It is a positive balance “not only in cinematographic terms but above all in terms of emotional return,” that of the 37th International Critics’ Week according to Artistic Director Beatrice Fiorentino: “We felt a lot of warmth, a lot of enthusiasm around our films.” And the emotional aspect carries no small weight for the autonomous and parallel section of the Venice Film Festival organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics and aimed at first and second works from around the world. “We know that the first film is a crucial moment in the life of a director,” Fiorentino stresses, “with some of them we have been in contact for months, sharing the load of expectations they carry.”
Another great satisfaction this year “a change in audience attendance in terms of age: I saw many young people, the feeling is that of a renewal of the audience, something that fills me with joy having us invested in this idea of cinema “of the future, for the future.” And if the future filmmakers meet the future audiences, we have hit the jackpot.”
It had to be, not for nothing, the edition that, right from the official image, celebrated and consolidated the regaining of possession of cultural and social gathering spaces after the hardest period of the pandemic. And so it did, thanks also to the new headquarters of the House of Criticism: “It’s all part of a precise design,” Fiorentino explains, “of what we are: nothing glamorous, but an idea of home. The fact that we were able to welcome delegations in a shared space changed the perception of Critics’ Week for us and, I think, for our authors, who enjoyed a reference point where they could also come for coffee, meet producers, distributors.”
But above all, SIC 2022 won its bet by putting LGBTQ and gender identity reconfiguration-related themes at the centre, which also proved to be a feature of the Venice Film Festival. Showing that it was able to intercept and reflect a change taking place in cinema and, Fiorentino adds, “even more, I hope, in society.” He continues, “there is a need to overcome certain labels.” Not only in the content proposed but also in the languages. In this sense, SIC’s Director concludes, “I like the idea of mixing genres because it touches on both sexual identity and the rules of ‘genre’ cinema, precisely. In every sense, we introduced the idea of a ‘trans’ cinema.”
Beatrice Fiorentino: a “trans” SIC that attracted young people
