Massimo Bray

The European Film Festival, now in its 22nd edition, confirms itself as an unmissable appointment, with its attention to the cultural dynamics of Europe and the Mediterranean area and its mission to enhance the best forms of expression and cooperation within European cinema, based on realities that may be similar or even very different from one another but always bearers of a lively intercultural exchange. This edition also marks the return to theatrical screenings (in addition to online screenings on the web platform), which is doubly emblematic in that it reaffirms the Festival’s role as a point of reference for film distribution and boosts the current production, through the renewed encounter with the audience after the long break due to the health emergency, with a rich selection of feature films, shorts and documentaries from many European countries. The values expressed by this true celebration of cinema are rooted in an ambitious project conceived a long time ago, when, following the end of the Second World War, the political idea of a European union was paralleled by that of a united European cinema, designed to strengthen the European film industries by eliminating protectionist barriers and fostering the circulation and distribution of films. After failing during the 1960s due to economic reasons, conflicting national interests and a general dissatisfaction with the fear of an abstract and bureaucratic “European” product, this project has been revived over time, since the late 1980s and increasingly in the 2000s, with the awareness of shared values and experiences but also of different and even opposing cultural identities and expressions to which cinema (which in Europe, in the most significant periods of its history, has been an expression of reality and a reflection of society) can give voice and whose memory it can preserve.

The programme of this edition is extremely rich: from the ten films in competition (screened in their original language to promote and enhance linguistic diversity), in whose productions as many as eighteen European countries are involved, to the presentation of the prestigious Lux Prize of the European Parliament, which this year also actively involves the audience. From the premieres of the special events and of the new European comedy to the tributes to Giovanna Ralli, unforgettable actress and exponent of extraordinary seasons of Italian cinema, and to István Szabó, a director representing that new European cinema which is heir to the Neorealist tradition and the Nouvelle Vague, always reaffirming the privileged and constant relationship with young filmmakers (through the Mario Verdone and Emidio Greco Awards, the Puglia Show short film award, the works of the National Film School), with schools and education, in a dialectic dialogue between the future of cinema and the great tradition of the past, between European productions and the new Italian cinema. A Festival that intends to forge links and break down walls in the name of that «cinema of fraternity», to borrow the words of the great European intellectual Edgar Morin, which breaks «that membrane which isolates each of us from others in the metro, on the street, or on the stairway of the apartment building».

President of Apulia Film Commission Foundation

In the sign of the rebirth of movie-going, the European Film Festival too is back face to face. The 22nd edition, as always scheduled to take place in the city of Lecce, follows the path already traced in this last period by Apulia Region and Apulia Film Commission, which has restarted the festivals of the Apulia Cinefestival Network circuit produced by the Foundation.

Along with these well-known festivals scattered throughout the Apulian territory, Apulia Film Commission has launched several film initiatives that include screenings with an audience in attendance, with the aim of giving new impetus to film-viewing in cinemas, which, after the dramatic health emergency, must resume momentum, also benefiting from the boost given by the many film productions spread over the entire region.

Puglia once again wants to give its small contribution to the Italian film and audiovisual sector, which has been deeply affected by the health emergency of recent months, by putting all available energies into play so that Puglia can go back to being the region that everyone has appreciated as an open-air film set, whose propulsive momentum is able to trigger virtuous processes in other areas of the creative chain and tourism as well.

The European Film Festival, with its historical continuity, the presence of prestigious talents and its quality programming, has now become a must-attend event of our region and an integral part of our calendar. This year’s programme is as always built around an official competition of Italian and European feature films, in order to identify new exponents of the contemporary scene, especially in independent cinema, as part of a transversal search for themes, stories and new audiovisual languages.

Finally I would like to thank all those who, with efficiency and professionalism, have contributed to the making of this unmissable event of Apulian film culture.