Italy out among the films, two animated shorts remain in the competition

Italy was not included in the shortlist of the 15 best films nominated for the Oscars in the Best International Film category: therefore “Familia” by Francesco Costabile, the film chosen to represent Italian cinema in Los Angeles, did not make it. The race for Academy Award nominations continues with “Bele’n” (Argentina), “The Secret Agent” (Brazil), “A Simple Accident” (France, but directed by the Iranian master Jafar Panahi, persecuted by the regime), “Sound of Falling” (Germany), “Homebound” (India), “The President’s Cake” (Iraq), “Kokuho” (Japan), “All That’s Left of You” (Jordan), “Sentimental Value” (Norway), “Palestine 36” (Palestine), “Other Choice” (South Korea), “Sirat” (Spain), “Late Shift” (Switzerland, already released in Italian cinemas with the title “The Last Shift”, a touching story of a nurse and her relationship with patients), “Left-Handed Girl” (Taiwan) and “The voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia). The announcement of the five films nominated to compete for the best international film award is scheduled for January 22nd, while the Oscar award ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on March 15th.

The only Italian presence at the Oscars will therefore be in animated short films. And it all starts from Bologna. In the running remain “Playing God”, born from a group of friends who designed and produced 7 minutes of stop-motion under the arcades of the Emilian city, and “Éiru” by Giovanna Ferrari. Born in Bologna in 1979, she has lived in Ireland since 2015, where she works as head of story and designer in the prestigious animation studio Cartoon Saloon. “Éiru” is the story of a tiny girl with flame-colored hair in Celtic Ireland, and it is the first work of which Ferrari directed and wrote the screenplay. “Playing God”, a work by Bolognese director Mattia Burani, tells of a tormented sculptor who tries to mold a human figure of ideal proportions out of clay. When he realizes he has failed, he abandons her. The creature, in a desperate attempt to reach him, destroys itself and finds compassion among the other renegade works. The eyes bathed in tears and the disfigured bodies of over 60 terracotta puppets 58 centimeters high, equipped with internal armour, were shaped by Gheller, founder together with Burani of Studio Croma in Bologna.