9° 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 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.
Dare.
Director: Johanna Halbartschlager
Austria, 6’06’’
HTL1 Bau & Design Linz (Multimedia Department)
SYNOPSIS: Dare. This work wants to show the audience the difficulties and complexity of interpersonal relationships in today’s society by presenting the existence of three individuals and their struggle to cope with everyday life. The characters experience both moments of comfort and discomfort, allowing us to glimpse through their well-kept secrets.
PROFILE: Johanna Halbartschlager was born in the small city of Amstetten in Lower Austria. Driven by her passion for filmmaking and storytelling, she is presently attending the multimedia department of HTL1 Bau & Design in Linz. She was able to gain valuable experience in the film business working for well-established international production companies. Johanna has credits as production assistant, post-production assistant and production runner on several feature films. Her first short film DARE was awarded international acclaim at various film festivals.
Futile Attempts
Director: Evgeniya Papina
Uzbekistan, 1’
#118 school in Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
SYNOPSIS: In our life there are often several circumstances that do not always have a “happy ending”
PROFILE: Born in Uzbekistan in 2007, she is currently studying at №168 school in Tashkent. She is fond of dog breeding (cynologist) and has bred three dogs herself. She collects empty metal beverage cans and likes to make different things out of them. She also makes beaded jewelry (she has lots of rings and bracelets). “Beading soothes me”- she says. This short is the first independent work in the framework of her training at DRF Children Animation Studio.
Sound Of Borders
Director: Bahar Rezvanifar
Iran-Isfahan, 1’24’’
Fazili Art High School
SYNOPSIS: A girl who imagines herself as if she were born in other countries, with different appearances.
PROFILE: Bahar Rezvanifar was born in February 2004, in Isfahan, Iran. She studied animation from 2020 to 2022 by attending an art high school and is interested in art, literature, and philosophy. She worked as a journalist for 2 years for local newspapers and during international film festival for children and youth, held in Iran from 2017 to 2019. However, in the end she has chosen art as her main interest and has been working as a freelancer artist since 2021.
The Teardrop
Director: Yizhou Liao
China, 4’57’’
Tower Hill School
SYNOPSIS: The Teardrop focuses on how technology further isolates senior citizens from today’s society. The film tells about four elderly women who are discussing about how to learn to use cell phones while playing a traditional Chinese game, Mahjong. Cici, the 10-year-old granddaughter of one of the women, overhears their conversation and decides to help them by creating a song with lyrics that explain the best way to learn how to use a mobile phone.
PROFILE: Yizhou Emma Liao is an international student from China, currently studying as a 12th-grade student at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Emma draws from her personal experience when writing for short films. Moved by one footage form the news that was reporting how difficult it can be for the elderly to use digital devices, and aware of the problems that her grandma experienced at a supermarket that only accepted electronic payments, she created The Teardrop to emphasize the struggle for senior citizens to adapt to technology.
Su e giù – Up And Down
Director: Chiara Mancina
Italy, 2’40’’
I.I.S G.Cena, Ivrea
SYNOPSIS: A teenager from a tiny village lives very badly her everyday life, which seems to have become a routine. She seeks consolation in some medicines she finds at her house, but as time goes by this will only worsen her mental condition and make her days even drearier. Without realizing, the girl increases the daily dose of the drugs she is taking, to the point that she totally loses control of the situation. She is no longer able to remember how beautiful life can be or how the colors can fill our daily memories.
PROFILE: Chiara Mancina, fourth year student at the technical institute i.i.s G.Cena in the city of Ivrea, Cultural and Entertainment Services.
