The 36th edition of the Bolzano Film Festival was held from 18 to 24 April in Bolzano/Bozen—for the first time with Vincenzo Bugno as new artistic director. The award ceremony also honoured the winner of FINAL TOUCH #8: Wiesenwood by Jannis Alexander Kiefer.
With a festive opening ceremony, the 36th edition of the Bolzano Film Festival kicked off with Vera, co-directed by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel. Once more, Filmclub Bozen and other locations offered plenty of room for inspiration, new acquaintances, and grand cinema. In addition to the film screenings, the festival featured master classes and BFFB labs. Five films supported by the IDM Film Commission made it onto the festival’s programme. An Italian-Latvian co-production (Fenixfilm and Albolina Film Bozen) competed as Made in South Tyrol: Sisters by Linda Olte. The feature film was screened in South Tyrol for the very first time during the festival and received two audience awards: the award of the City of Bolzano and the IDM Award. The “Local Heroes” series featured Michael Gaismayr by Wolfgang Moser, Reports from the Void by Martin Prinoth, Max Valier – Der Raketenmann by Thomas Hanifle, which premiered during the festival, and Rispet by Cecilia Bozza Wolf.
The FINAL TOUCH #8 industry programme by the South Tyrolean Film Fund and Commission IDM and the BFFB, which ran parallel to the festival in Bolzano from 21 to 22 April, helped to put the finishing touches to the four participating projects Souvenirs of War (director Georg Zeller, editor Beatrice Segolini, and producer Martin Rattini), Unspoken (director Piotr J. Lewandowski and producer Carsten Strauch), Wiesenwood (editor Kathrin Unger and producer Frithjof Stückemann), and Refugee Girls (director Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso). Experts Sergio Fant, Niki Nikitin, Florian Geiser, Nina Kusturica, and Birgit Oberkofler met with the participants for an inspiring round of exchange and feedback. The BFFB award ceremony held on Saturday, 22 April, featured two FINAL TOUCH awards. This year’s Cine Chromatix Italy Post-Production Prize and the True Colours International Sales Distribution Prize were awarded to Wiesenwood by Jannis Alexander Kiefer.
