WINS THE 2022 FRANCO SOLINAS AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY FOR “TWO FRIENDS” BY GIULIA COSENTINO AND PIERFRANCESCO LI DONNI
Rome, 13 December 2022 – The 37th edition of the Solinas Award ended in Rome with two evening events: on 10 December at the Cinema Troisi with a tribute to Franco Solinas with the screening of the film Mr. Klein and the presentation of the finalists, on 12 December with the awarding of the winners of the second phase of the Franco Solinas Prize which was held at Casa Dante.
The Jury of the Franco Solinas Prize second phase composed of Roberto De Paolis, Leonardo Fasoli, Fulvio Firrito, Federico Pontiggia, Paola Randi, Maddalena Ravagli And Monica Zapelli found a very high quality of writing in all 9 finalist projects that competed for the awards –
- RED STAMP by Leonardo MALAGUTI,
- CHANGE OF SEASON by Pier Lorenzo PISANO,
- TWO FRIENDS by Giulia COSENTINO and Pierfrancesco LI DONNI,
- TWO LIKE US by Elena DALLORSO, Francesco NICCHIARELLI and Laura NICCHIARELLI,
- THE BEST by Alessandro Nelson GAROFALO,
- IOLE FREED by Nicoletta WITHOUT WATER,
- THE CROSSING by Andrea Paolo MASSARA and Cristian PATANÈ,
- MARATREZA by Arturo Caciotti,
- WIND ’92 by Pierpaolo MOSCATELLO –
and decreed three winners:
It wins the Franco Solinas Award for Best Screenplay of 8,000 euros
TWO FRIENDS by Giulia COSENTINO and Pierfrancesco LI DONNI
with the following motivation:
“For the strength, truth and delicacy with which he tells his young protagonists.
The friendship between Desirèe and Daniel, without ever falling into rhetoric or stereotype, illuminates a marginal Palermo, in which the two boys move with the naturalness of those who have never known a different life, and succeeds, despite the peculiarity of the context , to outline the portrait of a generation in which friendship can be stronger than love, and the struggle of growing up meets that of surviving.”
Wins the Claudia Sbarigia Scholarship of 1,000 euros
dedicated to rewarding the talent in telling the characters and the female universe:
THE CROSSING by Andrea Paolo MASSARA and Cristian PATANÈ
with the following motivation:
“For the portrait of a young woman who seeks with strength, desperation and obstinacy a meaning to her life and to what is happening around her, merging, with the naturalness of a girl of her generation, the sacred and the profane, the most traditional and the call of life.
Matilde alternating strength and fragility, security and bewilderment, goes through an intense and interesting story head on, but which has yet to find the strength of its protagonist.
The Jury also decided to award a Special Mention
THE BEST by Alessandro NELSON GAROFALO
with the following motivation:
“For the ability to lightly and passionately build a success story set in the world of poker, freed from gambling addiction and linked to crime.
The biographical derivation is at times coercive, the sentimental relationship is affected by some stereotypes and the voice over should be calmed down, but they are formal defects compared to the strength of the protagonist, a professional player rarely contemplated by our cinema.
Giovanna Puglia
Giovanna PugliaDelegate for Cinema of the Lazio Region, declares:
“In recent years, the Lazio Region has demonstrated with deeds that it believes in cinema as a fundamental part of our culture and identity.
We have invested heavily in this sector and bet on the younger generations.
With the “From word to screen” campaign, we have financed original writing projects for cinema, television and the web and continue our work in schools with training and image education projects.
With this spirit we supported the Solinas Award, an important project that focuses on writing as a fundamental part in the creation of a film and enhances young talents and creates job opportunities in the cinema and audiovisual sector.
Thanks to the seriousness of initiatives like these, we can continue to support new talents and the younger generations”.
Gianluca Aste
Gianluca AstePresident of the Sardinia film Commission, says:
“The strength of the Solinas Prize is exponential and contagious: this year’s edition was extraordinary for us also for the opening to the Screen in Green competition, the only Italian public writing competition for the audiovisual explicitly dedicated to the Ecological Transition, structured with MITE as a virtuous experience of collaboration between public bodies and creative talents.
We are certain that the residential writing workshops on our island fuel a new ambition for all of Italian cinema, and enhance the effort we have made to spread awareness of a sustainable Sardinia, a true forge of new models, talents and ideas to redefine the European audiovisual ecosystem”.
Anna Maria Granatello
Anna Maria GranatelloDirector of the Solinas Prize, says:
“It was an extraordinary year: a total of 1,209 projects were submitted to the 6 Solinas Prize competitions which were evaluated with great rigor by 80 Jurors (screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, editors, critics).
It is a very strong emotion to work with Italian cinema professionals who take on the responsibility of finding talent and innovating the creative audiovisual industry.
An emotion that pervaded this 37th edition which started from Rome in July with a focus on television series, had its peak in La Maddalena with Higher Education Labs, screenings and conferences and ended here in Rome with a tribute to Franco Solinas and with a big party, supported by Allianz, which consolidated the common commitment of all the partners, whom I sincerely thank, in support of the Italian audiovisual sector”.
Frances Solinas
Frances SolinasHonorary President of the Solinas Prize, comments:
“It is important to underline how fundamental audiovisual creation is in these difficult times of transition to a new way of understanding the world and life, in the name of the life and works of Franco Solinas.
Heartfelt thanks to all those who are committed to the renewal and planning of a better future with the Solinas Prize”.
The Jury of the First Phase of the Franco Solinas Prize 2022 is composed of:
Isabella Aguilar, Mariangela Barbanente, Luca Cabriolu, Teresa Cavina, Francesca Cima, Antonietta De Lillo, Salvatore De Mola, Graziano Diana, Paola Freddi, Valentina Gaddi, Luca Giordano, Annamaria Granatello, Guido Iuculano, Cosetta Lagani, Antonella Lattanzi, Francesca Longardi, Ilaria Macchia, Marina Marzotto, Silvio Maselli, Davide Orsini, Fabio Paladini, Cristiana Paternò, Giannandrea Pecorelli, Michele Pellegrini, Marco Puccioni, Laura Pugno, Mimmo Rafele, Fabrizia Sacchi, Roberto Scarpetti, Paolo Strippoli, Gianni Tetti, Massimo Torre, Ines Vasiljevic , Valerio Vestoso, Lorenzo Vignolo, Stefano Voltaggio.
The Solinas Prize is supported by:
MIC, Lazio Region, Sardinia Region, Sardinia Film Commission Foundation, Municipality of La Maddalena and SIAE, enjoys patronage of MITE, of the La Maddalena Archipelago Park Authority, of the Multimedia Production Course of the University of Cagliari, of the G.Garibaldi Institute and of the trade associations: 100 authors, Anac, Writers Guild Italia, Doc/It, Anica, Apa, Agici, CNA, Unita and SNCCI, with the support of Rai Cinema, sponsors: Allianz and Assimovie, e collaborate with Green Cross Italia, Fest, Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid, Bookciak Action Award!Apollo11, Ids, Olbia Film Network, Circus of the Unusual, Main Sponsor Experimenta Serie: Rai Fiction; Partner The Screenplay Workshop:Netflix; Media Partners: Cinecittà News.