CinemAmbulante – 2020 edition

The fifth edition of Kino Guarimba, a project part of the CinemAmbulante, an itinerant film screening that this year took place exclusively in Amantea, has resisted the pandemic.

“We think that culture has the right to restart – comments the artistic director Giulio Vita – and we as cultural operators have the duty to create proposals that respect the rules, but also to rethink and plan in order to guarantee continuity to the cultural offer of our region”.

From 10th to 21st September, Kino Guarimba transformed the town of Amantea into an outdoor experimental set for 22 artists – they should have been 100 but for safety reasons, a limited number was selected – representing all continents: Australia, Austria, Belgium, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Lithuania, Vietnam and Lithuania, thanks to the contribution of the Embassy of Lithuania.

The weekends (11th, 12th, 13th and 19th, 20th September, with a special evening on Monday 21st) were dedicated to the screenings of CinemAmbulante, this year all hosted on the beach, at Lido Azzurro in Amantea. Without losing the thread of multiculturalism that has always distinguished it, CinemAmabulante presented a selection of short films that cast a clear and transversal look on sociality, integration, globalization, fashion and identity.

A multiculturalism that this year, through the illustrations created for the event by Sara Fratini, illustrator and co-director of La Guarimba, connects the South of the world through the tradition of masks: from Calabria with the apotropaic mask of Seminara to South America with that of the Piaroa – indigenous nomadic people who live on the banks of the Orinoco -, passing through the great tradition of masks from the African continent.

Once again Amantea becomes, through the seventh art, a vital centre of confrontation between cultures, the protagonist of a real creative lab that has welcomed actors, actresses, directors and film technicians with Kino Guarimba. A residency that, through the creation of shorts co-produced by La Guarimba, has shown the small town on the Tyrrhenian Sea with new eyes. The works produced were then presented on Monday 21st of September in the final evening of CinemAmbulante.

THE STEPS OF CINEMAMBULANTE 

Casting – Amantea, Lido Azzurro

The 22 artists from all over the world took part in an open casting for professional and amateur actors from the area. Here they found some of the actors that starred in their short movies.

PLAYGROUND ADDICTION– by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert, Niccolò Rastrelli, Marzio Mirabella (Italy)

Street basketball is gaining more and more popularity in Milan and playgrounds are being built everywhere in the city. It is a space where the themes of integration and mutual knowledge are developed. A place where a new concept of community is created. Where different communities learn to know each other.

PUPONE– by Alessandro Guida (Italy)

Rome, Spring 2017. Sacha is an Italian boy who grew up inside a group home. Like all his acquired “brothers”, he is fond of football and in particular of As Roma team. At the age of 18, however, Sacha is forced to abandon the facility where he grew up, thus finding himself living what is actually happening to his biggest idol: Francesco Totti. Like Sacha forced, indeed, to leave his home because of his seniority. The acquired freedom and the challenges that the outside world will present to him, however, will prove to be more difficult than expected to be managed. The short film is inspired by a true story, although adapted to cinematographic needs.

SCHIAVONEA– by Natalino Zangaro (Italy)

Vincenzo is a young Calabrian man who lives in a little seaside town, Schiavonea, a receiving place for immigrants. On the other hand Ayana is one of this immigrants, just landed there, which found herself temporarily limited into a fish market turned up into a reception center. One day Vincenzo goes to this market to buy some fresh seafood, but the meeting with the girl will seal their fate.

ONE STEP CLOSER- by Jernej Kastelec (Slovenia)

Due to the war, the Hasan Kalils, a Kurdish family, left their hometown in Syria. They have been on a journey without a known destination for 7 years. Iraq – Turkey – Greece… During that time, two other sons were born. They live in Slovenia now and build their new lives here. The neighbours and newcomers don’t have any contacts. This can stay unchanged for an unknown period of time. Will anybody make the first step?

WAX IN THE CITY– by Elie Séonnet (France)

Africa is Trendy ! Its banner : the WAX (or ANKARA) that more and more European designers of African descent are integrating in their creations. Flora Coquerel, Miss France 2014, French-Beninoise, has followed a few of them in their frenetic and globalised life. Many success stories acquired through the use of this colourful simple fabric that became the pop emblem of a new afropolitan generation !

L’ELEFANTE NELLA STANZA– by Kartik Singh (France/Italy)

When Rita discovers she has little time left to live, her primary concern is to fight death. Moreover, she is overcome with concern for her son Gianni, who has a heart of gold, but who is socially awkward and still lives at home. Rita asks Daniela for help, a newcomer in town, who recently divorced and who has sworn to forget men altogether. Daniela agrees to become a teacher for Gianni’s relationships, and that’s how things start to get complicated.

REVOLUTION FROM AFAR– by Bentley Brown (United States)

In 2019, after months of protests across Sudan, the military removed thirty-year dictator Omar al-Bashir and cracked down in a violent fashion on the civilian sit-in outside its headquarters. The Internet was shut down, leaving those outside Sudan to voice a plea for peaceful transition to civilian government. An ocean away, Sudanese-American poets and musicians, whose families left Sudan for America in decades past, gather in major American cities to perform in support of the revolution. At the heart of the film is a conversation around identity, belonging, and the uncertain future of Sudan, from which they have been physically cut off. What happens when they can only watch from afar?

BARACOA- by Pablo Briones (Switzerland)

When hot summer comes to their tiny village in the Cuban countryside, Leonel and Antuán intimately explore their universe far from adults. With a considerable difference in age, their unique friendship is torn between games and fights, conversations about everyday life, existentialist questions, simple pleasures and boredom. As his older friend is drawn to the busy life of the city, Leonel is forced to examine his life and place in the world. While the Cuban society is going through a transitional period, the two friends also come to a crossroads.

Kino Guarimba 2020 was a unique experience that enabled the gathering of both locals and the 22 international artists, for a period of 12 days, in the maritime atmosphere of Amantea, where the possibility of producing and screening short films is encouraged by the mysticism of the historical surrounding. They didn’t only create new audiovisual material inspired by the untouched Calabria, but also promoted a cultural and social exchange, concentrated on integration, through the magic of cinema.

The final creations were shown during a free access screening on the beach sidewalk, on the last night of Kino. It was a special gathering where people of all ages came together to see themselves on the screen, where their daily routines had been transformed into exceptional adventures. They also recognised their familiar places, which had been presented from an unknown point of view, through the minds and lenses of the international creators.

TEAM:

GIULIO VITA
Artistic director

SARA FRATINI
Graphics

DIANA SCALFATI
Kino Production Coordinator, Videomaker

SERGIO DURRÉ
Photographer

FORTUNATO VALENTE
Fixer

BIANCA GHELBERE
LOURDES LÓPEZ RUIZ
Production Assistants

MARTA MIQUEL
Head of Subtitling

DANIELE ZUCCALÁ
Head of Translations

ORGANISED BY

PARTNERS