MARIA'S SILENCE

Documentary, Experimental

Italy

2017

Runtime, min

“I have already been
A bush and a bird
A boy and a girl
A mute fish in the sea”

(Empedocles, Purifications)

This film is based on documentary material but is not, strictly speaking, a documentary film. Nor it is a work of fiction. The film rather appeared to us like a dream, not a nocturnal dream, but one which unfolded day by day while shooting. A dream shared between the photographer-director and the actress (or, better, the woman portrayed in the feature), which nevertheless seemed to follow its own, enigmatic necessity through which the daily shots joined almost magnetically, interweaving in a pattern of superimposed layers that unceasingly merge and dissolve one in another, in the constant flux, crystallization and reshaping of psychic interior. At a certain point, this dream seems to end but in fact it only opens up to another dream, or hallucination, where the film itself abruptly starts to burn, unleashing new and old visions - fragments of reality - until it is put out by a sudden storm and dissolves in a twilight of sea-waters. In this sense, the film is also a meditation on the elements, Water and Fire, Wind, Earth and Skin, inspired by a Sun-Eye that appeared almost by itself in one of the first shots and took possession of the narration, in the endless flow and unfathomable metamorphosis of all things and beings.

Director:

Cesare Bedogne

Upcoming screening:

Selections and Awards:

Beijing International Short Film Festival 2017
Beijing
Chinese Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
China

Italian Institute of Culture, Athens, Greece (2018)
Athens
November 14, 2018
Greek Premiere
Photography and Film-Making Retrospective Exhibition
Greece

Concrete Dream Film Festival 2018
Los Angeles
June 9, 2018
American Premiere
BEST FILM (Philippe Mora Award for Avant-Garde Cinematography))
United States

Rome Independent Prisma Film Awards 2018
Roma
BEST EDITING
Italy

AMIIWorkFest 2018
Vilnius
October 27, 2018
BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE
Lithuania

16th One Shot Short Film Festival 2018 (Film Without Limits section), Armenian Centre for Contemporary Experimental Art
Yerevan
Armenian Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Armenia

FICCSUR 2018
Valparaìso
South American Premiere
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE
Chile

Norwegian Seagull International Short Film Festival 2018
Haugesund
European Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Norway

BIDEODROMO BILBAO 2018, International Experimental Film Festival
Bilbao
Spanish Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Spain

Santorini Film Festival 2018
Santorini
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Greece

Foggia International Film Festival 2018
Foggia
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Italy

69th Montecatini International Short Film Festival
Montecatini
October 25, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Italy

Amazing Shorts 2018
Madrid
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Spain

Nuovo Festival del Cinema di Alghero 2018
Alghero
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Italy

5th Cinemistica Film Festival 2018
Granada
October 26, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Spain

Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival 2018
Istanbul
Turkish Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Turkey

Pollino Film Festival 2018
Pollino
BEST OF FEST, BEST EDITING, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Italy

Virgin Spring Cinefest
Calcutta
November 29, 2019
Indian Premiere
14th season BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
India

Aphrodite Film Festival 2019
New York
BEST DIRECTOR EXPERIMENTAL
United States

AVIFF CAnnes Art Film Festival 2019
Cannes
French Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
France

European Cinematography Awards 2019
Amsterdam
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Netherlands

Il Varco Short Film Festival 2019
Pescara
HONORABLE MENTION FOR EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA
Italy

14th Harlem International Film Festival 2019
New York
OFFICIAL SELECTION
United States

Vertigo Film Festival 2020
Milano
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Italy

Natura e Sogno
Roma
November 24, 2019
Photography and VideoArt Exhibition
Italy

Berlin Revolution Film Festival 2020
Berlin
German Premiere
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Germany

New Wave Motion Film Festival 2020
Hong Kong
OFFICIAL SELECTION

New York Cinematography AWARDS 2021
New York
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
United States

New Vision Film Festival 2019
Amsterdam
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Netherlands

London Greek Film Festival 2019
London
OFFICIAL SELECTION
United Kingdom

OGA Videoart Exhibition 2019
Rome
Photography and VideoArt Exhibition
Italy

RAGFF 2020
New York
OFFICIAL SELECTION
United States

Deep Focus Film Frestival
Brooklyn (New York)
HONORABLE MENTION
United States

Pure Magic International Film Festival
Amsterdam
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Netherlands

Timeless Awards Film Festival
Wroclav
October 29, 2021
Polish Premiere
BEST TIME AWARD
Poland

La Galerie Philosophique
Grandson
December 12, 2021
Film and Photography exhibition
Switzerland

Masters of Cinema
Moscow
HONORABLE MENTION OF THE JURY
Russian Federation

10th Athens International Digital Film Festival
Athens
December 13, 2021
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Greece

Swedish International Film Festival
Arvika
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Sweden

Tokyo International Monthly Film Festival
Tokyo
HONORABLE MENTION
Japan

Indie Movies Spark Film Festival
Utrecht
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Netherlands

Swedish International Film Festival
Arvika
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Sweden

Ribalta Film Festival
Italy

Sipontum Arthouse International Film Festival
Manfredonia
FILM OF THE MONTH AWARD, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD
Italy

Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards
Calcutta
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
India

Amsterdam Short Film Festival
Amsterdam
Official Selection
Netherlands

31st Mediawave - Another Connection FF
Kiscsősz
Hungarian Premiere
Official Selection
Hungary

Europe Film Festival
London
Jury Special Award - Best Experimental Short
United Kingdom

17th L'Europe autour de l'Europe
Paris
March 27, 2022
OFFICIAL SELECTION
France

Cambio IFF
Istanbul
Official Selection
Turkey

Festival de cortometrajes de Europa
Barcelona
Official Selection
Spain

Berlin Art Film Festival
Berlin
Official Selection
Germany

Stanley Film Awards
London
Official Selection
United Kingdom

Synsapalum Film Festival
Amsterdam
Honorable Mention
Netherlands

IMMAGINA Florence Film Festival
Firenze
Best Experimental Film
Italy

16th Frozen Film Festival
San Francisco
Official Selection
United States

West Side Mountains Doc Fest
Official Selection
Greece

Universal Film Festival Samothraki
Samothraki
Official Selection
Greece

6th Experimental Film Festival Barcelona
Barcelona
Finalist
Spain

Tatra International Film Festival
Official Selection
Slovakia

Fotofilm International Short Film Festival
Istanbul
Official Selection
Turkey

Amsterdam Freedom Independent Film Festival
Amsterdam
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Netherlands

Art Blocks International Film Festival
Copenhagen
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Denmark

WSXA Amsterdam
Amsterdam
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Netherlands

UltraCinema XI
Tepoztlàn
Official Selection
Mexico

Serbest International Film Festival
Kishinev
Official Selection
Moldova, Republic of

Fotofilm IFF
Istabul
August 30, 2022
Best Experimental Film
Turkey

Goa IFF
Goa
Official Selection
India

Shanghai International Short Week
Shangai
Official Selection
China

Human Shades Film Festival
Milan
Best Experimental Film
Italy

12th Amsterdam Lift Off Film Festival
Amsterdam
Official Selection
Netherlands

REVIEWS: