Umbria Film Festival has chosen its new creative director. The 28th edition of the festival, which will take place from the 10th to the 14th of July, will be directed by Alessandro De Simone.
A film critic and journalist, editor of Ciak e collaborator of Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter Roma and La Gazzetta dello Sport, Alessandro De Simone has written for the biggest Italian news publications, including L’Espresso, GQ, Playboy and many more. In 2010, De Simone founded The Cinema Show, the first monthly film publication in the world to be entirely created for iPad. He has collaborated with many international film festivals, such as Locarno, Biografilm, The Bologna Film Festival as well as Torino Film Festival, and is at the moment a consultant for Linea d’Ombra Festival Salerno, Bardolino Film Festival e Napoli Comicon. He has been living in London for the past 10 years.
Alessandro De Simone has said of his new position:
“After many years of working in the festival circuit, the opportunity of directing a festival as prestigious as The Umbria Film Festival has come into my life like a bolt from the blue. It’s my first time being an artistic director and it’s a challenge I will take up gladly. I have to thank The Umbria Film Festival Association, for the opportunity and the trust given to me. I’m already working hard in order to present a program that will measure up to the history of the Festival, which has great prospects that I wish to accomplish in this edition and in the future”.
This year the Festival will include of three major parts.
The first comprises the feature films: international premieres screened inside and outside, in the beautiful complex of the church of San Francesco.
For the fourth year Amarcorti, the Italian short film competition, will come back to Montone.
Finally, the international competition of shorts for children has now a name: Montoons.
We are delighted to announce that the short films submitted through Freeway, to be examined by the selection committee, are already almost 200, but there is still time to sign up. Submissions will close on the 10th of May.