
MARIA'S SILENCE
MARIA'S SILENCE
Documentary, Experimental
Italy
2017
Runtime, min
38
“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.



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: