Lo Schermo dell'Arte Festival Celebrates 11 Years in Florence

The 11th edition of Lo Schermo dell'Arte festival in Florence featured the Italian premiere of Jumana Manna's 'Wild Relatives', which explores environmental issues through the lens of the ICARDA center. Festival director Silvia Lucchesi discussed the growing relevance of climate change in art, noting that artists increasingly engage with political and social themes such as migration, the end of socialism, and globalization. The festival's documentary program offers extended narrative forms for these explorations. Lucchesi emphasized the festival's extended reach beyond its dates, including collaborations with Palazzo Grassi in Venice and Art House in Shkodër, Albania. The festival's training programs, VISIO and Feature Expanded, have proven successful: VISIO alumni Diego Marcon won the MAXXI Bulgari Prize 2018, and Driant Zeneli will represent Albania at the Venice Biennale. Feature Expanded, in partnership with HOME Manchester and supported by Creative Europe/MEDIA, helped produce Gabrielle Brady's 'Island of the Hungry Ghosts', which won awards at Tribeca, Mumbai Film Festival, and IDFA Amsterdam. Lucchesi argued that Florence's contemporary art scene is not in opposition to its ancient heritage, and the festival attracts a diverse audience of students and international professionals working with moving images.