9th International Documentary Festival

Visioni dal Mondo

 

The cinema of reality in Milan from September 14 to 17 with a rich program of 38 national and international premieres, events, round tables and business meetings

 

“Listening with the eyes” is the theme of the 2023 edition

 

The director and writer Roberto Andò guest of honor of the edition

 

Main Festival Sponsor GKSD Investment Holding

 

Milan, 12th July 2023. The 9th International Documentary Festival Visioni dal Mondo, the awaited annual event with the cinema of the reality conceived, founded and directed by Francesco Bizzarri, with the artistic direction of Maurizio Nichetti, will take place from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 of September in Milan.

 

A calendar full of contents, national and international premieres and appointments for the 2023 edition of Visioni dal Mondo that will take place in three places symbol of culture of Milan: Teatro Litta, as the venue of the Italian Contest, of Non competitive Panorama/ Special Events and Visioni Incontra, the Industry section of the Festival dedicated to business and aimed at professionals, managed by Cinzia Masòtina, head of advisory and coordination, National Museum of Science and Tecnology Leonardo da Vinci, which co-curated the second edition of Visioni VR, the Contest dedicated to documentaries in virtual reality and, news of the edition, the Cineteca Milano Arlecchino, example of modern art cinema in the city landscape, which will host the documentary films selected for the International Contest.

For this edition too, Visioni dal Mondo will offer the opportunity to follow the premières from all over Italy on the official website of the Festival www.visionidalmondo.it through the web rooms of the Italian streaming platform MYmovies.

 

“The program of the 9th edition of the International Documentary Festival of Visioni dal Mondo confirms once again the strong link of Milan with the audio-visual sector – underlined Francesco Bizzarri, creator and President of Visioni dal Mondo. A unique bond, innovative and productive that makes our city an exceptional stage of creativity, skills and know-how. Moreover, this four days of Visioni dal Mondo– continues Bizzarri – through the themes investigated in the 38 documentaries of great impact that we selected and the talks scheduled, confirms the courage and strength of our Festival to intercept the changes and to make known the unpublished aspects of the cinema of reality. This year will be even stronger thanks to the theme that we have chosen and that will support the ninth edition of Visioni dal Mondo “Listening with the eyes”. A request to tune the mind, eyes and heart to live intensely and understand in depth the documentary films that tell life with a completely free audiovisual language. Because a true observer is the one who also listens through the eyes”.

 

“In an audiovisual world where even children’s cartoons follow frantic rhythms, in a constant search for “adrenaline for the eyes”, we think we must go back to listening to the stories to understand them in order to be able to share them.” Maurizio Nichetti, artistic director of Visioni dal Mondo.

 

38 previews in the calendar. There are 38 previews of Italian and international documentary films scheduled for the different sections of the Festival: Italian Contest with two categories feature films and new talent first work aimed at Italian filmmakers, International Contest, dedicated to foreign productions and Non competitive Panorama/ Special Events.

 

The theme of the 9th Festival Visioni dal Mondo. “Listening with the eyes” is the theme that, in its broadest sense, will accompany the ninth edition of the Festival Visioni dal Mondo.

“Listening with the eyes” emphasizes the etymology of the word to listen, that is, to listen carefully, to pay attention, to observe, to perceive, to hear for understand, to learn and to increase one’s own experience.

 

The great current issues investigated by Visioni dal Mondo 2023. International themes, such as the war, told by investigative media and through those who live and suffer it, “The Rise of Wagner”, or the revolts against oppressive governments dealt with in “Until the Sun Dies”. Great biographies of the world of sport and music narrated in “Meneghin” and in “The Stones & Brian Jones”. But also unusual stories like the description of a Milan less known but full of extraordinary stories of generosity, love and altruism.

Moreover, the genomic revolution, the future in space, underground art and culture, immigration and refugees, minority rights. These are some of the current world issues that will be investigated through the authentic look of the Festival Visioni dal Mondo. Real testimonies intertwine with personal life stories and offer new insights.

The documentary films will be screened at the presence of the directors who will respond to curiosities, insights, and questions from the audience.

 

The meeting with the director. It will be Roberto Andò, director and writer, the guest of honor of the 9th Festival with a meeting scheduled. Roberto Andò will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Visioni dal Mondo 2023.

 

Partners and sponsors 2023. The 9th Festival organized by Frankieshowbiz is sponsored by RAI, the Association of cinema and television authorship 100autori, CNA Cinema and Audiovisivo and since the first edition, has the support of the Department of Culture of the City of Milan.

Main sponsor GKSD Investment Holding Group, sponsor BNL BNP Paribas and Pirelli, media partner Rai Cultura and Rai Documentari, the support of Rai Cinema, radio media partner Radio24, the collaboration of Luce Cinecittà, Lombardia Film Commission, Doc/it – Associazione Documentaristi Italiani, mymovies.it, copro, The Israeli Coproduction Market, DOK.fest München, Image Building, Cineteca Milano Arlecchino and the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci as cultural partner. The Festival is associated with Afic – Associazione Festival Italiani di Cinema.

 

2023 Festival sections’

 

Italian Contest dedicated to Italian filmmakers with two categories, feature films and new talent first feature. 20 documentary films in Competition for the following reward:

– Visioni dal Mondo Best Italian Feature Film Award worth of EUR 5,000, awarded by authoritative jurors, such as: the film critic Luisa Morandini, the producer Alessandra Galletta and Giangiacomo De Stefano, author and producer;

– GKSD Investment Holding New Talent First Work Award worth of EUR 2,500, awarded by a jury composed of students from the Luchino Visconti School of Cinema faculties and film schools in Milan; IED – European Institute of Design and Experimental Centre of Cinematography.

The feature films in Competition will compete for the Rai Cinema Award, dedicated to Franco Scaglia that includes the acquisition of television rights for Rai Networks.

 

International Contest, aimed at foreign independent productions, with the screening in Italian premiere of 9 documentary films that will partecipate at:

– Visioni dal Mondo Award for Best International Documentary, worth of EUR 3,000, awarded by international jurors such as: Nilly Kalmar, programming responsible of CoPro25 the Israeli Market, Nicolò Bongiorno, producer and director and Susana Fernandez, the DOK.forum Perspektiven responsible of the Munich Festival;

– Amici Cineteca Milano Award, awarded by a jury composed of the owners of Cinetessera 2023 of the Cineteca Milano Arlecchino.

 

Non Competitive Panorama/ Special events with the screening of some of the most prestigious and significant documentary films that have been made this season and that are Italian preview.

 

Visions VR. Visions VR, now in its second edition, is the section of the Festival entirely dedicated to virtual reality. Born from the collaboration between Visioni dal Mondo and the National Science and Technology Museum Leonardo da Vinci, with the aim of promoting the ‘virtual’ creativity of the documentary industry and offering the public more and more immersive experiences, this year sees the participation of 6 documentaries ranging from current events to pedagogy, from nature and sustainability to  events that marked our time, and will compete for the Special Prize Visioni dal Mondo worth 1000 euro decreed by a popular jury.

 

Visioni Incontra. Visioni Incontra, the Industry section of the Festival curated by Cinzia Masòtina, head of advisory and coordination, will open the event and will be held on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 of September. The section includes Visioni Incontra Contest, 20 documentary projects (work in progress o final development) that will be pitched by the directors and producers in front of a panel of decision makers, and roundtables and workshops on topics related to market and documentary world.

 

Among the highly anticipated Italian and international premières:

 

Opening film of the ninth edition of the Festival will be the documentary film The Stones & Brian Jones, directed by Nick Broomfield, scheduled Thursday, September 14 at 20.30 at the Teatro Litta in the presence of the director.

In The Stones & Brian Jones Nick Broomfield reveals the true story and legacy of Brian Jones, the founder and creative genius of the Rolling Stones.

Nick Broomfield at the age of 14, meets Brian Jones, by chance, on a train. “He was sitting all alone in a first-class compartment. I knocked on the door and, with a certain temerity, I introduced myself”. Brian was at the height of success, with the world at his feet, and yet only six years later he would die, at 27. The film analyses the relationships and rivalries within the band in those years. Explore iconoclastic freedom and the exuberance of the 1960s, an era of intergenerational conflict and sexual turbulences. Through revealing interviews with all the protagonists and unpublished archives published for the first time, the film explores the musical creative genius of Jones, key to the success of the band, and discovers how the founder of which has become the greatest rock & roll band in the world was left in the shadow of history.

The narration takes place slowly in a suggestive, hypnotic, and sometimes heartbreaking intertwining of testimonies and rich archive footage: a portrait of a golden age of amazing creativity, but also of self-destructiveness and inevitable tragedy.

 

Scab Vendor by Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thomé is the documentary film about the life and times of Jonathan Shaw, the famous tattoo artist who changed the world of tattoos in the 80s in New York and who, at the height of his career, gave up everything to redeem himself through writing, eventually becoming the new Bukowski.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the son of jazz bandleader Artie Shaw and Hollywood star Doris Dowling, Jonathan Shaw’s adolescence was marked by rebellion against the glamorous life of his parents and an extreme aversion to his mother’s alcoholism. After nearly dying of a heroin overdose at the age of 20, Jonathan became the New York tattoo artist of choice. He opened his studio in 1993, four years before the tattoo was legal in Manhattan. Among the people who visited the store were Johnny Depp, Jim Jarmusch and Iggy Pop. The documentary explores how a man, at the top of his career as a tattoo artist, has chosen to give up his celebrity lifestyle to escape his vicious circle. A captivating and psychedelic journey into Shaw’s life, showing his talent and impact on the artistic and cultural scene.

 

Make People Better by Cody Sheehy. The documentary focuses on the figure of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who altered the genetic structure of embryos to produce the world’s first genetically modified children. The controversial experiment, supported by the Chinese government and top US scientists, has sparked an international outcry. Dr. He soon “disappeared” and there is no news about the twins whose genes he modified. A thriller documentary that, through unpublished interviews with Dr. He and other personalities of the international scientific community, from scientists and researchers to journalists, denounces the mysterious story behind this international scientific fact and paints a world in which traditionally rival governments and companies collaborate to make genetically modified children the new normal. In Make People Better, director Cody Sheehy delves into this complex story of genomic discoveries, biomedical ethics, and the secret affairs of the Chinese and American governments.

 

Until the Sun Dies by Jonas Brander. The documentary film that tells of a human condition: the beauty of life and resistance that falls in an instant in death and destruction. While in recent years international attention has focused on the peace process in Colombia and its implementation, violence against indigenous peoples and popular movements in the country is constantly increasing. Until the Sun Dies follows two of the country’s most prominent resistance figures: Albeiro Camayo, an indigenous leader, and Luz Marina Bernal, a mother who for over ten years has been fighting for justice over the extrajudicial killing of her son and thousands of other civilians by the Colombian army. After the assassination of her son, Luz Marina transformed herself from a housewife to one of the most important human rights activists in the country, opposing legal and political struggles through art and theater. Albeiro is the coordinator of the “Indigenous Guard”, a self-defense unit of the unarmed NASA tribe, which found itself under the crossfire of the conflict between guerrillas and paramilitary groups, multinationals and state repression.

 

Meneghin. The story of the greatest Italian basketball player of all time by Samuele Rossi, produced by Solaria Film and Echivisivi, in collaboration with Rai Documentari, is a journey into one of the most exciting stories that Italian sport has given to its fans.

“SuperDino”, as it was often called by its supporters, represented an entire sports movement, perhaps like no other champion. Indomitable, combative, tenacious, an example both on and off the basket field, a rare case of sporting longevity, he united the fans of all the teams with his image as a complete athlete.

In the docufilm, in addition to the emotional story of Meneghin, the exclusive voices of family members (his son Andrea, his wife Caterina), teammates and historical coaches who guided him, above all Sandro Gamba and Dan Peterson.

“We want to continue to tell the sport “- says the producer Emanuele Nespeca – “as we did with the previous production on the brothers Abbagnale. It is a direction that we are building with conviction that sport and only sport can make rediscover some fundamental values of life such as sacrifice and willpower”.

 

 

 

VISIONI INCONTRA

 

Visioni Incontra, the Industry section of the Festival, only by invitations will open the event and will be held on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 September. Visioni Incontra includes the Contest dedicated to documentary projects, still in the work in progress or advanced development phase, panels, roundtables and workshops on topics related to market and documentary world.

 

20 Italian and International projects in competition that will compete for the awards:

• Visioni Incontra Award Best Documentary film Projectworth 2.500 euros;
• Subtitles Award Lo Scrittoio, assigned to the project that best tells the globality and interculturality;
• Archivio Documentario Luce Award the prize consists in the supply of archive material of Archivio Luce, for a maximum of 10 minutes, to the project considered the most interesting for its use of the Archive;
• La Compagnia Award The winning project, once completed, will be screened at Cinema La Compagnia in Florence, the only theatre in Italy dedicated exclusively to documentary.
• Bio to B Award the winning project will be invited to be pitched at Bio to B, the Industry event of Biografilm Festival that takes place in Bologna in June

In addition, out of competition Visioni Incontra will pitch the project My Mafia Family, directed by Giorgio Carella, produced by Graffiti Doc, producers Enrica Capra, Christian Popp and Davide Gambino, winner of the Premio Visioni Incontra at Bio to B 2023 (Industry days of Biografilm Festival)

 

“The cinema of reality, the documentary – in every format – continues its path of success, able to unite experimentation, the hybridization of languages, research, themes and aspects of contemporaneity and History – says Cinzia Masòtina, responsible for the advisory of Visioni Incontra – The word culture is not dusty and stale: it is about challenge, identity, inclusion, and the documentary cinema is the storyteller. The projects selected by Visioni Incontra, draw a painting full of colors and shades and prove the talent of the authors and producers”.

 

Visioni Incontra will host, a German delegation composed of directors and producers.

 

Panel

LOMBARDIA FILM COMMISSION – Programmes and projects for the audiovisual sector

Speakers: the President of Lombardia Film Commission Dr Marco Allena and other institutional guests.

Workshop

Who is afraid of the algorithm? A.I. and the Creative and Audiovisual Industry: usage, practices, regulations and social and ethical implications

The workshop will be divided into two sections, the first strictly exemplifying the current use of A.I in the creative, entertainment and audiovisual industries; the second will be dedicated to experts and to the deepening of technological aspects, economic, legal and legislative within which the A.I.

 

Speed Date Corner: two afternoon sessions of Speed Dates where producers not selected in the Competition will get to know Film Commissions and Film Funds, national and international producers, distributors, Italian and International commissioning editors.

Companies that would like to participate to Speed dates should fill in the accreditation form on Visioni dal Mondo web site and only after the acceptance by Visioni Incontra responsible they can be considered officially registered.

The accreditation fee is €79, and it includes participation to the presentation of projects, workshops and panels, as well as to all Industry networking events like lunch, cocktails, coffee breaks.

 

 

Visioni Incontra Industry events place

Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta 24 – Milan

 

 

Visioni dal Mondo Festival’s places

Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta 24 – Milan

National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci, Via San Vittore 21 – Milan

Cineteca Milano Arlecchino, Via S. Pietro All’Orto 9 – Milan

 

 

Tickets and subscriptions for documentary film screening:

• ticket price 5€ for single screening at Teatro Litta e Cineteca Milano Arlecchino
• subscription price 9,90€ includes all the screening at Teatro Litta e Cineteca Milano Arlecchino
• ticket cost Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci 10€, comprehensive of Visioni VR (Virtual reality)
• subscription cost MyMovies 3,90€ for the online screening

 

The International Documentary Film Festival Visioni dal Mondo has started a path towards a necessary ecological transition through a sustainable event attestation process and has obtained the Ecoactions certificate of low impact event, issued by Ecoevents – Legambiente.

 

 

 

 

 

9th International Documentary Festival Visioni dal Mondo

in Milan from September 14 to 17 and online on www.visionidalmondo.it

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