Mankind and nature: original stories and perspectives, in search of new balance

Published 09/04/2024

120 films have been selected for the 72nd Trento Film Festival, of which 25 for the international competition. Gervasini: “The different spirits of the Festival increasingly interweave: mountaineering and stories of the mountains, their peoples and cultures, reciprocally influence and reinforce each other.”

An international festival of mountain film and culture, increasingly pluralistic but presenting itself to the public with a clear identity; now in its 72nd year, Trento Film Festival – scheduled in Trento from 26 April to 5 May 2024 – has not abandoned its efforts to renew itself, while remaining solidly based on the foundations of a tradition dating back to 1952.

120 films have been selected, of which 25 for the international competition, while there are 24 international premieres and no less than 87 Italian premieres. The event kicks off on Saturday 27 April with the opening film Oura el-jbel (Behind the Mountains) by Mohamed Ben Attia (Tunisia). Given its premiere at Venice Film Festival, it is the story of a “special” father seen through the eyes of his son, in the midst of mountains that have something magical about them. It is a film that will win over the public thanks to its nonconformism and freedom, as well as the scenarios from an unknown Tunisia.

“The two pillars of the 72nd Trento Film Festival are the International Competition and Alp&Ism: 25 full-length and short films for each of the two sections, clearly underlining an equilibrium, an equal balance between two key aspects that have always characterised the plural identity of Trento Film Festival”, explains Mauro Gervasini, film programme coordinator. So, on the one hand there are the mountains recounted in very different ways in the Competition, using animation, experimentation, fiction and documentaries. On the other, in Alp&Ism we have adventure, exploration and competitive challenges that become existential, in an increasingly demanding relationship with nature. There will be plenty of films recounting the current situation in mountain areas, imagining the future, in the High Lands section, along with authors, productions, stories and protagonists from Trentino-Alto Adige in Nearby Horizons, in cooperation with Trentino Film Commission. While the tribute to Francesco Nuti and Erri De Luca’s story about the relationship between approaching the mountains and old age in the short film L’età sperimentale stand out in the Special Screenings section, in the Premieres the Festival offers its public a programme of films from the main international film festivals.

Another innovation this year will be the Cincontri format, a sort of “interface” between the film and events programmes, once again highlighting Trento Film Festival’s wish to interweave content, places and formats in a virtuous and continuously evolving cycle. “There will be genuine dialogues in cinemas after screening films featuring exceptional guests from before or behind the camera, such as the writer Erri De Luca, climbers Tamara Lunger, Edu Marin and Stefano Ghisolfi, directors Enzo d’Alò and Cecilia Bozza Wolf, or content creators Bruno Pisani, Petra Cola, Sanni Oksanen and Gustavo Karlsson”, recounts Laura Zumiani, events programme coordinator.

The closing film is Kinra-Motherland by Marco Panatonik (Peru), winner of the Golden Ástor for Best Film at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival (Argentina): “The story of a young man who leaves the mountains to go to Cusco, where he can study. But does he really leave them? One of the surprises of the 72nd Trento Film Festival; an intense story of development in an Andean setting undergoing transformation”, guarantees Gervasini.