The cinematic tale of social issues and sustainability is an all-Italian common thread. Directors known to the general public challenge international juries and awards with their works, but there is a Festival in Rome which has the merit of having launched dozens of artists on the international scene starting from those themes: the International short film festival “Black Silk Tulips”. It has been organized since 2007 by the association “L'Università Cerca Lavoro” and was born from an idea of Paola Tassone, writer and expert in social cinema.
The need to see social, environmental and perspective issues represented on the screen, far from a stereotyped narrative, is a sign of the times. The cultural degradation witnessed in many areas cannot deprive people of the desire to see the world rebalance. We can find this desire in any form, as long as we use the right languages. “Tulipani di seta nera aims to promote audiovisual works that best represent the story of social issues and sustainability, we read on the website. And again “every cinematographic work is chosen for represent diversity and the fragility of people and places, to integrate their needs and protect their development". To do this we start from the real world, from the social structure, from the contrast of interests and discriminating forms of power, up to, this year, Artificial Intelligence, the metaverse.
Subjects with high aspirations
At the final evening of the 17th edition in a Roman multiplex, we saw all this. A sense of emotional and educational participation was shared which was captivating 2mila people live and 15 thousand in streaming. Dozens of works were presented, revealing quality, auteur cinema with unfortunately limited budgets but with high aspirations. The festival lasted four days with the final evening which will be broadcast on Rai 2, 3 July. Furthermore, Rai, with Rai for Sustainability, Rai Cinema Channel, Rai Public Utilities, sponsors the event, together with the Presidency of the Council, the Lazio Region, various Ministries and a long list of supporters and partners. Among them are Asvis, the Univerde Foundation, Federmanager, the Order of Journalists, the Paralympic Committee, Inail.
Aauthors, producers, directors, actors have well hidden the effort of bringing into a short film the difficulties and suffering of those who, in a rapidly changing world, do not have the space that should be recognized for them. The speed of technological development, the uncontrolled patterns of the economy, of pointless politics, leave behind women and men who are still useful to the community. Nevertheless, diversity produces positivity, we heard during the awards ceremony. Positivity was magically reproduced in the sections of the Festival to obtain the Sorriso Diverso Awards.
Among the prizes is that for a savings company
What is better for a film team these days than to focus on discrimination, technologies, bullying, prisons, economic inequalities? You can imagine the future if you are in a bizarre, unequal present, with a planet in crisis, with your existence threatened. The short film by Alberto Marchiori "Flesh-colored” obtained recognition for the issue of discrimination and racism, consequences of unspeakable prejudices; “Heaven is mine” by Ayoub Naseri it made us discover the human and physical richness of disability, of a world parallel to that of the able-bodied. Fabio Garofalo e Luca Cetro with Dont'Movie Srl they were awarded for Best Digital Series with “Postcards from the Future” on the theme of social changes and technologies. But “Postcards from the Future” was the super-awarded short film with five awards and made for a company that collects savings: Invesco Asset Management. The representation of a near future, respectful of today and care for the planet. He won, among others, the Smile Award from the Association for Sustainable Development. Ultimately, a seductive metaverse far from the harsh materiality seen in the other works, worthily appreciated by the jury presidents of the sections.
And then other prizes and a gala with actors and artists who are part of the history of the Festival. Overall, the juries built a tangible and dense story board with the lights focused on a (piece) of the world that exists and often escapes us. “With cinema I don't want to prove anything, I just want to show” you said once Federico Fellini. If he were still alive, in front of a dismembered and unequal society, he would certainly tell us his opinion.
