NIGHT-TIME VENICE GLIMMERS UNDER THE MOON: OUR 14TH EDITION POSTER BY MANUELE FIOR
Manuele Fior is the designer of the poster for the 14th edition of the Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival, a multi-site event taking place in Venice from March 20th to March 23rd, 2024.
The Italian illustrator renews his partnership with the Festival, building on last year’s piece with a new stretch of the imaginary stroll through the winding alleys of Venice. This time the mysterious stranger emerges in an exquisitely Venetian space–campielli under the moon, red bricks, white staircases, “crooked” bridges and elegant palazzi, all shielded from the prying eyes of the crowd. As is often the case in Fior’s work, the architectural element prevails over the human one, here present only in the figure standing on the bridge, creating an atmosphere of intrigue that fuels the viewer’s desire to discover the stories behind such details. Commenting on the illustration, the author states that “through the centuries Venice has weaved a rich tapestry of images, such as those around the figure of Marco Polo, which in our eyes have stood unchanged to this day”. It is perhaps because of this alluring peculiarity that the artist has chosen Venice as his adoptive city, selecting it as the setting of one of his most famous works, Celestia. Fior is the newest addition to the list of illustrators and comic artists working in collaboration with the festival, along with Lorenzo Mattotti, Igort and Giorgio Carpinteri.
Born in Cesena in 1975, Fior has lived in Berlin, Oslo, Paris and Venice. An artist with international acclaim, he is one of the most appreciated illustrators in Italy and abroad today. His illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and other magazines, as well as in newspapers such as La Repubblica, Le Monde, Il Sole 24 Ore, and publishing houses such as Feltrinelli, Einaudi, and EL. In 2017 they were compiled and discussed in L’ora dei miraggi. He won the Fauve d’Or prize for Best Album at the 2011 International Festival of Angoulême with the graphic novel Cinquemila chilometri al secondo, while L’Intervista (2013) marks his first foray into black and white art. He has published numerous volumes with Cononino press and Oblomov Editions, including Rosso Oltremare (2006), La signorina Else (2009) from Arthur Schnitzler’s novel of the same title, Le variazioni d’Orsay (2015), the collection of short stories I giorni della merla (2016), Celestia (2020), and most recently, Hypericon (2022).
The Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival is the first film festival in Europe to be organized entirely by a university, asserting itself over the years as a major window onto the world of young international cinema. This is possible thanks to an International Competition that showcases thirty of the best short films produced by cinema academy and university students throughout the year. Furthermore, two competitions will be held for students of different ages: one focused on music videos by university students and one for short films by high school students. Finally, there will be no shortage of international guests, starring in a rich selection of special programs, in-depth examinations, homages, retrospectives and masterclasses–all with free entry.
Thanks to the continually growing relationship with the host-city, this year’s festival will once again be held in various sites across the town, with a series of screens set up to go with the historical one in Santa Margherita Auditorium, as yet another reminder of this deep bond with Venice, its citizens and its cultural institutions. Among the locations chosen to host the selection of programs for the 14th edition are Venice City Hall’s Casa del Cinema, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, InParadiso at the Biennale Gardens, the National Archaeological Museum, the Oriental Art Museum – Ca’ Pesaro, and Palazzo Grimani Museum.
The Festival is brought to you in collaboration with Fondazione di Venezia, and the support of many partners, such as Avani Hotels, the Italian on-demand short film platform WeShort, today’s oldest prosecco production company Carpenè-Malvolti, backing from Cinit – Italian Cineforum, Municipality of Venice – Murano – Burano, National Museum of Cinema in Turin, Conservatory of Music “Arrigo Pedrollo” in Vicenza and two festivals: Giornate della Luce in Spilimbergo and the South Italy International Film Festival in Barletta.
The complete program of the fourteenth edition will be unveiled by the Artistic and Operative Director Maria Roberta Novielli during the press release to present the festival at the beginning of March in Venice.
