BERGAMO - The Ermanno Olmi Prize is back in Bergamo, said organisers on Tuesday. Established to promote short films by young Italian and international directors, the award was also created to honour the late filmmaker from Bergamo.

Aiming to promote young filmmakers under the age of 30, the award consists of 3 cash prizes (1,200 euros, 500 euros, and 300 euros) - made available by Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus - and a special mention awarded to the most significant entry inspired to or reflecting on "the religion of small things". Ermanno Olmi's cinema demonstrates his search for a less transcendent and more immanent spirituality, which is accomplished in the relationships between people and nature. The poetry of his films finds expression in the sincerity of the faces and the authenticity of the gestures portrayed; in the representation of the wholesomeness found in rural life, work, and everyday gestures. Ermanno Olmi's message resonates with everyone because, although religious in its essence, it is devoid of dogmas, prioritising the will to strive for good and to rediscover the joy of simple everyday things.

The deadline for submissions (fiction, documentary or animation produced in 2021 and 2022), which must not exceed 15 minutes in length, is Oct. 16, 2022. (Info and registration: https://www.premioolmi.it/?lang=en)

The winners' announcement and award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at the Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà, Bergamo (or another suitable venue). Should there be still, on the appointed date, containment measures due to the Covid-19 emergency, the award ceremony and the screening of the finalist films will be broadcast online on a dedicated streaming platform.

In the words of Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Bergamo, Nadia Ghisalberti: «The Ermanno Olmi Award Prize has reached its 4th edition and continues to enjoy full support from this administration, not only as a way to honour the greatness of the late Bergamo-born director, but also to help support young directors and filmmakers. It is indeed the creativity and ideas of the young that are the driving force of a society's cultural growth, along with their unique and essential perspective on contemporaneity. An authentic perspective which, in these challenging times, helps recover and promote new, profound meanings. For this reason, the special mention of this edition awards works reflecting on the theme of the "religion of small things", a motif that permeates the works of Ermanno Olmi and his testimonies of a spiritual research that has little to do with dogmas and it's carried out, instead, in human relationships, in the relationship with nature and in the ability to grasp the poetry of everyday life». 

The Ermanno Olmi Prize is promoted by the City of Bergamo with the support of Lab 80 film and in collaboration with Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus.

In accord with the Minimum Environmental Criteria - parameters of environmental sustainability for cultural events - signed by the Municipality of Bergamo, the Prize takes part in the European Green Fest project: a commitment to both environment and culture, and a fitting tribute to Ermanno Olmi, who, through his works, was always a keen supporter of environmental preservation. 

Ermanno Olmi Award

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