The five winning short films of the "Corti senza Confine" call were announced a few days ago at a press conference at the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region's Palazzo in the presence of Vice-President and Regional Councillor for Culture and Sport Mario Anzil, Regional Councillor for Productive Activities and Tourism Sergio Emidio Bini, and the coordinator of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission - PromoTurismoFVG Chiara Valenti Omero.

"Corti senza Confine" is one of the projects of the production programme for "GO! 2025" devised by the Central Directorate for Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, aimed at creating original products in the various cultural spheres that can, also in the future, bear witness to the great event of 2025 and ideally constitute a cultural legacy.

The winners, who best knew how to narrate the Gorizia and cross-border territory, through its values, its history, its peculiarities linked to being a "borderland", at a historical moment in which precisely the absence of borders characterises the fact of being nominated European Capital of Culture for the year 2025, were: "Gorizia" (Rumore srls), "L'estate che verrà" (Greenland Srl), "Dall'altra parte - favola di Aulo e Marina" (Tucker Film srl), "La battaglia delle spazzole" (Staragara I. T.), "Vivere" (La Scontrosa srl). The works must be delivered by 30 October 2024.

Also connected via videoconference was Gabriele Salvatores. The director, who has always had close ties to Friuli Venezia Giulia as president of the jury, was the spokesperson for the announcement and elaborated on the work carried out by all members.

Thanks to the contribution of the Central Directorate for Culture and Sport assigned to FVG Film Commission - PromoTurismoFVG, each winning project will receive financial support of up to a maximum of 100,000 euros, which can cover 100% of the planned expenses. The call, which closed on 2 April, was a success beyond expectations, with 151 projects received from all over Italy and several European countries. The response and the variety of projects submitted demonstrate the importance and resonance of this initiative.

The awarded short films each represent a unique and original work, capable of telling a story related to the concept of "borderlessness" with different languages and styles. All of them - as required by the call for entries - have a minimum duration of 10 minutes and a maximum of 20, and begin and end the narration in a symbolic place, the Transalpine/Trg Evrope forecourt, emblem of the fall of borders.

THE WINNING PROJECTS

"Gorizia" is the first winning short film produced by the Tuscan company Rumore srls, and is the only animated work in which, through the drawings of the multi-award-winning Italian cartoonist Simone Massi, the square of the Piazza Transalpina/Trg Evrope becomes the symbolic setting where historical dramas and future hopes meet.

Groenlandia S.r.l. - based in Rome and boasting in just a few years numerous successful films produced for Sky, Prime Video and Netflix - is the production company of "L'estate che verrà" (The Summer to Come) by director Mauro Lodi, which tells the story of a profound friendship between two individuals, an Italian and a Slovenian, who grew up in a context of great cultural cohesion such as the Staatsgymnasium in Gorizia, but in a place and time that will be devastated by war.

"Dall'altra parte - favola di Aulo e Marina" (On the other side - Aulo and Marina's fable), is a modern fable as defined by Emma Jaay, a director of British-Australian origin, and produced by Tucker Film srl, an independent production and distribution company founded by CEC of Udine and Cinemazero of Pordenone; almost a love story, with at its centre two characters who move within a city as if they were moving within the whole world, freely.

"La battaglia delle spazzole" (The Battle of the Brushes) by Lorenzo Fabbro, produced by the Gorizia company Staragara I.T., is a brilliant comedy that transforms the nightly routine of two sweeper operators, Mauro and Nadja, into a battle of invisible borders and unexpected feelings straddling the Transalpine Square / Trg Evrope.

Finally, "Vivere", produced by the Trieste-based company La Scontrosa srl and written by Chiara Cremaschi, is not only a physical but also an introspective journey that explores the complexities of life and human emotions, focusing on two women forced to discover and take care of each other; a project that stems from the author's research, interviews and long-term reflections together with French geographer Camille Schmoll and artist Martina Melilli.

The project is part of the programmes of the Evropska prestolnica kulture - European Capital of Culture GO! 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia (https://www.go2025.eu/).