Festival

Highlights PFF60

Pesaro 60
by Pedro Armocida

It feels so much more lonely on this special journey with the Pesaro Film Festival. 60 editions in which Adriano Aprà, who died last April 15, always participated, as a viewer on the first edition of 1965, and as a collaborator from 1966 onwards, without interruptions, until he directed it for almost a decade, from 1990 to 1998, leaving an extraordinarily innovative mark. Adriano, whom we remember and pay tribute to, was also an exceptional spectator of the recent editions, as he used to watch ALL the screenings (speaking of certain militant critics...) along with Bruno Torri – co-founder of the PFF with Lino Miccichè – who now follows us from a distance. It feels much more lonely even though, like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants, we have attempted to learn to work in the footsteps of what has already been done all the while trying to intercept what will be done in a special year for Pesaro, a “place of the spirit” according to Pier Paolo Pasolini, now the Italian capital of culture.

Therefore, the programme’s soul, i.e., the Competition, nurtures a privileged connection with its glorious past, including through a jury composed of three outstanding representatives of the new international cinema, all of whom celebrated with dedicated screenings. The Competition also plays a bridge role with the outlooks on the future showcased in the many sections of a Festival that is wide open to working in the various film formats, some of which now hardly visible on the big screen, from Super 8 to 35mm, to music videos. On top of everything, the PFF seeks a dialogue with the different audiences, which Adriano would always tell me not to underestimate. And he was right.