Film festival in Sardinia at Forte Village: a success like never before

Forte Village Resort hosted the second edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival from the 13th to the 16th of June 2019, a festival thought up and directed by Tiziana Rocca, featuring cinema and television.

The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival is a unique event which promotes the encounter of eastern entertainment with Made in Italy, creating a bridge between the world of cinema and television to allow the spectator to interact with the national and international stars of small and big screen. This year the festival will support Moviement which has the objective of opening to the public throughout the year.

In the second edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival there has been great attention to the theme of sustainability to contrast the unconditioned exploitation of natural resources and to create an ecological festival with zero impact by banning mono-use plastic cups and introducing a green carpet and electric cars.

Sustainable development was also the main theme of a competition for university students which was won by Elisa Meloni with a short film entitled Mind Zapping Project, awarded by Paolo Del Brocco, Managing Director of Rai Cinema. This is not all: even the prizes made by Gerardo Saccono where made with sustainable materials.

Film festival in Sardinia: a unique event in collaboration with APA, DG Cinema MiBAC, ANAC, ANICA, ANEC, UCI Cinemas and with the support of Forte Village and the patronage of Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the municipality of Cagliari, ANICA and the Consorzio Costa Smeralda.

Starting this year, the festival is also proud of a collaboration with Italy for Movies, the national portal of locations incentivizing production indicated by the Direzione Generale of MiBAC and operated by the Istituto Luce-Cinecittà in collaboration with Italian Film Commissions.

The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival was visibly successful by the number of participants, an edition which doubled the crowds in Cinema Cristallo and the Forte Arena in Forte Village which opened to the public for free and multiplied the films scheduled.

Film festival in Sardinia: the numbers of the 2019 edition held at Forte Village

The second edition of the festival ended with record standards and a high participation from the audience which met great protagonists of cinema and television like Jesse Williams and Stefania Spampinato, also actors from the beloved tv series Grey’s Anatomy.

Among the previews of the small screen there was Gotham, with actor Erin Richards, and an episode of the series Caccia al Ladro, the new TV series divided into 10 episodes and produced world wide by Viacom and presented by screenwriter Javier Olivares. Also screened was Murder Mistery by Netflix, Riviera 2, Big Little Lies and a clip of I Medici presented by Aurora Ruffino and producer Luca Bernabei.

Twenty eight title were presented, divided into films, previews, documentaries and short films for a total of 10,000 spectators distributed among the halls of the UCI Cinemas in Cagliari, the Sala dei Cristalli of Forte Village and for the first time the Forte Arena, the theatre setting of a rich program of concerts that will culminate with the Eros Ramazzotti show on 10th August. In addition, 300 university students have actively partecipated in the Festival with Accademia Cinema, including panels, master classes and meetings. 

Among the film previews there was Domino, directed by Brian De Palma and shot partly in Cagliari, The Professor with Johnny Depp, The Poison Rose with Alice Pagani, and Restiamo Amici by Antonella Grimaldi, director born in Sardinia. There were four works chosen by Variety, member of the artistic committee at the festival, for Variety Critics Choice: Los Reyes, Flatland, La Quietud (a families secret), Fig Tree.

The film A Mano disarmata was presented by Claudia Gerini, of which she was also protagonist, while singer Naomi Rivieccio and Darren Criss conquered the audience with a live interpretation of the song Il mondo è mio, one of the soundtracks of Aladdin.

Many Italian and international stars made the second edition of the festival an unforgettable experience: Annabelle Belmondo, Eva Longoria, Enrico Brignano, Martina Colombari, Lola Ponce, Jesse Williams, Stefania Spampinato, Massimiliano Bruno, Anna Safroncik, Violante Placido, Francesca Archibugi, Claire Forlani, Carlo Cracco, Naomi Rivieccio, Patricia Arquette, Marta Milans, Isabella Ferrari, Paola Cortellesi, Riccardo Milani, Erin Richards, Claudia Gerini, Cosima Coppola, Francesco Cinquemani, Alice Pagani, Catrinel Marlon, William Baldwin, Darren Criss, Aurora Ruffino, Javier Olivares.

Film festival in Sardinia: awards in the second edition

The Film Festival of Sardinia didn’t only host projections and encounters with stars on the small and big screen, it also prized Martina Colombari a Filming Italy Social Award for her social effort.

The Premio Nanni Loy, thought up by Antonello Sarno, was awarded to Isabella Ferrari, Francesca Archibugi and Claudia Gerini. Claudia Gerini also received a special prize dedicated to Pietro Coccia, photographer and film reporter who recently disappeared.

Notorious Project, a competition for discovering new talents in Italian cinema was won by Tiziano Russo with L’uomo proibito, Riccardo Marchetto with Baltimora and Mary Stella Brugiati with Alessandro Brosi for Anni da Cane. Guglielmo Marchetti (CEO & Chairman of Notorious Pictures), Massimiliano Bruno (director, script writer, actor) and Violante Placido prized the winners.

Lorenzo Giannuzzi, Managing Director and General Director of Forte Village, commented on the success of the second edition of Filming Italy Sardegna Festival like this:

“We are happy about the extraordinary results obtained in terms of quality and the number of guests participating, also the great local attendance at the awards and presentations which took place at Forte Arena, where several thousands people from all over Sardinia participated in this extraordinary initiative with love. We thought of this very important project, Filming Italy Sardegna, with Tiziana Rocca and we are very proud as a result. An event that successfully brought cinematographic previews, films and TV series for the second time to the south of Sardinia and to our Resort, with the presence of great cinema and television stars. We strongly believe in Culture and tourism and we are sure this important manifestation will contribute to promoting, not only Forte Village, but also this enchantingly beautiful corner of the south of Sardinia, all over the world.

Do you want to immerse yourself in the clear sea water of Sardinia and enjoy an unforgettable holiday in a real paradise of wellness, relaxation and good taste? Discover Forte Village Resort in the beautiful south of Sardinia.