The jury has been appointed for the Ermanno Olmi Award, international film
award promoting short films by young directors.

Submission deadline: October 15th, 2023

©Gianni Berengo Gardin/Contrasto

Luigi Musini (film producer), Lorenzo Rossi (researcher and editor of Cineforum magazine), Omar Pesenti (director and screenwriter), Giada Mazzoleni (film producer and teacher) and Giorgia Goi (producer and distributor) have been appointed as the jury of the fourth edition of the Ermanno Olmi Award, established to promote short films by young directors.

Aiming to promote young filmmakers under the age of 30, the award consists of 3 cash prizes (€1,200, €600, and €400) - made available by Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus - and a special mention awarded on a theme chosen by the municipal administration. The winner of the mention will be awarded a cash prize worth € 300 offered by FIC – Federazione Italiana Cineforum.

For this year, the Culture Department has chosen as its theme “The Human Being and Time”, a reflection on the relationship of the human being with time, a theme that Ermanno Olmi explored in various aspects throughout his film production. Olmi has dealt with the relationship of the individual with family history and collective history, the bond with the heritage of the places of birth and belonging; he has recounted the harmony with the rhythms of nature and the bewilderment that humanity and individuals experience when this is broken.

The deadline for submissions (fiction, documentary or animation produced in 2022 and 2023), which must not exceed 15 minutes in length, is October 15, 2023. (Info and registration: www.premioolmi.it/?lang=en). The winners' announcement and award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at the Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà, Bergamo.

In the words of Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Bergamo, Nadia Ghisalberti: «The Ermanno Olmi Award, dedicated to the great master of cinema, reaches its 5th edition. Strongly desired by this municipal administration, the Award pays tribute to the filmmaker from Bergamo, inviting us to rediscover him and supporting the work of young directors. The special mention of this edition invites us to reflect on the relationship between human being and time, a poetic legacy to be found in Olmi's works and a starting point for new explorations. Every year the short films in competition open our eyes to multiple points of view, on society and its transformations, on the critical issues and opportunities of the present, on the ability to tell what has been and imagine the future».

JURY BIOGRAPHS

Luigi Musini (Parma, 1948)
Graduated in Economics and Commerce at Bocconi University, he started working at Rizzoli Editore, dealing in particular with film activities. In 1984, together with Roberto Cicutto, he founded Mikado Film, and again together with Cicutto, Angelo Barbagallo and Nanni Moretti in 1993 he founded the distribution company Sacher Distribuzione. Since 2008 he has been involved in production with the company Cinemaundici, which among other things produced Ermanno Olmi's films Il mestiere delle armi, Cantando dietro i paraventi and Torneranno i prati.

Lorenzo Rossi (Trescore Balneario - Bg 1980)
He is a research fellow at the University of Insubria. He mainly deals with the relationship between cinema, history and visual arts in the field of visual studies. He is the author of monographs, scientific essays and articles in national and international volumes and magazines on visual culture. He is editor of the magazine Cineforum and collaborates with several film festivals including the Torino Film Festival. He also works as an image education trainer for the Ministries of Culture and Education.

Omar Pesenti (Bergamo, 1977)
He is a director and screenwriter. In 2006, he began as a director of independent short films, winning numerous awards both in Italy and abroad. In 2012, he switched to documentary filmmaking and began experimenting with its language, never repeating himself and seeking the perfect hybrid with fiction cinema. In Trincea (2016), on the Great War, Italia 70 (2018), on the years of lead, and Wall of Chaos (2020), on the Berlin Wall and East Germany, make up his trilogy on contemporary history.

Giada Mazzoleni (Bergamo, 1989)
Film producer and teacher. Active in the creative sector since 2011, Giada founded Paguro Film in 2018, an independent company with the aim of developing projects by emerging authors particularly focused on the genre for today's cine-documentary and fiction market. He has collaborated with the British Council and the Civica Scuola di Cinema di Milano. In recent years he has taken part in several programmes supported by Creative England. Since 2020 she has been an EWA member and part of Women in Film and TV (UK).

Giorgia Goi (Bergamo, 1991)Graduated in Economics and Management of Cultural Heritage and Entertainment at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, since 2018 she has been working in project management, fundraising, financial management and administration for the Lab 80 film cooperative, of which she has been a partner since 2019, working in the areas of production, distribution and for projects to disseminate film culture.

The Ermanno Olmi Award is promoted by the City of Bergamo with the support of Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus and in collaboration with FIC - Federazione Italiana Cineforum.
In accord with the Minimum Environmental Criteria - parameters of environmental sustainability for cultural events - signed by the Municipality of Bergamo, the Prize takes part in the European Green Fest project: a commitment to both environment and culture, and a fitting tribute to Ermanno Olmi, who, through his works, was always a keen supporter of environmental preservation.
Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 sees Intesa Sanpaolo and A2A as Main Partner, Brembo as System Partner, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and SACBO as Area Partners. The Ministry of Culture and Regione Lombardia are institutional partners together with Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione della Comunità Bresciana and Fondazione della Comunità Bergamasca.