St. Moritz Art Film Festival debuts with Pasolini, Paci, and face-to-face encounters
The first edition of the St. Moritz Art Film Festival (SMAFF) took place from August 25 to 28, 2022, founded and directed by Stefano Rabolli Pansera. The festival opened with Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'La ricotta' at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, contrasting the poet's critique of consumerism with the luxury Alpine resort. SMAFF screened nearly 50 works across four categories under the theme 'Face to Face,' exploring encounters with the other. Screenings occurred simultaneously at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel (for members paying €5,000 each) and the Reithalle, a former horse stable turned cinema, both just 13 minutes apart. The Best Film by an Artists Award went to Adrian Paci's 'La prova' (2019), a close-up of unemployed workers in Shkodër, Albania repeating 'prova.' Diego Marcon's 'The Parents’ Room' (2021) won The Love at First Sight Award, a pseudo-animation about a father's murder-suicide. Roman Hüben's 'Douglas Sirk: Hope As in Despair' (2022) won The Best Feature Film Award. Italian artists featured included Rä di Martino with 'Laughing Dice' (2022), Yuri Ancarani with 'Atlantide' (2021), and Eva and Franco Mattes presenting 'The Bots' (2021) about social media moderators. Julian Schnabel presented 'Before Night Falls' (1999). Rabolli Pansera announced the 2023 theme 'Becoming Landscape' and plans to expand to other Engadin towns like Sils Maria, Susch, and Pontresina, with a boutique festival model emphasizing philosophical research and community.
Key facts
- First edition of St. Moritz Art Film Festival (SMAFF) held August 25–28, 2022
- Founded and directed by Stefano Rabolli Pansera
- Theme: 'Face to Face' with nearly 50 works in four categories
- Screened at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel (members) and Reithalle (public)
- Membership fee: €5,000 each
- Adrian Paci's 'La prova' won Best Film by an Artists Award
- Diego Marcon's 'The Parents’ Room' won Love at First Sight Award
- Roman Hüben's 'Douglas Sirk: Hope As in Despair' won Best Feature Film Award
- 2023 theme announced: 'Becoming Landscape'
- Future plans include more venues in Sils Maria, Susch, Pontresina and collaboration with Arthouse
Entities
Artists
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Stefano Rabolli Pansera
- Ara H. Merjian
- Adrian Paci
- Diego Marcon
- Matthias Brunner
- Malcom McLaren
- Young Kim
- Vivienne Westwood
- Roman Hüben
- Douglas Sirk
- Rä di Martino
- Yuri Ancarani
- Eva and Franco Mattes
- Ute Aurand
- Max Farago
- Julian Schnabel
- Vito Schnabel
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Reinaldo Arenas
- Roni Horn
- Thomas Mann
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Cecilia Alemani
- Nicola Davide Angerame
- Aura Satz
- Eduardo Williams
- Young-jun Tak
- Chiara Vecchiarelli
- Ingel Vaikal
- Amei Wallach
- Andrea Bettinetti
- Leonardo Bigazzi
- Adam Szymczyk
- Róisín Tapponi
- Franco Farinelli
- Mariano Blatt
- Le Corbusier
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Germano Celant
- Gilles Deleuze
- Ingmar Bergman
- Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Peter Sloterdijk
- Stefano Vastano
- Alexander von Humboldt
- Francesco Garutti
- Lydia Ourahmane
- Leah Gordon
- Apinan Poshyananda
- Marina Abramović
- Robert Cahen
- Christian Labhart
- Giovanni Segantini
- Not Vital
- Pascal Hofmann
- Luigi Ghirri
- Matteo Parisini
- Lawrence Lek
- Raffaela Naldi Rossano
- Felipe Esparza Pérez
- Rabolli Pansera
- Martin Hatebur
- Ewa Hess
- Stephanie Comilang
- Sophie Fiennes
- Heecheon Kim
- Michel Auder
- Malcolm McLaren
- Andrew Norman Willson
- Vaslav Nijinsky
- Gerhard Richter
- Richard Long
- Joseph Beuys
- Marlene Dietrich
- Audrey Hepburn
- Jean-Luc Godard
Institutions
- St. Moritz Art Film Festival (SMAFF)
- Badrutt’s Palace Hotel
- Reithalle
- New York University
- Biennale di Venezia
- Arthouse
- Artribune
- St. Moritz Film Festival (SMAFF)
- SMAFF (St. Moritz Art Film Festival)
- Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)
- Hauser & Wirth
- Badrutt's Palace Hotel
- Angola Pavilion
- Venice Biennale
Locations
- St. Moritz
- Switzerland
- Engadine
- Shkodër
- Albania
- London
- United Kingdom
- New York
- United States
- Las Vegas
- Mexico
- Venice
- Italy
- Sils Maria
- Susch
- Pontresina
- Engadina
- Marseille
- France
- Guinea Bissau
- Spain
- Montreal
- Canada
- Tripoli
- Lebanon
- Algeria
- Haiti
- China
- Engadin
- Arco
- Sent
- Scandiano
- Roncocesi
- Naples
- Peru
- Alta Engadina
- St. Moritz Bad