#Waterevolution Award is a prize dedicated to films on sustainability, the big new addition to the Milan Film Festival 2017. The idea comes from Gruppo Cap, the company that manages the city's public water supply, with the aim of bringing to the screen the values associated with responsible water use.
Drink responsibly. This is not the usual warning you might read on an alcoholic beverage, but a new vision of the relationship between water and people. Arising from the need to raise awareness of the threats facing this essential resource — from climate change to irresponsible consumption patterns — this year sees the first edition of the #Waterevolution Award, a film prize dedicated to the themes of sustainability and the circular economy, held within the framework of the Milan Film Festival (Mff) and conceived by Gruppo Cap, the water service manager for the metropolitan city of Milan and a long-standing partner of the festival, which this year runs from 28 September to 8 October. The aim is to speak about the impact our choices have on the planet through the evocative and contemporary language of cinema.
Five works will be awarded prizes — those most effective in conveying the cultural revolution that Gruppo Cap, committed on a daily basis to the sustainable management of water, wishes to spark. The objective is to make water the driving force of innovation in light of climate change and the socioeconomic processes of globalisation, a vehicle for stimulating debate on the great global challenges we will face in the coming years. The winners will be selected by a jury composed of Alessandro Russo, president and chief executive of Gruppo Cap, Stefano Carnazzi, editor-in-chief of LifeGate, media partner of the initiative, and Alessandro Uccelli, film critic and selector of the films taking part in the Mff's feature-length and short film competitions.
"#Waterevolution Award has the ambition of becoming, over time, a point of reference for those who wish to express their passion for sustainability and their commitment to making it a reality. Feature film, short film, documentary and animation — these are the categories from which the jury will choose the most #waterevolutionary work, one capable of telling not so much the story of water itself but of the values that should be associated with water: respect for the environment, equality and the absence of discrimination, transparency and safety"
(Alessandro Russo, president and chief executive of Gruppo Cap)
The centrality of water and sustainability themes will not end with the Milan film showcase but will be carried forward through a tour that will bring the films awarded by the #Waterevolution Award to cinema screens in Cinisello Balsamo, Legnano, Magenta, Pioltello and Rozzano, municipalities in the Milan hinterland served by Gruppo Cap.
It is not only through the language of cinema that light is shed on the importance of responsible resource management, but also through good practice. At the Mff, free water will be available, plastic-free and zero-kilometre, thanks to the dispensers that Gruppo Cap provides at Base, the festival's main venue. Here, the appointment is for the presentation of the water company's 2016 sustainability report on 2 October at 18:00, an important occasion to discuss the results it has achieved in terms of environmental awareness and circular economy.
"Starting with Where the Green Ants Dream, in 1984, when Werner Herzog told us about the struggle of Australian Aborigines against the mining industries, we were shown that cinema can keep us gripped in fantastic storylines while simultaneously denouncing harsh reality. The #Waterevolution Award goes further: as well as rewarding the most incisive, most powerful, most interesting work, it has an impact on the organisation of the festival itself, bringing with it a ban on the sale of plastic water bottles and ensuring that tap water is distributed free of charge to everyone. A perfect example of how cinema can positively influence reality"
(Stefano Carnazzi, editor-in-chief of LifeGate)
Following the presentation of Gruppo Cap's sustainability report, there will be the European premiere of the documentary film To the ends of the Earth. Director David La Vallee and the narrating voice of Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson take us to the frontier of fossil fuel extraction, an industry that is pushing into ever wilder and more inhospitable corners of the planet in a desperate attempt to save itself from collapse.
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For eleven days the Lombard capital comes alive with dozens of events, from film screenings to musical evenings, exhibitions and encounters with special guests. The festival venues are four — Base Milano, Mudec. Museo delle culture, Cinema Ducale and Cascina Cuccagna — which will host the best of international independent cinema from 28 September to 8 October.
Read also: Milan Film Festival 2017, independent cinema takes centre stage from 28 September to 8 October
At the heart of the packed programme is the international feature film competition. Eight debut and second works in Italian premiere from directors around the world. On the jury is Abel Ferrara, the American director known for his provocative and controversial style. Worth highlighting is the festival's opening film, Gabriel e a montanha (Gabriel and the mountain) by Brazilian director Felipe Barbosa, which reconstructs the life of a missing friend through the accounts of those who knew him, and the Turkish film Meteorlar (Meteors) by Gürcan Keltek, set in Turkish Kurdistan.
The international short film competition features 41 works in competition, all by directors under 40. Not to be missed are 498 years by Hayoun Kwon, which uses 3D animation to take us into the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas, and It's easier to raise a cattle by Amanda Nell Eu, a modern retelling of the Malaysian myth of the Pontianak, the female spirit in search of revenge.
The out-of-competition film selection is also varied and wide-ranging. Highlights include Manifesto by Julian Rosefeldt, 13 monologues performed by Cate Blanchett reciting passages from celebrated twentieth-century artists' manifestos; the Oscar-nominated film 20th century women by Mike Mills with Annette Bening, which explores the feminism of the 1970s; and Girl power, a Czech documentary about what it means to be a woman in the world of street art.
For the first time there will be screenings of virtual reality films in a room at Base that remains active until March 2018 – a project presented together with Fastweb digital academy, already present at the venue with training courses in digital skills. For the duration of the festival, two exhibitions will also be open to visitors. Noi. Milano 1968-1977, which traces the student uprisings of those years through a multi-screen video installation, and Enrico Appetito per Michelangelo Antonioni sui set 1959-1964, which displays the works of Appetito, a set photographer on the films L'avventura and Il deserto rosso. The latter is inaugurated with a musical performance by Boosta, on 29 September at 10pm at Base.
Colpe di stato is the political documentary retrospective that this year presents two Italian premieres: Untitled by Michael Glawogger and Monika Willi, which tells of forced migrations, and Machines by Rahul Jain, a journey into the lives of workers at an Indian textile company. The journey continues into the sensory dimension with Audiovisiva, events combining music, art and new technologies, including a concert by the Ensemble Sinestesia accompanied by the visual improvisations of Vincent Moon, who is also the director of Ibridi. Lo spirito del Brasile, footage of sacred ceremonies gathered over three years of exploration. Music is also central to VideoEspanso, which explores new trajectories in music videos.
Read also: Vincent Moon, il regista che documenta i suoni del mondo
A long-standing fixture is the Focus animazione, and in particular the animation marathon – more than three hours of screenings on 2 October at 8:30pm at Base. For those who want to enter the world of cinema there is the Debut retrospective, a training course with exceptional guests from the industry. Also dedicated to emerging talents are the Meeting pot retrospective, produced by secondary school students on the theme of second generations, and milano film festivalino, a series of events aimed at younger audiences.