“It’s been two beautiful days… or rather two really beautiful days!”
It’s over “Accussì – Festival for the Eyes”, the first Short Film Festival entirely organized in Giampilieri which was born with multiple purposes, first of all the story of the so-called “Small World”, that is, local realities, suburbs, villages and hamlets, and with them their values and identifying elements.
The festival was organized by three local residents, Donatella Manganaro, Antonio Micali and Marco Minutolialready active for years in the area through the Giampilieri 2.0 Association (founded in 2017 to combat the disastrous consequences of the 2009 flood).
Many people participated, enjoying the viewing of six short films per day, selected by the organization and projected directly onto the external façade of the splendid church of San Nicola, a point of reference and meeting place for the town. Although it was the first time, Giampilieri proved to be the ideal setting for this experience that involved citizens in choosing the winner of one of the “Du Paisi” categories, whose short films had in common the peripheral setting of the story: villages, hamlets and small towns.
So, it was certainly a moment of “vision”, it was also a moment of “sharing”, a space for discussion with the guests.
During the first evening, the directors of two of the short films in competition were present: Emma Cecala, director of “Manco morto” and Carla Costanza, director of “Perché sei qui”. Both Sicilians, they have delivered two different images of Sicily and Sicilianness, perfectly shareable: a vision linked to the territory and its narrative traditions, which manage to wittily flow into the comic (that of Emma Cecala) and a more reflective one, given by the observation a posteriori of the Sicilian reality that through rediscovery sets itself the objectives of rebirth (the vision of Carla Costanza).
During the second evening, the guests were also members of the “Quality Jury”, wanted by the organization to award the short film dedicated to the Category “Tutto il Mondo in Paese” and composed of the Councilor for Youth Policies Liana Cannatafrom the videomaker and journalist Matthew Arrigofrom Maria Grazia The Fauci (curator of the Pezzolo Artist Residency “La Trinacria Theatre Company”) and from Angela Grasso (resident of Giampilieri and passionate about cinema, directly involved by the organization to have a local representation in the group).
Words full of deep appreciation from Councillor Cannata, supporter of the “Accussì” project who praised the work of the organisers, underlining the need to create initiatives so well rooted in the territory and demonstrating with his words the will to collaborate in the near future for the growth and development of the event.
Conceived as a “Short Film Festival”, “Accussì” has as its central objective that of “combat the sad reality of local depopulation, a phenomenon that affects Giampilieri and many other towns like this” declared the organizers of the event; hence the subtitle “Festival for the Eyes”, linked to the desire that it can become a performing arts event, which starts from cinema and flows into dance, theatre, visual arts: “It will take time: but with networking and a bit of luck we can do it!”, they added.
The winners of the first edition of “Accussì”:
“Not even dead” by Emma Cecala for the category “Du Paisi” (awarded by the public), “Holy damn” by Tommaso Paris for the category “Tutto il Mondo in Paese” (awarded by the Quality Jury), “Three boys” by Gianfranco Boattini for the “Picciriddi” category (awarded by a Kids Jury, composed of residents under 18) and finally the special mention of the organization “Un Premio Accussì” she went to “Why are you here” by Carla Costanza.
The organizers of the event worked the whole time wearing t-shirts with the “Accussì” logo on the front and a quote on the back, taken from the TV series “Boris”: “What do I have to do?” / “Nothing” / “I can do it!”. A statement that reveals the great spirit of cohesion and the awareness that “this group has shown that it can really do something…”!