La Guarimba Film Festival Returns for 8th Edition in Calabria

The 8th edition of La Guarimba film festival will take place from August 7 to 12 in Amantea, Calabria, featuring over 160 short films from 54 countries. Founded by Giulio Vita and Sara Fratini, the festival brings cinema to a region where the nearest movie theater is over 30 kilometers away. This year's program includes a special section for children organized with Unicef Italia called La Grotta dei Piccoli. The festival will honor Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty, known for his surrealist style and themes of politics and social conditions in Africa. Nineteen works come from European countries with limited distribution potential, including Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Macedonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Fourteen works come from extra-European countries: Bolivia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, New Zealand, Palestine, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Vietnam. The festival has supported the Cinema America group's fight for fair film distribution. Due to distribution issues, La Guarimba was denied permission to screen Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman and will instead show a short film by the same director and La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil by Djibril Diop Mambéty. The Audience Award will be dedicated to Vitaliano Camarca, a journalist who pioneered film and art festivals in the region. The festival will comply with COVID-19 regulations while maintaining its 'guerrilla' spirit.