Sixth Edition
The “Olga Brunner Levi” Award was first established in 2014 by the Levi Foundation and is dedicated to the best video clip realized by High School students. The competitors have to realize a short video on women’s musical performances or on the historical relationship between women and music. The winner will be awarded an artwork sculpture and the video clip will be presented at the Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival on March 23th, 2019.
The award is named after Olga Brunner Levi, who, together with her husband Ugo Levi, gave life to an association for scholars, musicians and researchers of musicology at the Giustinian Lolin Palace in Venice. In 1962 the association became the Ugo and Olga Levi Foundation, thanks to a donation that Ugo had made to honour his wife’s will. Nowadays the Foundation, presided by Davide Croff and directed by Giorgio Busetto, maintains the original imprint in promoting concerts and musicological research; moreover, it owns and manages a specialized library and guestroom for musicians and researchers, and organizes concerts, exhibitions, conferences and courses. It is also involved in the publication of reviews, books, CDs and the assignment of scholarships.
The committee is composed of:
Roberto Calabretto is associate professor of Musicology and Film Studies at the DAMS (Art and Music Classes, Udine University), where he teaches Music for films. His research deals with the role of music in the audiovisual context, with particular emphasis on Italian cinema. He is the author of numerous books and essays, including “Lo schermo sonoro” (The talking screen) (2010), awarded the Efebo d’Oro prize for being the “best book on cinema”. Since January 2019 he has been holding the position of President of the scientific committee of the Foundation Ugo and Olga Levi in Venice.
Antioco Floris, Cagliari University. He presently coordinates the advanced degree program in multimedia production. He is currently director of the CELCAM research center (Center for the education of languages of cinema, audiovisuals and multimedia) and co-director of the magazine “L’avventura. International Journal of Italian Film and Media Landscapes »published by Il Mulino.
Luisa Zanoncelli held the position as full professor of Musicology until 2010 (Universities of Lecce, Udine and Turin). She is specialised in the theory and aesthetics of music from ancient Greece to the 19th century. She has been scientific director of research projects financed by the MIUR, the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Piedmont region, and by the EU Commission, among which ‘Cabiria’, in collaboration with Annarita Colturato (specifically aimed at classifying and giving value to the music for films preserved in the Piedmont region). She had also been appointed as Vice director of the research Lab Mirage, University of Udine (restauration of historical audio documents), a position she held for about 10 years.
Bound (USA, 6’33”)
Director: Heidi Kafer
G-Star School of the Arts
Synopsis: Bound submerses audiences inside the twisted, sinister mind of a young girl battling her life-threatening eating disorder.
Profile: 17 year old, multi award-winning filmmaker Heidi Kafer has a passion for film that exudes in her work. Kafer specializes in directing, cinematography, editing, and writing. Despite having being in the film scene for only 3 years, she has a growing list of credentials. Kafer has directed and produced multiple films with over a 50 person crew. Her own films where she has directed, produced, filmed, written, and even edited have won numerous notable awards internationally. Kafer has also professionally worked with a few industry names, as well as had partnerships with numerous companies and individuals, performing videography.
Shtojzovalle (Kosovo, 12’)
Director: Flutura Balaj
“Sami Frasheri Gymnasium” in Prishtina
Synopsis: Shtojzovalle: magical Creatures of the Albanian mythology that possess supernatural powers and extraordinary beauty. Often found in the woods singing and dancing, the Shtojzovalle are finally captured by the eyes of humans. After centuries of living around us, they invite us into their mystical realities, helping us to reflect on the missed opportunities.
Profile: Flutura Balaj was born in 2000 in Pejë, Kosovo. She finished elementary and high school in Prishtina, while maintaining an artistic image as a slam poetry writer/performer, and a passion for drumming, filmmaking and culinary sciences. Currently, she is about to begin her studies on Physics and Astronomy in Jacobs University, Germany.
Pa Përkufizim (Kosovo, 6’)
Director: Era Skivjani
Synopsis: Stories of some characters about prejudices and discrimination in our society.
Profile: Era Skivjani, born in 2000 in Gjakova. She has inished the high school at Gymnasium “Hajdar Dushi” in Gjakova.
Oblivion (Turkey, 5’49”)
Director: Cagla Karslioglu
Uskudar American Academy
Synopsis: A 17 year old girl who is trying to prepare for her college audition deals with post traumatic stress and flashbacks.
Profile: I am 17 years old and currently in my junior year at an American high school in Turkey, İstanbul. I’ve been studying acting for 5 years now and spent my summers in New York in Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and other studios. Last summer, I took a filmmaking class at USC for 6 weeks in the summer. I enjoy singing, writing songs and poems, playing the piano and the sight flute in my spare times. I am hoping to continue making art and expressing myself in the form of film.
Writing’s on the wall (Romania, 5’18”)
Director: Bianca Radulescu
Liceul Teoretic “Grigore Moisil” Timişoara
Synopsis: Writing’s on the Wall is a music video that is supposed to be a semi-parody of James Bond’s Specter movie series. It’s a secret, pursuing and adventure movie, in which protagonists are two teenagers.
Profile: My name is Bianca Radulescu, I was born in Timisoara, Romania, on July 22, 2001. I am a student at Grigore Moisil High School Timisoara, the best high school in the city. I attended piano, ballet and plastic arts classes. In the spring of 2017 I shot my first video of the song Love Me Like You Mean It permormed by my sister. I’ve worked on the entire production process, from screenplay, costumes, direction, to the actual movie with my cell phone. In the same yearI received a Canon 70D camera, with which I made the video of Writing on the Wall in 2018. For the future, I have many beautiful film-related plans.
