Last night, thanks to the efforts of two talented and resourceful young women, the ICBIE story reached a new audience of filmmakers and cinephiles during the opening ceremony of the 15th International Short Film Festival “La cittadella del corto” in Trevignano romano, on the shores of Lake Bracciano. Tess Deeks and Sabika Shah Povia worked tirelessly in order to give the entire ceremony a Brazilian flavor: at 7 PM, in front of the Trevignano City Hall, Sidney Santos “Tubarão” assembled the members of Lembrança Negra, his capoeira group in Anguillara, and began a concert of rousing and irresistible samba drumming that proceeded through the narrow streets of the village to the Cinema Palma.
In front of the cinema on a red carpet, Sabika was the master of ceremonies, as the jury of the festival and the participating directors were introduced one by one.
At that point, she presented the ICBIE. Pietro Gallina, blocked in Rome with a bad back (Get well SOON!), was unable to attend, so Roy Zimmerman stood in for him, giving a brief description of the ICBIE story and mission. Then Tess took the microphone to talk about The Story Instinct project that she and Sabika will be teaching at the ICBIE next fall, where the students will explore the topic of storytelling, using writing, narration, drawings, theater, film and photography. This ambitious and innovative course will require costly equipment and materials, so the girls have been working for months, organizing fund raisers, including this one. Parabens!!!
The ceremony ended with Tubarão’s berimbau setting off a rousing capoeira exhibition, while Tess’s friends hustled the crowd for donations.
