence of intellectual disabilities. His documentary 88 Giorni nelle farm australiane (2016) deals with the new Italian youth migration to Australia. Since 2012, he participates as a video artist in numerous international choreographic research projects promoted by OperaEstate Festival Veneto. He collaborates with choreographers and artistic collectives including Alessandro Sciarroni, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Biennale 2019. In 2014 he begins an ongoing artistic relationship with the choreographer and dancer Silvia Gribaudi, that develops into choreographic productions and community projects. With her, he is co-author of the performance Humana Vergogna, a project of Matera European Capital of Culture 2019, Graces (2019) and Monjour! (2020). In 2021 he collaborates as a filmmaker with the Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow on the project Choreographies of Time, a six-stage investigation, curated by Susanne Franco from Ca' Foscari University in Venice, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow - MMOMA.

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THIS IS CONCRETE 

by Alice Gosti, June Zandona (USA)

The body becomes architecture in the iconic abandoned military bunkers of Fort Worden National Park (WA, USA) as personal and geographical histories are interwoven in this genre bending dance.

Director Biography - Alice Gosti, June Zandona

Alice Gosti is a transnational immigrant performance artist, choreographer, filmmaker and cultural strategist who creates site-responsive dances, live art installations and films that examine how history, politics and place enter the body and condition how we move and relate. Born in Perugia, Italy and raised by artists SANDFORD&GOSTI, she’s worked between Italy and occupied Duwamish land (Seattle) since 2008. Gosti founded MALACARNE, an experimental ensemble that relies on transparent and equitable partnerships with artists, communities and institutions in pursuit of social justice.

Gosti’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and commissions including: a Vilcek Creative Promise in Dance Award (2012), ImPulsTanz danceWEB Scholarship (2012), Bossak/Heilbron Award (2015 and 2019), Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Award (2014, 2017 and 2022), Artist Trust GAP Grant (2014), Artist Trust Fellowship (2017), the inaugural Italian Council Grant from the Italian Government (2017 - 2018), 4Culture Grant (2018 and 2020 - 2021), a NEFA National Dance Project Grant Production (2016 - 2018), a NEFA Touring grant (2019), NPN Documentation & Storytelling Award (2020), ArtsWA CARES Act Relief Grant (2020), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Relief Fund Award (2020), ArtsFund Recovery Grant (2021), Doris Duke Recovery Fund Award (2021) and a Princess Grace Honoraria Award in Choreography (2021).

June Zandona (she/her) is a director and camera person from Washington state. After many years working in the film industry in Los Angeles CA, June turned to directing her own works, bringing a thoughtful cinematic eye to many projects of all sizes.

As well as her work with Alice Gosti and MALACARNE dance company (including their previous collaboration “Perpetual Vessels”), June’s most recent short documentary “Deep Waters” premiered at Wasatch Mountain Film Festival in 2021. Her latest narrative short film, “Wedding Video”, premiered to a sold-out crowd at the 2019 Seattle Int’l Film Festival shorts showcase. Her previous short film “DANCER”, a hybrid dance and narrative film and rumination on loneliness and connection, toured the festival circuit and premiered at the Los Angeles Short Film Festival in 2016. When not on set she can be usually be found hiking in the woods with her dog.

Director Statement

Located on ancestral S'Klallam land, the Fort Worden National Park is a collection of artillery batteries and military bunkers. They used to stand as a symbol of militarization, fear of the other and the environmental cost of human “progress.” By the time the Fort Worden was finished being built, warfare had changed from naval warfare to air warfare, making the structure and its immortal architecture a complete waste and devoid of meaning. “this is concrete” introduces new historical meanings into this outdated construction. Four bodies build new memories and new ideas inspired by the Fort’s vast but interconnected network of rooms, staircases, doors and windows, which naturally convey a sense of movement and mechanics.

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VIVIDREAM  

by Matteo Di Loreto, Tom McKenzie (Denmark) 

Between dream and reality a girl finds herself in the audience of a theatre (Royal Danish Theatre) to find out there are other people there with her. While events between the dancers unfold, a voice guides them on a journey of surreality where the relation between the audience and the stage is connected by a subtle veil.

Director Biography - Matteo Di Loreto, Tom McKenzie

Matteo Di Loreto has worked as a professional dancer for the past decade and has been part of the Royal Danish Ballet since 2014. As a dancer he worked with major choreographers like J.Kilian, Wayne McGregor, Sharon Eyal, Hofesh Shechter, Natalia Horecna and many others. Since 2020 he's involved in the field of creation and choreography and since 2021 has been part of "Koreorama" a choreographer educational program within the Royal Danish Theatre.

Director Statement

"In a dense world I wish to catch its essence."

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(**) Il nuovo film di Francesco Margarolo, vincitore dell'edizione 2022 :

LINE

by Francesco Margarolo

anno : 2023

durata : 5min

Line è una videoanimazione che combina migliaia di scatti fotografici di disegni e piccole sequenze filmate, un contenitore di figure che si muovono in simultanea e in successione. E’ il contenitore di gesti - del gesticolare - e di trasformazioni continue, motivate solo dalla paura di rimanere immobili.

"Mi esercito nel trovare un collegamento tra un mondo di immagini oniriche che affiorano e si scontrano con la realtà. Esercizi di perplessità . Linee rapide che si succedono a ritmo serrato , che si impongono all’immaginazione. Ogni immagine deve  sovrapporsi a un’altra immagine , deve acquistare evidenza e poi dileguare. Ogni fotogramma è pieno di stimoli visuali . Tutto nasce e muore. Inciampi, cadute, affanni e gioie. Un volo."

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(***)  RESURRECTION UNDER THE OCEAN   out of competition 

by Serkan Aktaş (Turkey)

"Resurrection under the Ocean" is about the resurrection of a man who was helplessly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, after falling to the bottom of the ocean, with a symbolic narrative.

Director Statement

"Resurrection Under the Ocean" depicts the resurrection of humanity in the darkest place of the ocean in a symbolic way through a helpless character. The film's metaphorical narrative style and its use of fictional and formal elements aim to bring a different-unique approach to cinema. It offers a visual feast with the harmony of music and choreography. In the deepest part of the ocean, death is tried to be portrayed in the dark. Then, the pain of resurrection, which begins with the sound of a whale symbolizing vitality, is completed when the character comes to the surface of the sea. I can say that with the film "Resurrection Under the Ocean", it is a film that develops the tendency of other films I have made to benefit from tradition, this time in a different form and framework.