History
In 2012, the artistic director of La Guarimba, Giulio Vita, returned to his hometown, Amantea, together with the illustrator Sara Fratini. They planned to create an international short film festival that would open up a space for emerging names from the world of cinema. [8] [9] However, all the cinemas in Amantea had been closed due to low attendance. Thus, following an agreement, the Arena Sicoli, a former open-air cinema, with 938 seats and abandoned for more than two years, was restored.
In four months and with the help of Amantea's community, the Sicoli family as well as external collaborators, Giulio Vita and Sara Fratini cleaned and renovated the space, making it once again accessible and functional. [10] Young people from Italy and the rest of the world joined the project and worked on the relaunch of the Arena Sicoli, finally reopened for the first edition of the festival in August 2013. [11]
For the second edition, the cinema concession was not renewed. Therefore, the festival took place in the "La Grotta" natural park in Amantea, succeeding in maintaining the original spirit of the open-air cinema. [12]
In 2020, on the occasion of the eighth edition, the Audience Award for the best short film in competition was dedicated to Vitaliano Camarca, creator of the historic Program "Film Mediterraneo" in Amantea.
In 2021, the association purchased land in the center of Amantea to build a space dedicated to culture and events open to the community. [13]
Illustration exhibition
For each edition of the festival, Sara Fratini organizes a poster exhibition called "Artists for La Guarimba". The posters are made each year by several international artists, who interpret the official festival poster in their own style. The exhibition is open during the festival and also in different places of the tour. [17]
Some of the posters made have won awards and the recognition of AI American Illustration, such as Meredith Jansen's in 2020 [18] and Natalya Balnova in 2015. [19]
Among the artists who made posters for the festival are Jean Jullien, Sawako Kabuki, Egle Zvirblyte, Juan Pablo Zaramella, Elisa Macellari, Antoine Lopez (founder of the Clermont-Ferrand festival), Hannah Jacobs, Cécile Dormeau, Thomas Wellmann, Amélie Fontaine, Laurina Paperina, Powerpaola, Joe Murray, David De Las Heras, Adolfo Serra, Alberto Montt, Liniers, Angela Dalinger, Joe Ciardiello, Rayma.
Editions
La Guarimba was launched on 7 August 2013.
Until 2020, the festival is held continuously every summer, counting eight editions to date.
First edition
The first edition of the festival took place in Amantea from the 5th to the 10th of August 2013. [20]
303 short films from around the world apply to the selection and 10 fiction films, 5 animated films and 5 documentaries were selected. In addition, an exhibition of 30 posters of artists from all over the world was held.
As part of the German project "A Wall is A Screen"(being a guest of the festival), several screenings were made in the streets of Amantea.
The opening titles for the first edition were produced by TKSH Film Production and directed by the Venezuelan Adolfo Bueno.
The members of the jury included the Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, as president, the Italian Claudio Metallo, as well as the Spanish Pablo Cristóbal, Alicia Victoria Palacios Thomas and Carlo Cristóbal, members of El Tornillo de Klaus.
Third edition
The third edition of the festival took place in Amantea from the 7th to the 11th of August 2015. [23]
The official selection of short films in the categories fiction, animation and documentary aimed to challenge rather than only to entertain its audience. This edition of the festival drew in more than a thousand spectators.
30 posters by artists from all over the world were exhibited. [24]
Vimeo's presence at the festival enriched the content of this third festival, when the first European conference on independent distribution and Vimeo On Demand was launched. After the conference, a special program created by Sam Morrill was screened. [25]
The jury was made up of the independent director Tomas Sheridan, Vimeo curator Sam Morrill, as well as members of El Tornillo de Klaus.
Sixth edition
The sixth edition of the festival takes place in Amantea from the 7th to the 11th of August 2018. [28]
1,500 short films from all over the world take part in the selection, with 68 works in competition, divided into the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Insomnia, and La Grotta dei Piccoli - Films for children.
The international jury is composed of: the Belgian author, film critic and director, fr:Djia Mambu, who also works in the Democratic Republic of Congo; IndieWire journalist Jude Dry (United States); and director Thomas Horat (Switzerland).
The festival includes an exhibition of illustrations, a film residency project, two concerts, as well as a conference day entitled "Young African filmmakers and the future of African cinema". [29]
Seventh edition
The seventh edition of the festival takes place in Amantea from the 7th to the 11th of August 2019. [30]
More than 1000 short films participate in the selection. 152 works from 42 countries, divided into the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Insomnia and La Grotta dei Piccoli - Children's film, are selected.
The international jury is composed of Jeanette Bonds (United States), founder and director of the GLAS Animation Festival, Éva Katinka Bógnar (Hungary), teacher and animation director, as well as Norma Guevara (France), director of the Women Film Festival Network. [31]
The festival is launched with a collective cleaning of Amantea's beach, in collaboration with the NGO - Parley For The Oceans. The following days, workshops, concerts, a day of conferences for the industry, a narration seminar in collaboration with Scuola Holden, photographic exhibitions and an exhibition of illustrations are organized. [32]
Eighth edition
The eighth edition of the festival takes place in Amantea from the 7th to the 12th of August 2020. [33] Despite the health crisis situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic which has forced the majority of festivals to be held online, La Guarimba makes it face-to-face, registering more than 3000 admissions in 6 days. [34]
1160 short films participate in the selection. 160 works coming from 54 countries of all the contents, and divided in the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Insomnia, La Grotta dei Piccoli - Films for children are selected for the competition.
The eighth edition of the festival receives the Medal of the Representation of the President of the Republic - Sergio Mattarella, the High Patronage of the European Parliament, the Patronage of the Council of Ministers, and received the support of the embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Federal German Republic, the Republic of Ireland, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the Austrian Cultural Forum, as well as the Flanders State of Arts. [35]
In February 2020, the municipality of Amantea is dissolved due to fraud and mafia infiltration. [36] This causes the closure of La Grotta Park throughout the year. Therefore, the association engages in an urban restoration project, cleaning up the park and restoring the facilities, encouraging the involvement of the whole community, thus allowing the park to reopen to the public. [37]
Ninth edition
The ninth edition of the festival takes place in Amantea from August 7 to 12, 2021. [38]
1174 short films participated in the selection, with 172 films in competition from 56 countries from all continents (5 African countries, 13 Asian, 28 European, 9 American, 1 Oceanic), divided into the following categories: fiction, animation, documentary, experimental, La Grotta dei Piccoli - Children's Film.
The ninth edition received the Medal of Representation of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the High Patronage of the European Parliament, the Patronage of the Council of Ministers and the Award of Representation of the Chamber of Deputies ; and was realized thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of the United States in Italy, in collaboration with the European Commission, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Italy, the Embassy of Switzerland for Italy, Malta and San Marino, the Embassy of Lithuania in Italy, the Embassy of Ireland in Italy, the Embassy of Norway, the Embassy of Australia, the Embassy of Canada, the Flemish State of the Arts, and the Polish Institute in Rome.
Due to the collapse of a rocky ridge in the historic center of Amantea, which made the Parco La Grotta [39] unusable, the festival had to change location. The idea was to recover an abandoned parking lot, as part of a larger urban renewal project that led to the cleaning and clearing of the area, as well as the creation of two murals by street artists Sara Fratini and Cesáh. [40]
Tenth edition
The tenth edition of the festival took place in Amantea from August 7 to 12, 2022. [41]
This edition received the same rewards as the previous years.
On the tenth anniversary of the festival, 163 short films have been screened, from 54 countries of all continents.
There were 5 categories: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Videoclip and Insomnia – Experimental Films. Like every year, La grotta dei Piccoli also presented a selection of a hundred short films for children and young people. In celebration of its anniversary, the festival also presented 4 special programs: Indigenous Films, dedicated to 5 indigenous cultures from 5 continents; A Screen for Glas Animation which screened short films from this Californian festival, partner of La Guarimba; Sláva Ukrayíni!, a screening of Ukrainian movies in support of the directors affected by the conflict; Taiwan Focus which celebrated the Taiwanese independent cinema and hosted the Ambassador of Taiwan, Andrea Sing-Ying Lee, at the Holy See.
Eleventh edition
The eleventh edition took place in Amantea from August 7 to 12 2023 [42] at Il Terrinito as La Grotta Park, which hosted the previous edition, was closed at the beginning of the year due to unsafe conditions.
This edition received the same rewards as the previous years and among the 1246 short films received 159 have been screened, from 45 countries.
There were 5 categories: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Videoclip and Insomnia – Experimental Films. Like every year, La Grotta dei Piccoli also presented a selection of a hundred short films for children and young people.
During this edition, some special programs were also presented: the short documentary film UNHCR: Rebuilding Ukraine that showed the humanitarian aid process in Ukraine, the program Stories from Iran during which one 3 films from independent filmmakers (included two women) were screened, and the special program called Feminist Porn.
