From the “Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film” to “Cannes Film Festival” and “Toronto International Film Festival,” Lebanon has made it this time to Giffoni Film Festival that takes place in the South of Italy.
Starting on July 19th, this remarkable annual summer event will run over 10 days in Giffoni Valle Piana Salerno in Italy, and is welcoming Lebanon for the first time ever, as per the recent statement of the Italian Embassy in Beirut.
Launched in 1971 by its founder Claudio Gubitosi, the festival relies on the capacities, ambitions, and potentials of the youth forming the jury of the film festival. In this event, it is the youth who are indeed the festival’s backbone. They’re usually less than 18 years old and they are the ones voting for the best movies and awarding the winners the official Grifone d’Oro trophy.
Every year, this event groups around 5000 youth from 43 different countries. Last year, it started with an ecological trilogy to raise awareness around the importance of protecting our environment. While the theme of last year was Water, the topic this year will be under the theme of Air. It’s therefore confirmed that for 2020, the main theme will be Earth.
That awaited event does provide both significant and influential opportunity to Lebanon’s youth to connect with a wide range of authors, actors, and producers, and therefore discuss with them relevant artistic matters. During those 10 days, the people involved in the festival get to exchange experiences, debate important issues, and develop friendships among each other during a rich social and cultural expedition.
As per Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Massimo Marotti, and whilst the main topic of this festival is Cinema, the other ultimate goal is to be able to bring as many youths as possible from all around the globe to this kind of enriching and eye-opening events.
During the statement of the Italian Embassy in Beirut, it was declared that MARCH, the local Lebanese and independent organization who works towards peace and Human Rights, has played a big role in identifying and selecting 30 young Lebanese individuals to take part in this festival in Italy.
Another behind-the-curtain supporter is A.N Boukhater, who wholeheartedly encouraged and endorsed this Lebanese participation and contribution for the 1st time in Lebanon’s history.
This event will be one of our important milestones as Lebanese and an opportunity to show the world that the young Lebanese generation is impressively and inarguably capable and talented.
Now that our Lebanese youths are on their way to Italy, pride and honor should be celebrated. Much more than that, it’s an opportunity to join efforts with both national and international institutions to encourage such initiatives that work on fostering social cohesion and bringing the Lebanese talents to the spotlight.
