Editions
La Guarimba was launched on 7 August 2013. Excluding 2020, the festival has been held annually in the summer since 2013.
First edition
The first edition of the festival took place from 5 to 10 August 2013. [11] Out of the 303 short films that applied to the festival, 10 fiction films, 5 animated films, and 5 documentaries were selected. In addition, an exhibition of 30 posters from artists from all over the world was held.
As part of the German project "A Wall is A Screen" (a guest of the festival), several screenings were made using the walls of buildings in the streets of Amantea. The opening titles for the first edition were produced by TKSH Film Production.
Second edition
The second edition of the festival took place from the 7th to the 14th of August 2014. [16]
Out of the 498 short films from all over the world that participated in the selection, 20 fiction films, 15 animated films, and 10 documentaries were selected. An exhibition of 30 posters from artists from all over the world was held.
For the first time, the festival took place in the La Grotta de Amantea natural park, and installed a screen on the slopes of the cave. [16]
Third edition
The third edition of the festival took place from the 7th to the 11th of August 2015. [17]
This edition of the festival drew in more than a thousand people. 30 posters by artists from all over the world were exhibited. [18]
The American video hosting platform Vimeo was present at the festival to promote Vimeo On Demand. After the conference, a special program created by Sam Morrill was screened. [19]
Fourth edition
The fourth edition of the festival took place from the 7th to the 11th of August 2016. [20]
Over 1,300 short films from all over the world participated in the selection.
The fourth edition was dedicated to Chinese and Japanese cinema, celebrating 150 years of cultural exchange between Italy and the two countries.
During this edition, the selection of La Grotta dei Piccoli (films for children) was launched, with screenings of animated short films in a space dedicated to children.
Fifth edition
The fifth edition of the festival took place from the 7th to the 11th of August 2017. [21]
The theme of this edition was propaganda during the Cold War era. The program brought together short films of different genres from all continents.
Once again, Vimeo presented its "Vimeo Staff Pick". In addition to this, a program dedicated to African Films was created.
The program also included an exhibition of illustrations, a natural clothing dyeing workshop (with the Fragmentario Collective), and an African dance workshop.
Sixth edition
The sixth edition of the festival took place from 7 to 11 August 2018. [22]
1,500 short films from all over the world took 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 festival included an exhibition of illustrations, a film residency project, two concerts, and a conference day entitled "Young African Filmmakers and the future of African Cinema". [23]
Seventh edition
The seventh edition of the festival took place from 7 to 11 August 2019. [10]
More than 1000 short films participated in the selection - 152 works from 42 countries, which were divided into the five categories of Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Insomnia, and La Grotta dei Piccoli (Children's film).
The international jury was 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. [24]
The festival was launched with a collective cleaning of Aanya's beach, in collaboration with the NGO and Parley for the Oceans. In the following days, workshops, concerts, industry conferences, a narration seminar in collaboration with Scuola Holden, photographic exhibitions, and an exhibition of illustrations were organized. [2]
Eighth edition
The eighth edition of the festival took place from 7 to 12 August 2020. [25] Despite the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the majority of festivals to be held online, La Guarimba held a face-to-face event, registering more than 3,000 admissions in 6 days. [26]
1160 short films participated in the selection. 160 works coming from 54 countries from all continents, and divided into the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Insomnia, and La Grotta dei Piccoli were selected for the competition.
The eighth edition of the festival received the Medal of the Representation from the President of the Republic - Sergio Mattarella, the High Patronage of the European Parliament, the Patronage of the Council of Ministers, and also 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. [27]
In February 2020, the municipality of Amantea was dissolved due to fraud and mafia infiltration. [28] This caused the closure of La Grotta Park for a year. Therefore, the association engaged in an urban restoration project, cleaning up the park and restoring the facilities, and encouraging the involvement of the whole community, thus allowing the park to reopen to the public. [29]
Ninth edition
The ninth edition of the festival took place from August 7 to 12, 2021. [30]
1174 short films participated in the selection, with 172 films in competition from 56 countries all across the globe (5 African countries, 13 Asian, 28 European, 9 American, 1 Oceanic), divided into the following categories: fiction, animation, documentary, experimental, and 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 [31] 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. [32]
Tenth edition
The tenth edition of the festival took place from August 7 to 12, 2022. [33]
This edition received the same rewards as the previous years.
On the tenth anniversary of the festival, 163 short films were screened, from 54 countries all across the globe.
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 10th 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, and 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 from August 7 to 12, 2023 [34] at Il Terrinito. 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. Among the 1246 short films received, 159 films from 45 countries were screened.
There were 5 categories shown in 2023: 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 of 3 films from independent filmmakers (included two women) were screened, and the special program called Feminist Porn.
Twelfth edition
The twelfth edition took place from August 7 to 12, 2024, at Il Terrinito.
This edition received the same rewards as the previous years. Among the 1044 short films received, 158 films from 52 countries were screened.
There were 6 categories shown in 2024: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Videoclip, and Insomnia – Experimental Films and Dance. Like every year, La Grotta dei Piccoli also presented a selection of a hundred short films for children and young people.
Thirteenth edition
The thirteenth edition took place from August 7 to 12, 2025 [35] at Il Terrinito.
This edition received the same rewards as the previous years. Among the 1290 short films received, 193 films from 67 countries were screened.
There were 6 categories shown in 2025: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Videoclip, and Insomnia – Experimental Films and Dance. 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:
"Serato Animato", an Italian animators' collective curated a program of 15 animated shorts for the final night of the festival. At Grotta dei Piccoli, a program called "Sunday Cinema / Films of Resistance" was screened on the final evening of the festival. This is a collection of short animated films by Haneen Koraz, Nour A-Jawad, and Shorook Darwish. The films are created in collaboration with displaced children in Gaza.
