VII 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 28th, 2020.
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.
Members to the committee are:
Roberto Calabretto, 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 as “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.
Cosetta Saba, Professor of Film Analysis and Audiovisual Practices in Media Art at the University of Udine, where she is the scientific director of La Camera Ottica Lab. Her main research interests focus on the languages of art in all its forms and audiovisual events and on the different ways to archive and preserve videos, films and artistic installations. She has published numerous contributions in magazines and studies dedicated to the relationships between cinema, video and art, including Cinema and Art as Archive. Form, Medium, Memory (with F. Federici, 2014).
Marco Fedalto, composer of music applied to feature films, TV series, documentaries and short films (silent and sound), is also the author of an opera and of symphonic music. Winner of numerous competitions including the Prize of the Arts (awarded to him by Armando Trovajoli), he received an IFMCA nomination in 2018. He studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and at the Hollywood Music Workshop in Vienna. In January 2020 he has been selected as one of the composers for a masterclass at Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles. Member of ACMF in Rome and Vincenzoni Award in Treviso.
Souvenir – Remember (4’08”, France)
DIRECTOR: Zsófia Zilia Lacôte
INSTITUTE: Gymnase Jean Sturm – Strasbourg
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: An Iranian man is sitting in a coffee shop in France. Suddenly, a melody he hears takes him back to the details details from his past.
PROFILE: Zsófia Zilia Lacôte. I am half French and half Hungarian and I have lived in many countries since my birth, such as Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Great-Britain and, of course, France and Hungary. I have met lots of people and experienced situations which encouraged me to make movies. First of all, I want to make people feel and share emotions through the visual and auditive experience.
We (1’51”, Italy/Turkey)
DIRECTOR: Livia Proto
INSTITUTE: E 4- Liceo Italiano I.M.I
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: This short movie entitled We represents the interaction of emotions, and emotions are associated to colors. Repetition is part of the daily routine that has no end. Human beings experience many different kinds of feelings, from happiness to sadness, from enthusiasm to depression, from satisfaction to frustration. However, they simultaneously experiment an unemotional condition.
PROFILE: Livia Proto. Livia was born in Istanbul in 2002. She completed the I.M.I. High school in Istanbul and then moved to Rome. She is presently studying Cinema at Rufa University. She participated in many Festivals with her short film “And Again And Again And Again”: in Mamma Roma Short Film Festival/Liceo Guidonia, October 2019, Guidonia; at the Cefalù FilmFestival as a semi-finalist, August 2019; at the International Festival of Pathologic Cinema, May 2019, in Rome; at the Seyifi Teoman Short Film Festival, as a finalist and obtaining the “Premio d’Incoraggiamento” , April 2019, in Instanbul; at the WestVirginiaMountaneerShortFilmFestival, April 2019; in Lisbon at the Short Film Rendezvous,, on March 8-9 2019.
Introspection (3’58”, USA)
DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Kostina
INSTITUTE: Phillips Exeter Academy
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: Introspection is a music video.
PROFILE: Elizabeth Kostina is an interdisciplinary artist, primarily focusing on film and video, but also on works such as mylar, origami, and theatrical/slam poetry performances. Kostina has worked as producer in collaboration with Identity Media Inc. in New York City and with the MIT List gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their short film “Known Unknown,” 2019 has screened in 5 film festivals internationally, including McGuffin Youth Film festival in Moscow and Animation festival in Slovakia. Kostina and collaborators studied at Okemos High School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and completed a NYU Shakespeare Intensive Program.
Mind control (2’59”, USA)
DIRECTOR: Valeria Perez
INSTITUTE: Lighting Sound Design (Tech)
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: Mind Control is an experimental short film that creates a tense, eerie atmosphere over the theme Six Forty Seven by artist Instupendo. It uses a variety of camera angles, lighting design, and editing shots to create a pace that follows one’s ability to lose control. Such result is also obtained thanks to the performance of dancer Emily Winkelbauer.
PROFILE: Valeria Perez is a 16-yearold high school student who is a multidisciplinary artist. As a dancer, actress, vocalist, instrumentalist, and activist she sets apart from all the other High school, students. She dreams of being a film director and uses her extraordinary abilities to strongly support political and daily issues, but is also engaged in making films to express her creativity. Valeria has won numerous awards as a pianist and dancer, and was the Arts Alive cinematography recipient together with her partner David Urena in their film Sweet Dreams.
Hed – Echo (3’19”, Israel)
DIRECTOR: Eli Bleier
INSTITUTE: Zomer Highr School
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: The movie is about losing and finding hope and brightness through the painful memories of one’s life. Made by Eli Bleier as High School Final Project in collaboration with an incredible stop motion and animation teacher, Olga, the movie is inspired by the short story The Wind Cave by Haruki Murakami, which tells the story of a young man and of his grief after losing his younger sister and his own life. There is a strong connection with the themes that Eli Bleier focuses on, such as, for example, the decision to actively continue living although the difficult circumstances. Bleier is fascinated by animation and the art of stop motion, which he considers two different ways of telling a story and of express feelings that need to be transmitted to the public.
PROFILE: Eli Bleier. My name is Eli Bleier, I am 18 years old and I live in Israel. Since I was born I have been surrounded by artistic and creative people.My father is a director and creator of drama television, and my mother is the head of the clothing design branch in the film and television industry. I have always been fascinated by the human mind and the mental state of the individual, and have always read and turned to subject matters involving such issues. When I decided to attend Waldorf High school in Zomer, I began to study different art methods and gain experience in many art forms. During my last year of high school, I had the opportunity to work on a final project focused on art and research in general, and I concentrated on the contrast between living actively or passively, between feeling alive and constantly trying to achieve this state.
To the sleepless youth (7’16”, Bangladesh)
DIRECTOR: Suprio Poroma
INSTITUTE: Cambridge CIE O-Levels
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: To The Sleepless Youth portrays some moments from the life of three young siblings. Sitting in their apartment, the three young souls are about to get in contact with life: urban culture, which mirrors the antisocial behaviour and the sense of isolation, is slowly influencing them. The dancing little girl, the confused young girl and the tired young boy are gradually losing the path of their life.
PROFILE: Suprio Poroma is a teenager enthusiastic about studying visual arts. She is currently pursuing her academic studies and simultaneously studying photography. In future, she dreams to become a visual storyteller.
Goodbye (3’13”, UK)
DIRECTOR: Paula Szczyrba
INSTITUTE: Charles Darwin School
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: A teenage girl works through the five stages of grief after the death of her sister.
PROFILE: Paula Szczyrba. I am a 15 year old film-maker with a passion for cinematography, editing and directing. Despite my young age, I am building up my portfolio with as many films as I can , make, often working by myself. I love watching films and making films, always trying to get the perfect shot with my best friend, my tripod.
Avisa cuando llegues – Let me know when you’re home (2’, Spain)
DIRECTOR: Aitana Serrallet
INSTITUTE: IES Luis Vives (Valencia)
YEAR: 2019
SYNOPSIS: Walking alone in the street at night is not always easy for a woman
PROFILE: Born in Valencia in 2003 and grown up in a creative family, her father a musician and her mother an architect, Aitana Serrallet immediately showed that she had a predisposition for figurative art. When she was only 3 years old she sang in a choir and began to study harp at the Conservatory in Valencia, an instrument she played for a long time.. Her first approach to cinema was in 2013 when she was part of the cast of Our school in the middle of the street movie produced by MICE festival in Valencia. In 2018, as a second-year student at High School, she won a prize with a documentary about water and later that same year she started to work on Bosa, her first film, coproduced by IES Luis Vives and MICE Festival in Valencia and involving all her family. The movie has been awarded 6 international prizes. She has also made another two short movies: On the edge and Let me know when you’re home.
