Ecologico International Film Festival

The Ecologico International Film Festival, also called the EIFF, aims to help discover and develop independent films - social, national and international - committed to issues of Contemporary society. The EIFF is the place where you can meet authors and get to know films that By Nature are difficult to use and approve through traditional distribution channels. It is held in Nardò, Italy. Founded in Lecce, at the initiative of Italian filmmaker Roberto Quarta, the festival has been celebrated annually in August since 2008.

Special Guests

Special guests of the festival in its first five years have included: the directors Luigi Faccini, Giuseppe Ferrara, Moni Ovadia, Francesca Muci, Eleonora Pariante; the producer Marina Piperno; the actor Omar Suleiman (Palestinian); the screenwriter Vanessa Picciarelli; the director of photography Marc van Put; the journalists Francesco Farina (Corriere del Mezzogiorno) and Massimo Causo; Nabil Salameh (Radiodervish) and Nando Popu (Sud Sound System).

Festival programme

The festival is composed of three different film sections. Films are chosen in each category by a section director with the advice of a committee of film experts. Categories include:

International Film Competition - Feature films (> 51 '), medium length (between 16' and 50 ') and short films (max 15') of any kind, addressing, in terms of actuality, the relationship between social communities and between them with the environment; which protect and promote human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law, and favor the awareness and appreciation of identity and cultural diversity in the world, coexistence among different peoples, religions and ethnic groups, indicating common solutions to the problems of contemporary society.

Debut Italian Movies - First and second works by Italian directors, outputs during 2011/2012, particularly working on issues of social relevance.

Taranta Movies - Movies that deal with typical issues of cultural - ethnic-anthropological-musical - tradition of Salento.

Awards

The EIFF Taurus Award is the main prize awarded for the best films at the Ecologico International Film Festival.

EIFF Taurus Award (since 2013) Award for Best Feature Film, for Best Medium length Film, for Best Short Film and for Best Debut Italian Film.

Mer Khamis Award (since 2011) Award for Best film selected by critics.
In 2011 and 2012, the Mer Khamis was the prize awarded for all the categories.

Taranta Award (since 2013) Award for the Best Film on traditional folk culture of Salento.

Awards Winners

Taurus Award

International Film Competition

Best Feature Film
  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???
Best Medium length Film
  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???
Best Short Film
  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???

Debut Italian Movies

Best Debut Italian Film
  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???

Taranta Award

Best Film on traditional folk culture

  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???

Mer Khamis Award

Best film selected by critics

  • 2013 - it will be assigned on August 24th, directed by ???

Previous Editions Winners

Mer Khamis Award

Section

Section

Section

Section

Section

Section

Section

Section

Special

Year

Best Feature

Best Length

Best Short

Borders

Diversity

Environment

Society

Salento

Special Mention

2012

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

Sharqiya, Ami Livne

Gamba trista, Francesco Filippi

I morti di Alos, Daniele Atzeni

The Summit, Franco Fracassi-Massimo Lauria

Apulian Dream, Achille Cofano

Spazzatour, Emilio Casalini
Alma, Josè Javier

2011

Laberinto Verde, Abel Kavanagh

How green was our Valley, Fereshteh Joghataei

Silence, Ava Lanche

'''''Gaza guerra all'informazione, Anna Maria Selini

O' moro, C. Calissoni-E. Offredo

Loro della munnizza, M. Battaglia-G. Schimmenti-L. Donati

Oil II tempo, Massimiliano Mazzotta

Not Assigned

Milan du Maroccaine''''', Mounsif Rabi (Laboratorio Liblab)

EIFF Award

Year

Best Feature

Best Length

Best Short

Borders

Diversity

Environment

Society

Salento

Special Mention

2010

Basilicata coast to coast, Rocco Papaleo

Il Vincitore, Davide Labanti

Carpa diem, Sergio Cannella

Not Assigned

Bouquet, Walter Mazo

Moby [...], Oscar Carrara

Life for sale, Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Not Assigned

Every day - Ogni giorno Checkpoint di Betlemme, Mara Beccafarri and Massimo Miricola
Rosita no se desplaza, Alessandro Acito and Leonardo Valderrama

2009

Uso improprio, Luca Gasparini
Oil, Massimiliano Mazzotta

Polvere, Ivan Gergolet

Una circostanza fortuita, Emanuele Michetti

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

Not Assigned

A li tiempi miei era tutta campagna, Chiara Zilli

Year

Best Feature Doc

Best Length Doc

Best Short Doc

Best Feature Fiction

Best Length Fiction

Best Short Fiction

2008

Oltre la sbarra, Marco Leopardi

Pancevo la città morta, Antonio Martino

Cavallo di-scarica, Guglielmo Manenti
I PCB, Variemani

Li Promessi Sposi, Andrea Baccassino

Quasisia, Gianni De Blasi

Quarantaquattro, Massimo Gabriele Fidanza

Officinema Summer School

Commencing in 2013, the EIFF has partnered with Officinema, which is a summer cinema school that takes place at the same time as the festival itself. The event runs 5 days during the EIFF and features workshops, lessons, lectures and panel discussions with well-known professionals addressing issues in filmmaking today.

Statistics

Year

Submissions

Italian Films

Foreign Films

Schools

Countries represented

2008

114

77

15

22

11

2009

143

93

25

25

16

2010

239

151

33

55

23

2011

343

170

110

63

34

2012

421

156

244

21

41