The long summer of short films in Tuscania
The twelfth edition of the international festival “Universo Corto” kicks off from July 24 to 27. A selection of the best short films from around the world will be presided over this year by Robert Zemeckis, Academy Award winner for Forrest Gump.
“Intercept” is the keyword that will run through the Universo Corto Festival in Tuscania, where this decade-long event moves this summer, choosing one of the geographical settings most closely linked to Italian and international cinema. It will be presided over by Academy Award winner Robert Lee Zemeckis. The director of Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and the more recent Allied and Welcome to Marwen—to name but a few of his works—has agreed to come to Tuscania to select and award the best short movies that will take turns on the prestigious Tuscia stage this year from July 24 to 27.
As a preview of the July events, Tuscania will host a retrospective of the American director’s films for several evenings in mid-June.
Intercepting new trends, intercepting the subtle networks that shape the landscape of young Italian and international filmmakers and videographers, intercepting the suggestions, hopes, problems, and anxieties of a generation that recounts—in just a few minutes—what a society in constant transformation is today.
Universo Corto (www.universocorto.org) is a traveling international short film festival founded in 2004, which will hold its twelfth edition this year in Tuscania. It is an independent showcase of short films organized by the Circolo Culturale Giovani Persone of Pisa, which annually awards three works with a maximum duration of 15 minutes. The Festival is primarily aimed at university and postgraduate students, young people enrolled in film schools, as well as emerging authors and directors. Since the first edition, the presidency of the event has been held by Roberto Faenza, while the artistic direction of the Festival has been entrusted to director Riccardo Romboli since 2018. For many years, the jury president was Mario Dondero, remembered as one of the most important and vibrant Italian photographers.
Tuscania already has a long tradition as a cinematic backdrop—from Zeffirelli to Orson Welles, from Monicelli to Tarkovsky—which will continue this summer by lending its stage to a particular segment of cinema—the short film—in a four-day festival featuring a rotation of films, musical performances, readings, and exhibitions. A well-rounded Festival with many surprises, first and foremost the participation of Zemeckis.
The full program for Universo Corto 2019, including the titles of the selected finalists and the initiatives accompanying the festival, will be announced during the presentation press conference next July.
