The FCS’s network of Festivals
A full and detailed list of all the events composing the Network
Animaphix – International Animated Film Fest
Bagheria (PA) – est. 2015
Animaphix – International Animated Film Festival, is coordinated by the QB Cultural Association and was founded in 2015 by a group of people already working in the film industry. Its goal is to promote and spread the art and culture of Animated Film in Sicily, where there already exist the ideal conditions for such projects to flourish, in line with the main tendencies of the national and international Animation scenario. Through the promotion of high quality productions and authors, the festival aims to encourage partnerships and co-productions with other European countries; and through an in-depth research of the most original inspirations and innovative languages Animation has to offer, it provides a rich variety of initiatives and cultural activities, able to entertain a most large and diversified public.
Catania Film Fest – Gold Elephant Award
Catania – est. 2012
The Gold Elephant World Awards Festival aims to promote European Cinema in the original language. It includes first works, independent Italian films and shorts, and its goal is to encourage the distribution of works by young directors, sponsoring them among the general public. In doing so, it also brings attention to Sicily’s great landscape and cultural heritage, both on a national and international level. The days of the Festival are marked by many events, meetings as well as the appointment of awards and prizes. Several locations have hosted the festival over the years: the Palazzo Manganelli, The “Sal” Cultural Center, the Planet Multiplex, The Odeon Cinema, The “Lo Po” Multiplex, Piazza Università, The “Teatro Ambasciatori” and “Le Ciminiere” exhibition area.
Corti in Cortile – Il Cinema, in Breve
Catania – est. 2009
Corti in Cortile was founded in 2009 and is coordinated by Visione Arte. The Festival is part of Catania’s summer events program and promotes short films as a way to give visibility to up-and-coming directors, who use their work to express their talent through new artistic languages and a more “swift” cinematic form. Corti in Cortile aspires to become more and more of a meeting point between important cultural events, promotion of the territory and film market. To that end, the festival hosts many meetings, not just with Directors, Actors and Producers, but with all the workforce of the Seventh Art: Screenwriters, film Critics, Directors of photography, Casting Directors, Film Editors, Sound Technicians, Boom Operators, Costume Designers, Makeup Artists, Scenographers, Operators, etc.
Corto di Sera
Itala (ME) – est. 2012
“If the audience doesn’t think during a film, their relationship with Cinema isn’t set into motion” (from a dialogue between Sociologist Danilo Dolci and Director Paolo Benvenuti). One of the founding principles of Corto di Sera – a festival coordinated by the Pro Loco “Giovannello da Itala” that has livened up Itala’s (ME) summers since 2012 – is that of recreating the very same relationship Dolci and Benvenuti talk about: a general feeling of dialogue and debate where films become a tool not just of thought transmission, but of its elaboration as well. The audience members of Corto di Sera are therefore encouraged to fully express their opinions, by asking questions at the end of the film screenings or by writing them down on the evaluation sheet. The public’s opinion is highly regarded by the organizing committee and can prove crucial in the appointment of the awards at the end of the contest.
Efebo d’Oro
Palermo – est. 1978
The Efebo d’Oro is coordinated by the Research Centre of Cinema and Narrative and was founded in Agrigento in 1978. The festival awards directors for the best film adaptation based on a book. Its aim is not however the mere promotion of film adaptations of literary works – as if simply creating a film library next to an ordinary one – but to emphasize the intense exchanges between the two means of expression, which preserve their language uniqueness even after “contaminating” each other. Frédéric Fonteyne, winner of the 2005 edition, argued that without literature, filmmaking would only be pure entertainment, pornography and violence, and that great Cinema would not be possible if it didn’t dive – directly or indirectly – deep into the human mind, its fears, anxieties and aspirations, that find their fullest representation nowehere better than on the written page.
Documentaria
Noto – est. 2014
Documentaria was born in 2014 from an idea of a collective called FrameOff, which put together directors, authors and photographers. The aim of the first edition, hosted in Noto and provocatively dubbed “Zero Edition”, was that of promoting the works of Sicilian directors, encouraging local creativity and creating opportunities to meet and develop debates on subjects and issues of this territory. Starting from the following editions, the initial mission was extended to the national territory, making the Baroque town of Noto a crossroads of people, sensitivities and wider visions. At the end of the 5th Edition, after a pause and a phase of riorganization, including the addition of the “Arte Senza Fine” Association to the team, the idea of developing Documentaria even further, of making it an international Festival spread, and Palermo, a city destined to become a center of excellence in the documentary field, was chosen to be the new location.
Festival del Cinema per Ragazzi
Giardini Naxos (ME) – est.1995
The Festival del Cinema per Ragazzi was founded in Giardini Naxos in 1995. The first slogan of the event – “Adults can only attend if accompanied by kids” – proved very successful, and has encouraged over the years a productive intergenerational dialogue made of eyes and mouths that look and speak to each other, putting on hold, even for just a few hours, digital technology. Today, 25 years after its foundation, the festival represents a strong propositional moment for a community that wants to guide young generations towards an informed fruition of film and audiovisual tools, not just on a pedagogical level, but as a primary feature of their educational process. Young people are therefore the beating heart of the event: they are its focus, what gives it new energy each year, what inspires new ideas for the future.
Festival della comunicazione e del cinema archeologico
Licodia Eubea (CT) – est.2010
The Festival della comunicazione e del cinema archeologico is a film festival dedicated to promoting the Ancient through visual arts. It takes place every year in October in Licodia Eubea, a small town in the heart of the Iblei Mountains. The festival’s main goal is that of raising the interest of non-professionals around anything concerning archeology and its main subjects, as well as making the study of the ancient more compelling and accessible. The event unravels through the screening of documentaries and works of fiction, through meetings with archeologists, directors and science communicators, through photography exhibitions and awards. Attendance is free and is the perfect chance to enjoy such a peculiar event, still not so well known or spread on a national level.
Fotogramma d’oro – Short Film Festival
Messina – est.1958
“Fotogramma d’Oro” is coordinated by the FNC (Federazione Nazionale Cinevideoautori), and was founded in Piemonte in 1958. It followed the President-in-Office down to Sicily in 2016, and it’s been held in Messina ever since. The Festival has grown to become truly international and has obtained important sponsorships, such as AIRSC (Associazione Italiana per le Ricerche di Storia del Cinema). Today, the Festival’s archive counts more than 1000 titles which widely represent Amateur Cinema, meaning films imagined and produced by non professional amateurs, which show – more often than not – extraordinary results, both in terms of style and content. One example of amateur film is the one by Bolognese Director Mauro Mingardi which, back in 2018, was featured in a retrospective during the Festival’s 50th edition.
Horcynus Festival
Messina – est. 2004
The Horcynus Festival is a cultural hub with an interdisciplinary nature. Like Stefano Arrigo’s novel – to which the Foundation and Festival are dedicated – it involves a wide and complex system of knowledge: from sea biology to chaos physics, from natural sciences to archeology, from earth art and science to literature and anthropology. It represents therefore an innovative bridge between scientific research, technological innovation, creative languages, exchanges between different cultures, experimentation of social economy, ethically oriented markets and shared divulgation. There are three main festival’s locations: the Mediterranean Culture Centre, the International Centre on Sea and Environment Science and Technology (operating under the aegis of UN main agencies); the Pole for Scientific dissemination and Cultural and Educational Tourism.
Magma – Mostra di cinema breve
Acireale (CT) – est.2002
One of Magma’s main goals has always been that of offering the audience an opportunity to lay eyes on a cinematic horizon as wide and as varied as possible. By encouraging relationships with distant realities and less represented countries within the main distribution networks, and by building bridges to exchange and share direct experiences and works, Magma – Mostra di cinema breve aims to offer its contribution to the circulation and visibility of new spaces and cultural products outside national borders. “Cinema is the most beautiful gift our senses could make us. Let’s not think, let’s not hesitate to open this gift and play with it all together. We must make films” – Lorenzo Vecchio (the Festival’s creator and promoter).
Messina Film Festival – Cinema&Opera
Messina | first editions from 1995 to 2001 | new cycle from 2023
The Messina Film Festival – Cinema&Opera, was originally born in 1995 and up until 2001 was hosted by the Sala Milani. The Festival didn’t take place for several years, but in 2023 it has finally made its comeback, with the aim of becoming a meeting point for discussing and exploring the longlasting relationship between cinema and opera, through different perspectives and artistic trends. The Festival, hosted by the La Zattera dell’Arte Association together with the Philarmonic Laudamo and the Theater of Messina, is a ride in cinematic history, from the old days till our times, to discover how the seventh art was able to use one of the greatest Italian cultural traditions, while experiencing once again the endless creativity of the great Melodramma.
Milazzo Film Festival
Milazzo (ME) – est.2006
Section under construction.
Ortigia Film Festival
Ortigia (SR) – est.2009
Created by the Sa.Li.Ro’ Cultural Association, OFF puts the spotlight on the Ortigia island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shedding light on its incomparable cultural beauties by creating entirely pedestrian movie arenas that remove all human barriers, physical or psychic. A combination of architectural beauty, tourism, new talents, jury, actors, artists: different energies converging and merging with the public, giving life to a magical cultural salon. Ortigia is the ideal place to spend some time between holiday and culture: each summer, residents, tourists, artists, all converge here, creating a moment of meeting and sharing, animating the area and the whole city with it. It’s a location, but it’s part of the place identity as well: it’s Ortigia Film Festival.
Rassegna itinerante del cinema d’autore e documentari
Itinerante – Sicilia – est.2015
Films are not just made of images, but also of natural movements and sounds dancing together. A film only works if soundtracks, images, music and sounds – all juxtaposing each other – are able to enrapture, upset and yet charm us, as much as images do. The Rassegna itinerante del cinema d’autore e documentari aims to give back that strong popular vocation that used to be an integral part of filmmaking, recalling the years where people would gather in the main square bringing their own chairs from home. If we consider this gathering as a microcosmos reflecting society’s indifference, then events, arenas, and festivals of this kind are a meeting place where people almost come into contact, even if for just a few hours and without as much as a greeting. A Cinema worth making is still a thing: it’s out there, all it takes is experiencing it together!
Salina Doc Fest – Festival internazionale del documentario narrativo
Isola di Salina (ME) / Roma – est.2007
This festival owes its foundation to the deep bond between its creator and Salina, one of the Eolie islands. A tale of people and culture, especially those from the Mediterranean, is the clear common thread of all the event’s features. Its first edition for instance, focused on the “invisible”, those who keep reaching Europe’s coasts in ever growing numbers. A commitment underlined by UNHCR and the Associazione Carta di Roma’s sponsorship. The Salina Doc Fest can boast an archive of over 1500 registered films and 400 screened, 1000 between directors and productions coming from 12 different countries, 200 credentialed reporters, 700 special guests and a twinning with doc Festivals in the US, Brasil, Germany, UK, Slovenia, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia. For all these reasons, the festival is one of the top events in the International doc film scenario.
SiciliAmbiente Film Festival
San Vito Lo Capo (TP) – est.2009
The SiciliAmbiente is an international Doc, Shorts and Animated Film Festival connected to topics of environmentalism, sustainability, mobility and defense of human rights. The festival promotes these principles through a wide range of events, such as book presentations, excursions, children’s labs, photo exhibitions and then the actual film festival. SiciliAmbiente contributes this way to strengthnening the “culture of sustainability”, based on a long-lasting development approach aimed to benefit the world’s populations, present and future. Social protection, fighting against poverty, human rights, health, are all combined together with the preservation of natural resources and different ecosystems, finding support in each other.
Sicilia Queer – International New Vision Film Fest
Palermo – est.2010
The Sicilia Queer Film Fest is the first lgbt International New Vision Film Festival in Sicily. Supported and coordinated by a team of professionals from the filmmaking and audiovisual world, it was born from the widespread demand for a non-conformed cultural, more innovative and critical way of thinking, expression of a constantly moving society. Sicilia Queer is a pluralism of critical thoughts on the world, of individualities yearning for a new idea of citizenship, social justice, personal rights and freedom. And for us “Queer”, in a cinematic sense, even if not directly connected to lgbt subjects, is anything unhorthodox, independent and alternative, from a perspective of poetry of language, production and distribution approaches, not subdued to market logic. What we like to call, “a new vision”.
SicilyMovie Festival del Cinema di Agrigento
Agrigento – est.2016
The SicilyMovie Festival del Cinema di Agrigento was founded with the intent of bringing the elite Cinema out into the open, in the heart of Sicily, in the truly extraordinary location such as the Valley of Temples in Agrigento. There are several issues addressed by directors in their works: rural development in the poorest countries, the reception system, stories of places and people who are trying to change the world, cultural and technological innovation. The films presented during the SicilyMovie Festival del Cinema di Agrigento describe, using a non-obvious communication, emotional and moving “stories of change”. Their goal is to spread awareness and change the general opinion on those people and places that are reshaping our future, but also to promote proactive behaviours where our changing society is concerned.
Sole Luna Doc Film Festival
Palermo / Treviso – est.2006
With the strong belief that reciprocal knowledge is the natural bridge for the exchange of positive values, the Sole Luna Association strives to create initiatives inspired by different artistic languages: cinema, music, dancing, painting, architecture, science… all become privileged expressions to encourage a deeper knowledge of the “other-beyond-the-self”. The Sole Luna Doc Film Festival was founded in 2006 with these premises, and it’s the most important result of the association’s work in this sense. Since its beginning, the Festival has grown both thanks to the quality of its offer, which allowed it to shed light on new talents and spread knowledge on independent Cinema, and to the different collateral activities, which were able to develop new dialogue systems between a variety of world communities.
SorsiCorti
Palermo – est.2010
SorsiCorti owes its foundation to the passion for filmmaking and the desire to explore the new and experimental paths short films can undertake. The wine, symbol of conviviality and excellent production of many Sicilian areas, has been the Festival’s partner since its beginning. In the last few years, SorsiCorti has undertaken a fruitful partnership with the Piccolo Teatro Patafisico, a small and dynamic theatrical reality which has also become one of the festival’s locations. However, SorsiCorti maintains its essential nomadic nature, and the events take place in different parts of the city, mainly in movie theaters, wine cellars or wine houses. Other than those connected to the film contest itself, there are also thematic events which widen the area of exploration of film productions: SorsiDoc is dedicated to documentaries for instance, and SorsiSound to music videos.
State aKorti – Festival del cortometraggio umoristico
Viagrande (CT) – est.2008
State aKorti was founded almost as a game, from a rib of the Stipsy King exuberant music band. The reasons behind the carefree conception of the Festival are based on Pirandello’s idea of humour, on what causes comedy according to Henry Bergson and on Freud’s theories around laughing, which is seen as a natural antidote against hate, anger, arrogance and vengeance. Laughter is a fragile power and a healthy remedy that deserves to be recognized, earned and cultivated as such. Also, if we consider that irony is one of the most peculiar characteristics of us Sicilians, then the festival could not take place anywhere better than here, on Mount Etna’s slopes, specifically in La Terra di Bò. If you wish to discover just what this “Terra di Bò” is, we direct you to www.laterradibo.org, where you will read about a welcoming and magical land.
Un mare di Cinema – Eolie in video
Lipari (ME) – est.1983
Un Mare di Cinema is a festival organized and promoted by the Center for Study and Research on Aeolian History and Issues, which contributes – through the art of cinema – to the promotion of the Sea of Myth and the territories of the Seven Sisters. The Kermesse consists of several events which take place throughout the Aeolian Islands and it becomes the occasion for raising awareness – among the general public as well as the locals – about the spectacular naturalistic, historical/cultural peculiarities and the profound human sensitivity of the whole archipelago. All of this by constantly keeping in mind the characteristics of insularity and the logistical difficulties, seen as a useful added value to experience the Seven Sisters as a true World Heritage Site.
Versi di Luce
Modica / Gela – est.2009
We have dreamed, we have travelled the whole world and discovered video-poetry and video-art, learned about auteur Cinema and its most brilliant and talented directors. We have been moved, we have laughed at life and hardships and, more than anything else, we have seen a light of infinite beauty, hope and disarming creativity, shining in the eyes of young students competing in the festival, a light only their generation can truly radiate. Versi di Luce is essentially this, an event born to celebrate the Nobel Prize Salvatore Quasimodo and his town, Modica: the festival is a happy combination of cinema, poetry, dancing, theater, music and creativity which can pierce – like a sharp blade – the armour around mind and soul, often rusted by daily routine and stereotypes.
Via dei Corti – Festival indipendente di cinema breve
Gravina di Catania (CT) – est.2015
In a time when hedonism and disengagement are constantly growing, where Art and Cinema are at risk of being overpowered by general apathy and individualistic anarchy, an event such as Vie dei Corti represents a tool that can create cohesion and awareness, in a word: Culture. The Festival feeds on the Culture of Reception, opening to everybody, without age or nationality distinction, and aims to be a reference point for all young talents coming from different territories, for new forms of filmmaking and for all enthusiasts. And of course for directors as well, who take part in the seven official competitions: International Short Films, Animation, School Short Films, Films in Sicily; Documentaries, Prize for the promotion of the territory; Prize CineMigrare – Via dei Corti.
Vittoria Peace Film Fest
Vittoria (RG) – est.2013
The Vittoria Peace Film Fest is a competition dedicated to films, shorts and documentaries that revolve around peace, non-violence, dialogue among cultures, conflict management, human rights and respect for the environment. It was founded in 2013 in Vittoria, in the province of Ragusa, and showed right away a strong international vocation. “Think global and act local” is in fact the festival’s philosophy which, through the screening of film works coming from all over the world, aims to promote ideas of an international nature, even within local realities, and to show local productions in wider networks. The goal of the Vittoria Peace Film Fest is also to promote and deepen other cultures’ knowledge, in light of a prospect where dialogue in all its form becomes a tool to stem and pacify conflicts.
Zabut – International Animated Short Film Festival
Santa Teresa di Riva (ME) – est.2016
The Zabut Festival offers an itinerary of strong cultural innovation and is a reference point for enthusiasts, insiders and general public in the field of Animated Film. A special attention goes to Animation soundtracks and the art of drawing, with the festival aiming to create an archive from a number of selected works by directors, animators and illustrators. Zabut was founded in 2016 in Savoca’s town centre, in Sicily, one of the “Borghi più Belli d’Italia”. In 2019 it changed location and moved to S. Teresa Riva, Blue Flag Beach since 2017. Zabut is an event that encourages communication between space and community, people and places, and becomes a moment of cultural enjoyment with the power to create a charming and welcoming atmosphere.