The fifth edition of the Ermanno Olmi Award for Best Short Film to be held in Bergamo. The award aims to promote films made by young filmmakers under 30.
Submission deadline: October 15th, 2023
©Gianni Berengo Gardin/Contrasto
The Ermanno Olmi Award is back in Bergamo. Established to promote short films by young Italian and international directors, the award was also created to honour the late filmmaker from Bergamo.
Aiming to promote young filmmakers under the age of 30, the award consists of 3 cash prizes (€1,200, €600, and €400) - made available by Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus - and a special mention awarded on a theme chosen by the municipal administration. The winner of the mention will be awarded a cash prize worth € 300 offered by FIC – Federazione Italiana Cineforum.
For this year, the Culture Department has chosen as its theme “The Human Being and Time”, a reflection on the relationship of the human being with time, a theme that Ermanno Olmi explored in various aspects throughout his film production. Olmi has dealt with the relationship of the individual with family history and collective history, the bond with the heritage of the places of birth and belonging; he has recounted the harmony with the rhythms of nature and the bewilderment that humanity and individuals experience when this is broken.
The deadline for submissions (fiction, documentary or animation produced in 2022 and 2023), which must not exceed 15 minutes in length, is October 15, 2023. (Info and registration: https://www.premioolmi.it/?lang=en).
The winners' announcement and award ceremony will be held on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at the Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà, Bergamo (or another suitable venue).
In the words of Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Bergamo, Nadia Ghisalberti: «The Ermanno Olmi Award, dedicated to the great master of cinema, reaches its 5th edition. Strongly desired by this municipal administration, the Award pays tribute to the filmmaker from Bergamo, inviting us to rediscover him and supporting the work of young directors. The special mention of this edition invites us to reflect on the relationship between human being and time, a poetic legacy to be found in Olmi's works and a starting point for new explorations. Every year the short films in competition open our eyes to multiple points of view, on society and its transformations, on the critical issues and opportunities of the present, on the ability to tell what has been and imagine the future».
The Ermanno Olmi Award is promoted by the City of Bergamo with the support of Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus and in collaboration with FIC - Federazione Italiana Cineforum.
In accord with the Minimum Environmental Criteria - parameters of environmental sustainability for cultural events - signed by the Municipality of Bergamo, the Prize takes part in the European Green Fest project: a commitment to both environment and culture, and a fitting tribute to Ermanno Olmi, who, through his works, was always a keen supporter of environmental preservation.
Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 sees Intesa Sanpaolo and A2A as Main Partner, Brembo as System Partner, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and SACBO as Area Partners. The Ministry of Culture and Regione Lombardia are institutional partners together with Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione della Comunità Bresciana and Fondazione della Comunità Bergamasca.
Bruno Chatelin 
