Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino |
International Festival Signs of the Night - Urbino |
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7° Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino - November 21th - 26th, 2023
21th International Festival Signs of the Night - Italy
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Bruno Soares |
Portugal / 2022 / 0:26:14 |
In the midst of robbing a house in Lisbon, Jaime is caught by the owner Alberto, who mistakes him for his son. As Alberto and his wife Madalena take him in, Jaime gradually forgets about the robbery.
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JURY DECLARATION
Soares' film relies on a perfect balance of expressive elements, which combine well with the narrative set-up. Highlighted are the cinematography, with its intense and somber colors skilfully played on the penumbra, and the direction, which makes very effective use of the close-ups of the protagonist. Eventually, it must be emphasized that the well-constructed script progressively involves the spectator in a fundamental social theme, such as the desperate loneliness of older people.
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SIGNS AWARD
The Signs Award honours films, which treat an important subject in an original and convincing way
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Wa thakarina wa unthana |
Ahmad Alyaseer |
Jordan / 2022 / 0:11:04 |
A father and mother are faced with the painful task of washing their deceased transgender daughter, but when no one agrees to wash her, how far is the father willing to go to make sure his "son" is washed?
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JURY DECLARATION
The film addresses a significant cultural and anthropological problem linked to ancient traditions common to cultures that are also very different. The clash between tradition and cultural innovation is impeccably rendered by a direction and photography that are 'dry' but careful to generate the emotional dramas of parenthood, shared by all times and cultures.
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Director Statement:
Thank you Italy for hearing our stories, Thank you Festival of the Night with all its editions for being a window to storytelling from all over the world.
Making this film was very hard for its controversial topic that I ended up self funding it, but seeing it getting attention and recognition makes me realize that every effort that was put on it, is definitely worth it. We tell stories that challenge taboos, and we can make a change.
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NIGHT AWARD
The Night Award honours films, which are able to balance ambiguity and complexity characterized by enigmatic mysteriousness
and subtleness, which keeps mind and consideration moving
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Raie Manta |
Anton Bialas |
France / 2022 / 0:29:38 |
MANTA RAY is a fragmented portrayal of three characters in search of poetic and liberating openings in a muzzled and gradually authoritarian Paris of the 2020’s. United under the sign of the MANTA RAY, Kamilya, Ghost Rider and Gilles, each in their own way, organizes his secret melody, crafts a situation, where, alternately, a sense of lightness can be found, suffocated screams can uprise and reality be distorted into new horizons.
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JURY DECLARATION
It is a film constructed with evocative images with high-quality photography. The storytelling of the three episodes is conducted unconventionally, with an intuitive image syntax achieved through editing. Kamilya, Ghost Rider, and Gilles are co-protagonists of three minor films: at the center of which are the lights, shadows, voices, and sounds of a realistic, imaginary, and contradictory Paris.
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JURY AWARD FOR BRILLIANT TRANSITIONS BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY
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Lee Jihyeong |
Republic of Korea / 2021 / 0:29:578 |
Hano is a 14-year-old boy who is a so-called kid from a 'multicultural family.' He becomes a target for bullying in class, but he has more profound questions on who he is and what he wants to become. Han-Oh faces the questions once again at the end of his unexpected journey and finally reaches an answer.
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JURY DECLARATION
The film skillfully deals with the theme of bullying and ethnic discrimination by setting it in the complex reality of teenagers. The directorial choices are fascinating, as they use the imagery of magic realism typical of Oriental literature and cinema. The alternate editing cleverly draws the transitions between dream and reality without resorting to special effects.
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Director Statement:
After reading the JURY DECLARATION, along with the news of the Jury Award, I was very happy and grateful that the jury seemed to see the film from a different perspective, and I am grateful for the evaluation, as I found new meanings that even I was not aware of. By the way, speaking of the film, 'A Tropical Boy' is also a story about my own feelings of anxiety and fear during my teenage years, when I had to live separated from the world due to my illness, projected onto the protagonist Hano. In a world where it is easy to be separated from the mainstream and marginalised just by having any point of difference from others. I wanted to portray the last longing and hope for the world he truly desires, through the daily life of the protagonist Hano, a teenage adolescent boy. Just like Schubert's Piano sonata No.21 (in B flat major, 1st. Movt. Molto moderato, D.960), which he composed with his last longing and desire for the world.
At the end of the film, Hano closes his eyes as he gazes up at the tropical sunlit sky. By starting the film with Hano waking up from a dream and opening his eyes, I was hoping that all the Hano in the world would finally wake up from all their painful dreams, open their eyes, and start dreaming again.
Thank you again for watching my film, which is lacking in many ways, and for your encouragement.
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EDWARD SNOWDEN AWARD
The Edward Snowden Award honors films, which offer sensitive (mostly) unknown information, facts and phenomena of eminent importance, for which the festival wishes a wide proliferation in the future.
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Zicong Wang |
United Kingdom / 2023 / / 0:11:46 |
In an era characterized by the ceaseless barrage of digital imagery, where pixels paint narratives and screens mirror realities, the influence of images on human thought and behaviours has reached unprecedented heights. "The Dreams in Images," an essay documentary, offers an introspective journey through contemporary China's ever-evolving landscape of image culture. In this essay, I critically explore our documentary's thematic underpinning, dissecting the profound relationship between the people of China and the images that inundate their lives and beliefs.
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JURY DECLARATION
Through the digital images that regulate the Chinese cities, "The dreams in Images" brings a relevant look at ourselves as humans fascinated by mirrors and light. With a strong bias at the level of the film device, the film immerses us into a consciously constructed whirlwind.
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Mémoires du Bois |
Theo Vincent |
France / 2023 / 0:20:29 |
The Bois de Vincennes. The ruins of a colonial exposition building where strange voices and old images slumber that no one wants to revive. Yet Moussa has only one obsession: to keep close to him his friend whose lifeless body has returned to Senegal.
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JURY DECLARATION
"Memories of Vincennes" is a delicate film that pushes the audience to understand what it is to be away from home. Théo Vincent plays with distance in everyday movement and through its elegant and cinematic mise en scene, he transforms nature and photography into the roots and the place where mourning is possible.
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