‘The Silent Child’s’ director of photography, Ali Farahani, presents his short film and calls for the inclusion of children with impaired hearing in regular schools
More than 220 short films will be screened at the International Official Section of FILMETS, running from 19th to 28th October
Teatro Zorrilla
The 44th edition of FILMETS Badalona Film Festival kicked off last Friday in a filled-to-capacity Zorrilla Theatre. And the opening film was exceptional: ‘The Silent Child’, this year’s Oscar winner as best short fiction film. One of the many surprises of the night was that the films’ director of photography, Ali Farahani, was there personally to present his film. The festival will run until October 29, showing more than 220 short films from all corners of the world in the Official Section.
‘The Silent Child’ tells the story of a deaf 4-year-old girl who lives in a world of silence until a social worker teaches her to use sign language to communicate. In his speech before an audience that filled every seat, Ali Farahani advocated for the inclusion of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in schools. The short film was a huge success among the audience, moved by the story of the deaf girl. Also present at the inaugural session was the director of the film ‘Leçon de choses’, Pierre Dugowson.
Ali Farahani
Italy, guest country
In this year’s edition, Italy will be the Festival’s guest country and the protagonist of the FOCUS FILMETS session, which will be held Sunday 21st October. In this session, several Italian short films will be screened, with the attendance of many of their directors at the Zorrilla Theatre.
Before that, the Zorrilla Theatre will host a highly contemporary show: Pinocchio Elettronico. The show matches the screening of the silent 1911 film to the electronic music played live by three musicians.
Ninetto Davoli, Pasolini’s favourite actor, will be awarded the ‘Premi Honorífic’ of FILMETS
Ninetto Davoli, one of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s iconic actors, will be awarded FILMET’s ‘Premi Honorífic’ on Monday 22th at 19.00. Ninetto Davoli will attend the ‘Cinema Històric’ session, which will host the screening of 4 short films by the controversial Italian filmmaker.
This award wants to recognize the actor’s long artistic career in cinema, theatre and television.
50th anniversary of May ’68
This Saturday, at 19.00, FILMETS will honour the 50th anniversary of the events of May ’68 in Paris. A special Manifest session (politically committed short films) will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Paris events through short films showing real images shot in Paris at the time. The session will also include fiction short films based on the Paris uprisings.
Francesc Orella and Assumpta Serna
Among the actors and directors that will visit FILMETS festival, we should highlight the presence of Francesc Orella and Assumpta Serna.
With Francesc Orella, the character ‘Merlí’ makes his come back to the classroom, on Monday 22nd at 16.30. Francesc Orella will present his short film ‘Letargo’ to the students of Catalan film schools that will be filling the seats of the Zorrilla Theatre. Later on, Francesc Orella will hold a debate on cinema with the students.
An exceptional short film to close the festival
The film that will close the festival, on Friday 26th, will be ‘Lunch Ladies’, from USA. The producer and writer of the film, Clarissa Jacobson together with other members of the film crew will be at the Zorrilla Theatre presenting the film.
‘Lunch Ladies’ tells the story of two burnt out high school lunch ladies that will do whatever it takes on their quest to become Johnny Depp’s Personal Chefs.
La Nit de les Venus
The highest moment of FILMETS film festival will be the awards night, la Nit de les Venus, to be held Saturday 27th at 20 hrs. at the Zorrilla Theatre. During the ceremony, that will be broadcasted by the Xarxa de Televisions Locals de Catalunya, all the awards of this year’s edition of the FILMETS festival will be handed out (the Venus de Badalona) and the 2018 winner will be screened.
One more year, the Zorrilla Theatre will be the main venue for the international short film festival, although other venues for the screenings will be: Teatre Principal, Blas Infante Theatre and the Institut Français of Barcelona. The Centre Cultural El Carme will host the two sessions of Filmets Pro. All the sessions of FILMETS Badalona Film Festival will have free entrance.
OFF FILMETS, the festival’s non-competitive activities
Within the FILMETS Badalona Film Festival, the OFF FILMETS gathers every activity outside the competitive sessions. This includes workshops for children, the screenings for students of Primary and Secondary school, the screenings at Badalona’s libraries and the activities aimed at audio-visual professionals.
The screenings for students of Badalona will take place at the Blas Infante Theatre, hosting 6 sessions of ‘Filmets Primària’, aimed at students in 3rd year of Primary School, and 6 sessions of ‘Filmets Secundària’, aimed at students in 4th year of Secondary School. These screenings are attended by around 6,000 students.
The Centre Cultural El Carme will be the meeting point for professionals of the short film world. The working session will take place on Friday 26th at 16.30 under the title ‘Mou el teu curt’. With the participation, among others, of the members of the FILMETS International Jury, the session will provide tips on how filmmakers can get their films into the distribution market.
