Trento Film Festival passion, excitement and friendship

In my first editorial as Art Director, which I wrote for the 53rd TrentoFilmfestival in April 2005, I said, “I would like Festival week to be a celebration for the whole city, one to share with friends via the miracles of new technology and the benefits of the Internet. I’d like the Festival’s Historical Archive to be available all year round for both young and old alike. I’d like to be able to tell upcoming generations that there are some values and passions that are not motivated by money and success. I would love to be able to share all of my enthusiasm with a host of new friends.” Five Festivals later, and on the eve of the sixth, I am pleased to say that all of these wishes have come true. The city takes part in the Festival. The Internet takes our events worldwide. Thousands of young people now realise that a living can be made in the mountains. Our film archive is going digital to make it more user-friendly for the Festival’s many fans, both old and new. The sell-out evenings at the Santa Chiara Auditorium are proof of this. The audience encompasses a host of different people: the young and not so young, film-buffs and casual cinema-goers, as well as music lovers; but mountain lovers always make up the vast majority. Book presentations are always chock-a-block, schools book our events six months in advance, queues of people stand outside the cinemas, and the city shows great affection for the Festival from the first day to the last. These certainties were great support when times were hard; they have turned us into a team and have enabled us to enjoy the Festival each year as if it were the first. My experience of the Festival is unique, on both a human and professional level. Once again, I am about to embark on another edition of the TrentoFilmfestival, safe in the knowledge that I will experience enthusiasm, excitement and friendship that will never be forgotten.

Maurizio Nichetti