IGNOTI ALLA CITTÀ - Proiezione cortometraggi

The 2026 edition of “**Ignoti alla città**” will kick off on **Saturday, March 28** at **Palazzo Roberti in Mola di Bari** (Piazza XX Settembre) with a launch event that also marks the beginning of the new **“Cecilia Mangini” Documentary Film School**. This day, which is entirely free of charge, intertwines training, viewing, and international dialogue through masterclasses, presentations of the School, and the **screening of documentary short films in dialogue with the Silver Frame Festival in Srebrenica**.

From 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, the masterclass titled “Cinema That Builds the Future” will take place with Bosnian-Italian director Ado Hasanović, author of "My Father’s Diaries," recently included in the shortlist for the David di Donatello for Best Documentary. The meeting will explore documentary film as a space of inquiry between personal and collective memory, with particular focus on the use of archival material: a journey that, starting from the director's experience, views cinema as a practice of responsibility and care, capable of transforming memory into a foundation for building the future.

At 7:30 PM, the “Cecilia Mangini” Documentary Film School will be officially presented, alongside the partnership with the Silver Frame Festival in Srebrenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Following that, **at 8 PM, a selection of documentary shorts from the Silver Frame Film Residency and the Green Selection will be screened**, engaging with one of the most significant realities in the international cinema landscape dedicated to memory and resilience.

The program includes the following short films: “**So, There Is No Movie**” by Milica Radovanović, a story of daily life in Srebrenica marked by the absence of water; “**Waste and Silence**” by Esmin Sabljić, a reflection on pollution and individual responsibility, awarded Best Short Film at the Silver Frame Film Festival 2025; “**The Silver That Flows**” by Uma Nea Zaimović, where water becomes a memory and silent witness of the city; “**Thrown Away**” by Zafar Berkovac, a visual metaphor on the relationship between humans and nature, which won a Special Mention at the Silver Frame Film Festival 2025 and Third Prize in the Under-18 Competition at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival; and “**Where the Heart Helps**” by Milica Ostojić, a portrait of volunteers supporting the community in July, also awarded a Special Mention at the Silver Frame Film Festival 2025.

In addition to these, the titles from the environmental section include: “**Lynx**” by Stefan Voyvodov, a portrait of the lynx, an endangered species in Bulgaria, which won the Best Green Short Film award at the Silver Frame Film Festival 2025; and “**Dying Lochs**” by Francesco De Augustinis, an investigation into the environmental impact of intensive salmon farming in the Scottish Highlands, selected for the International Green section of the same festival.

It is from this event that “Ignoti alla città” begins a new phase in its history. In 2026, the festival—active since 2002 in homage to the legacy of director Cecilia Mangini—will evolve into a permanent cultural project, running throughout the year. No longer just a three-day event concentrated in November, but a widespread program made up of masterclasses, public meetings, exhibitions, and moments of dialogue that will accompany the audience until the concluding autumn event.

At the center of this transformation is indeed the birth of the “Cecilia Mangini” Documentary Film School, conceived in anticipation of the centenary of the birth of the great Apulian filmmaker. It is an active homage, not celebratory, that collects and revitalizes her most vibrant legacy: the gaze upon reality, the urgency of storytelling, and the attention to people and territories. The School is configured as an open and intensive workshop, consisting of three training modules with high-profile teachers, mentoring moments, and public presentations, creating a coherent trajectory between training, production, and audience engagement.

The 2026 educational pathway includes three modules: with directors Erik Gandini (May 30-31) and Esmeralda Calabria (June 20-21), and with archivist Michela Zegna from the Cineteca di Bologna (September 25-26). The work will encompass all stages of documentary creation—from idea to research, from writing to filming, from editing to the creative use of archives—with the aim of developing a critical and operational awareness of language. The School is aimed at aspiring authors, filmmakers, students, journalists, and cultural operators: places are limited and participation is free, with applications open until May 15, 2026, on the website www.ceciliamangini.it.

The project “Ignoti alla città” 2026 is conceived, curated, and produced by Camera a Sud soc. coop. social enterprise, with the patronage of the Municipality of Mola di Bari, in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and the Academy of Fine Arts of Bari, and with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region – Department of Tourism, Cultural Economy and Enhancement of the Territory, as part of the three-year public notice 2025-2027 dedicated to regional, national, and international festivals and exhibitions of considerable importance.

A distinguishing feature of this edition is also the strengthening of the international dimension, evidenced by the partnership with the Silver Frame Festival in Srebrenica, founded by Hasanović himself. The festival transforms a city deeply marked by the genocide of 1995 into a center of creativity and resilience every year, promoting cinema as a tool for narrative and community reconstruction through international and regional short films.

Born in 1986 in Srebrenica, Ado Hasanović has developed an artistic path between Sarajevo and Rome, training at the Sarajevo Film Academy and the Experimental Cinematography Centre. He was the artistic director of the Srebrenica Short Film Festival “Srebrena Traka” and is currently leading the Mediterranean Short Film Festival “Passaggi d’Autore” in Sant’Antioco. He is the author of numerous short films selected and awarded at festivals around the world. His debut documentary, My Father’s Diaries, produced by Palomar (Italy) and Mediawan (France), has received significant international recognition, including the Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2025 BHFF in New York, as well as a recent spot in the shortlist for the 2026 David di Donatello and the awarding of the “Cinema Warrior Award” at the 2025 Trieste Film Festival.

With this new configuration, “Ignoti alla città” establishes itself as a permanent space for reflection, training, and cultural production, capable of connecting territories, memories, and languages in an increasingly broad and shared perspective.

The updated program is available on ignotiallacitta.it, where registration is mandatory to participate in the masterclass.

For more information: 345.2699139 - info@cooperativacameraasud.it.
Web: ignotiallacitta.it/