The Umbria Film Festival Association has organized the Umbria Film Festival for 27 years, an international film event held in July in the town of Montone (PG). With the Outside the Festival – Loving Arts project, it has promoted live performance events through cinema and images, with a program of shows held from October 2023 to August 2024, distributed throughout the Umbria Region. As per the festival’s tradition, cultural events were held in places of historical and artistic interest such as squares, churches, museums, and open-air and indoor theaters. There were 8 live performances scheduled, covering various fields of art, combining live music of various genres and street artists with artistic performances. The municipalities involved in the project were 4: Montone, Umbertide, Città di Castello, and San Giustino.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
For 27 years, the Umbria Film Festival Association has set the following objectives for UFF and its side events:
- To present quality works that have received international recognition.
- To discover new talents through research and development of what is new and different in the world of art (cinematic and otherwise) regarding expression, production, and communication.
- To create new generations of audience by involving students from schools of all levels in the jury for the short film competition and in training courses dedicated to them.
- To promote Montone, the Upper Tiber Valley, and Umbria as a unique opportunity for interaction between cinema and art enthusiasts, where artists can freely meet with local people and an international audience to discuss cinema and culture in general.
Outside the Festival – Loving Arts has set the following specific objectives:
- To support the restart and revitalization of the cultural sector in the Umbria Region, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, through live performances organized to celebrate the 27th and 28th years of the Umbria Film Festival, involving internationally renowned artists for the production and a diverse, intergenerational audience;
- To support and promote the production and hosting of live performances in all their forms, from music to cinema to street art, also in interaction with each other, giving life to multidisciplinary shows;
- To accompany the launch of new regional policies in the audiovisual and creative sectors applied to the cultural industry, in line with the PNRR Umbria 2021-2026, through the enhancement of Umbrian cultural and economic attractors (cinemas, places of historical-artistic interest such as museums and theaters), making available the international visibility of the Umbria Film Festival at an organizational level and in terms of cultural impact;
- To promote synergies and relationships between cultural and artistic realities of the national and regional territory, systematizing the tangible and intangible infrastructures of excellent realities such as those of the Umbria Film Festival;
- To offer citizens cultural tools definable as edutainment by promoting forms of art and culture that use universal languages and the organization of free live events capable of stimulating the regional social and cultural fabric through highly innovative performances;
- To ensure the presence of sector operators (organization, skilled workers, etc.) with specialized skills, capable of organizing, managing, and producing multidisciplinary live performances;
- To promote cinema and its languages, which have intersected with multiple disciplines, as tools to bring out interests and aspirations among the very young;
- To promote the Umbrian territory and its beautiful villages through cinema and live events
REALIZED PROGRAM
- March 23, 2024 9 p.m. Teatro degli Illuminati – Città di Castello. Invisible rainbow – Roberto Cacciapaglia in concert – video art and light show by Fabio Galeotti / contemporary classical music and video art
- May 12, 2024 9 p.m. San Fedele Theater – Montone. Caravaggio, of light and dark with Luigi d’Elia / Drama Theater
- May 25, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cospaia – San Giustino. Palacinga circus of the duo Chien Barbù mal Rasèe / street art
- July 12, 2024 9 p.m. Piazza San Francesco – Montone. Committee B anda / Folk and ballroom dancing.
- July 13, 2024 6 p.m. Fortebraccio Square – Montone. Damn poet – Musical talk with Alessandro de Simone, Mattia Labadessa and Francesco Caricati / comics, pop music
- July 14, 2024 9 p.m. Piazza San Francesco – Montone. Love. Sarah’s Theorem with Milena Mancini and directed by Vinicio Marchioni / drama theater
- July 26, 2024 9:00 pm Platform – Umbertide. Screening of the documentary “Thunder” and live performances by F4 and Oak / Punk rock and indie music
- September 28, 2024 7:00 pm Church of St. Francis – Montone Everything T’orna. Exhibition performance by Luca Morganti-Angelo benedetti and Valentina Moar / painting – electronic music and dance.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Off Festival – Loving Arts project proposed events in line with the history and international quality of the main event, integrating works from all over the world (such as animated short films for children) with excellence in live performances. The project presented multidisciplinary events that touched on various aspects of “art: screenings, concerts, street artists, contemporary dance. For the 27th edition of the Festival, it was decided to take some performances around” Umbria, creating innovative collaborations and new connections both with the artists involved and with the municipalities of the territory and the managers of the requested spaces. Local theatre company workers, technicians, and actors were involved.
The shows included videos and images subtitled for the hearing impaired, making the events inclusive. In addition, direct involvement of boys and girls present at the screenings was provided through short animated films. The performances were filmed, and the technicians involved produced a commercial/short film to promote the project and the area involved. On one particular occasion, enraptured by the beauty and prestige of the place, a little magic happened. Maestro Cacciapaglia decided to shoot inside the Teatro degli Illuminati, during the rehearsal of the out-of-festival show the promotional video of his tour.
“I think that when, in a hundred, two hundred years, they want to understand what we were like, it will be through film music that they will find out.” – Ennio Morricone
The concerts chosen for this project had a high artistic level and included renowned artists. Attention was given to different aspects and types of music (from folk to alternative rock, from “electronic to contemporary classical music) to engage the international and multi-generational audience that follows UFF. Particular attention was given to a young audience (20-40 years old), often regular ‘users’ of talent shows, social media, and streaming music. The” intent was to have them experience a live concert, especially after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic, in villages and spaces normally unfamiliar to this type of audience. A significant example was the involvement of the “independent label To Lose La Track.”
MULTIDISCIPLINARITY OF THE PROJECT
The Fuori Festival – Loving Arts Project has promoted various genres of live performances associating them with film screenings. The types of shows chosen were:
Street Theater
The street artists Chien Barbu Mal Rasè (Daniele Spadaro and Emanuele Avallone) were invited with their itinerant show through the historic center of Montone, El Trio Churro – a CirConference. After the show, short films for children were screened at the theater, with circus and jugglers as the theme.
Punk Rock Emo Music
In the “underground” location of the Umbertide Platform, groups Oak and F4 belonging to the To Lose La Track label performed. These emo-core bands, much loved by the 20-40 age group, offered an event in full Italian rock style.
Traditional/Folk Music
The Committee Band brought their folk and manouche sounds to the stage, also crossing over into Italian pop music. With their “liscio d’autore,” they made the audience dance and delighted them with ironic and poetic atmospheres.
Electronic Music + Contemporary Dance + Artistic Performance
Everything Returns was an electronic music concert performed by Maestro Angelo Benedetti, based on the theme of experience. The event included choreographic interventions by contemporary dancer Valentina Moar and stage setups created for the occasion by Luca Morganti.
POP Music
Cursed Poet A musical talk between Alessandro De Simone, cartoonist and singer Mattia Labadessa, and guitarist Francesco Caricati.
Prose Theater
The play Caravaggio – of Light and Dark, performed by Luigi d’Elia, was presented. The performance Love – Sarah’s Theorem with Milena Mancini, directed by Vinicio Marchioni, was also added.
Classical/contemporary music
Maestro Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Invisible Rainbows explored the fusion of classical and
avant-garde, traditional and contemporary. With his music, he accompanied the audience in
an intimate and shared perceptual experience, culminating in deep listening. The sounds that
make up his melodies created an invisible bridge between people and with their own
inner world, made up of a thousand perceptive and emotional nuances.
THE ASSOCIATION.
EXPERIENCE OF THE PROPOSING ENTITY
The Umbria Film Festival APS Association has been organizing the Umbria Film Festival in Montone for 27 years. UFF has become an annual summer event, consistently held in the second week of July, for all cinema enthusiasts. Since its inception, it has been possible to present the best of international film culture to the public, guided by a constant search for new and original content. What allowed UFF to quickly emerge as an event of international importance was its ability to weave relationships not only with international film distribution institutes but also with notable guests, making the human factor its strength. Over the 27 editions, some constants have alternated, such as the feature and short film sections, with other sections, like Umbriametraggi (a competition for short films by Umbrian filmmakers), various training courses (from film courses to photography courses, including acting and screenwriting), round tables and debates on various topics, etc. In addition to the Festival, the association has experience in organizing and managing projects related to collateral events to be held throughout the year linked to live performances (Off-festival – 25 Years of UFF and Off-Festival – Mon Amour), such as concerts and theatrical performances, and children’s education with projects carried out in schools in the Upper Tiber area (Action Movies and Abit. Art – the art of inhabiting the territory).
Composition of organizational staff (77% of the staff dedicated to the project are women)
- Organizational Direction: Chiara Montagnini
- production director: Aurora Marconi
- projections and events manager: Fabrizio Toth
- production and communication associate: Erika Alunni
- organizational secretariat: Cristiana Rosini
- Subtitles and content accessibility manager:Roberta Arrigo
- Site communication manager:Michela Negro
- Live Performance Events Manager: Caterina Guarna
- technical collaborator: Lorenzo d’Anna
- technical collaborator – videomaker: Jacopo Tonelli
- Production Collaborator: Federica Borzone
- responsible for children’s section: Livia Bianchini
Number of Umbrian Municipalities involved in the annual project
4 municipalities involved in the project implementation:
- Municipality of Montone
- Municipality of Umbertide
- Municipality of Città di Castello
- Municipality of San Giustino
THE SHOWS AND EVENTS
March 23, 2024 at 9:00 PM
Teatro degli Illuminati - Città di Castello. Roberto Cacciapaglia in concert – video art and light show by Fabio Galeotti / contemporary classical music and video art
Maestro Roberto Cacciapaglia - “Invisible Rainbows – Solo Piano” After the success of concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York, the “invitation to perform at Cadogan Hall in London (prestigious residence of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), the return to his city, Milan, at the G. Verdi Conservatory and the world tour, ROBERTO CACCIAPAGLIA returns to perform in Italy in theaters with INVISIBLE RAINBOWS. Exciting light show and projections by the” artist Fabio Galeotti Live performance sector: contemporary classical music/ light show and projections.
May 12, 2024 at 9:00 PM Teatro San Fedele – Montone.
Caravaggio, of Light and Dark with Luigi d'Elia / Dramatic theater.
Audience Comments
"We were able to ‘experience’ and appreciate an incomparable hour and a half monologue, always exciting and without a flaw: Luigi d"'Elia one of the best, if not the best theater actor I've ever known, superb screenplay and stage lighting, it seemed to me the most successful show of the festival! Almost ten minutes of applause in a packed Teatro San Fedele! It deserved the Arena di Verona! Congratulations! "The passion that the actor put into it is unsurpassable, the writing and direction absolutely of high quality and the duration of the show was a moment. A sign of absolute appreciation and attention!" "Great theater tonight in Montone with Caravaggio by Francesco Niccolini, directed by Compagnia Vetrano Randisi with an amazing Luigi D'Elia, who for two hours kept us spellbound by his character. Light and shadow, shadow and light... Thanks to Umbria Film Festival for this evening!"
May 25, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Cospaia – San Giustino.
Circo Palacinga by the duo Chien Barbù mal Rasèe / street art.
Chien Barbù Mal Rasè - EL TRIO CHURRO a CirConference two unruly circus performers promise to tell the history of the circus from its birth to today, but they are not able to actually perform the acts. With a series of wacky inventions and thanks to the help of the audience, they manage to perform, despite everything, the announced acts. Great success for them in Cospaia, a hamlet of San Giustino where they entertained young and old with their amazing and hilarious show. Live performance sector: street theater
July 12, 2024 at 9:00 PM Piazza San Francesco – Montone.
Committee Band / Folk and ballroom dancing.
The Committee Band was born in 2016 in the Umbrian countryside. The group offered original pieces and reinterpretations of the folk , manouche and Italian song repertoire of the 1960s. Their music, defined as a "liscio d'autore", was characterized by changing, mocking and poetic atmospheres, sometimes severe and other times dreamy, the result of a slow fermentation of friendships and natural wines. The evening was an unprecedented sell-out in St. Francis Square. 350 spectators seated and many more standing to dance. Umbria Film Festival President Terry Gilliam at the end of the concert took the stage enthusiastically and praised Alice Rohrwacher (internationally renowned Umbra director here as accordionist) Sector of the live show: folk/traditional music.
July 13, 2024, at 6:00 PM Piazza Fortebraccio – Montone.
Maledetto Poeta, Musical Talk with Alessandro de Simone, Mattia Labadessa and Francesco Caricati / pop music.
In a crowded Piazza Fortebraccio, Mattia Labadessa presented himself not only as a successful cartoonist but also as a pop singer alongside guitarist Francesco Caricati. The star of the event was Alessandro de Simone, an exceptional artist and interviewer, who brought his oratory art to their service.
July 14, 2024, at 9:00 PM Piazza San Francesco – Montone.
Amore! Sarah's Theorem with Milena Mancini and directed by Vinicio Marchioni / prose theater.
"It is universal that Infinite Love exists and is unique!", this is Sarah's theorem, the protagonist, revealed through the mathematical symbols present in the title ⱯM∞RƎ! For Sarah, Love is a tightrope walk at three hundred meters height. For her, a Love relationship consists of two people who love each other and walk on two parallel lines that meet at infinity. But what does it mean to love? How to avoid falling? Does love end or transform with marriage? How to reach that meeting point? With this show, I return to express myself on stage also through dance. Situations, concepts, and words shape the body: I interpret Sarah's frenzy in love, when she becomes a mother, when she supports her husband, when she stops and realizes she is not a superhero, when she finds the courage to make peace with her maternal figure, when she discovers that friendship changes like love, it turns into kindness, respect, and courage. In an era of social media, filters, emoticons, and temporary stories, I return to the stage to share a story of Love. An invitation to return to live life in person, to become aware of the commitment and courage that Love requires. Sarah is the combination of all the women I have known in my life, of all the conversations overheard at the bar, she is the best friend who tells her latest love story, she is the voice of the lover who spills uncomfortable truths, she is a mother in a tracksuit wearing her sweatshirt inside out on which the barista accidentally spilled a boiling cappuccino. Sarah is the boomer Princess of the 2000s: in love with her husband, sappy and rough, wife and lover, daughter and mother, strong and lost, in constant search of balance on the tightrope of life." Milena Mancini.
Milena Mancini graduated from the Ballet of Rome in 1996. She has worked in Italy and around the world with artists such as Claudio Baglioni, Kylie Minogue, Ricky Martin, Robbie Williams and Geri Halliwell. In 2003, she interrupted her dance career and moved to Los Angeles to study acting with Bernard Hiller and Greta Seacat. As an actress, she has worked with Gabriele Muccino, Matteo Rovere, Federico Moccia and among others with Giorgio Capitani in Il Generale Dalla Chiesa. She is the female lead in Il più grande sogno by M. Vannucci and La terra dell'abbastanza by the D'Innocenzo brothers, for which she received the Bimbi belli award for Best Supporting Actress. She received the Alida Valli Award as Best Supporting Actress at Bifest 2020 for A mano Disarmata, directed by Claudio Bonivento. In theater, she signs the adaptation, costumes and stars in Uncle Vanya, plays Sibilla Aleramo in The Longest Hour, is a performer in Caligula by Camus, writes and performs in I Will Marry Biagio Antonacci, directed by Vinicio Marchioni, a show for which she receives the Aphrodite Award 2023. She writes the screenplay for the docufilm Vanya's Earthquake, shortlisted for the 2020 Silver Ribbons. Since 2021, she has been in the cast of the series A Casa Tutti Bene 1-2 by Gabriele Muccino and in the series Cristian 1-2 by Stefano Ludovichi, both for Sky. She is the female lead alongside Edoardo Leo in Ivano de Matteo's film titled Mia, a role for which she receives the Nomination for the 2023 Silver Ribbons as Best Supporting Actress. while the film wins the Ciak d “oro for Best Dramatic Film”. She participated in the latest film by Paolo Virzì, Another Ferragosto.
Since 2023, she leads, together with Vinicio Marchioni, the Advanced Training Course for actresses and actors at Teatro della Pergola The “European actress and” actor in the “field of Stage Movement. A versatile actress and artist who defies definitions, she coaches numerous actors with particular attention to the” use of the body in acting.
July 26, 2024 at 9:00 PM Platform – Umbertide.
Screening of the documentary “Tuono” and live performance by F4 and Quercia / Punk rock and indie music
"Tuono" directed by Dario Marani. The documentary grew out of an interview conducted in 2015 for 'Fumettology - The Myths of Italian Comics,' from which a narrative about the person and character of Tuono Pettinato was articulated, enriched by new interviews with friends and colleagues. Speakers included Nico Ambrosino of Laghetto and Marnero, a childhood friend, Lia Remorini, his mother, Francesco D'Erminio, Antonio and Marco Manetti (the Manetti Bros), Lorenzo Ceccotti (LRNZ), Adriano Ercolani, Dario Moccia - with whom Tuono Pettinato collaborated on We are the champions and Big in Japan, Michael Rocchetti and Maurizio Stefano Piraccini aka Dr. Pira.
Before the screening, the documentary was introduced by Nico and another comic artist, Holdenaccio (who was thanked for the splendid graphics). After the screening, there were electro-acoustic live performances by F4 and Quercia, two groups under the independent label To Lose La Track from Umbertide Live performance sector: emo rock music.
September 28, 2024 at 7:00 PM Church of San Francesco – Montone
Tutto T'orna. Exhibition performance by Luca Morganti-Angelo Benedetti and Valentina Moar / painting - electronic music and dance
Luca Morganti, Angelo Benedetti, Valentina Moar - Tutto t'orna Everything we experience is part of a forward-flowing stream. Time flows linearly and does not allow imperfections. But in this out-of-tune world of which we are a part, emotions surpass the limits of physics and something comes back: memories, experiences, teachings don't know that time exists and so they wander between the present and the past, settling lightly on our faces and adorning our lives like impalpable gold jewels.
Tutto t'orna is a 360° artistic performance where the audience felt part of it, was invited to walk through Luca Morganti's light works and interact with the internationally renowned dancer Valentina Moar. In the background, the music of Maestro Angelo Benedetti.
Audience comments:
"Everything begins at sunset, in a church that opens to the west. Olivia moves with her nose up looking at Valentina dancing. Eyes lost along the fabrics of a colorful meadow, a blooming sky, a moving cloud, a faded insect buzz.
Strips of transparent flowers. Some as intangible as those memories you wish not to lose, but that gradually fade and disappear into the shadow. Others clear and precise in memory like those that will never pass. Everything begins, everything passes, everything ends, but Everything Returns and makes me who I am…"
Live performance sector: multidisciplinary (electronic music, contemporary dance, performance)
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