British Council-Film festival

Transcript of the podcast

Radio journalist: It seems that almost every city now has its own film festival. This is a good thing – it means more people are watching films, and creates more opportunities for new and young directors, actors and filmmakers. But how can you make your festival different to all the others? One of the answers, it seems, is to specialise

Valentina: There are hundreds of film festivals all over the world now. In Italy, where I live and work, there are at least 20. We decided to make ours different – shorter

Radio journalist: This is Valentina Ricciardi. She is the curator of a festival of short films in Italy. Valentina, why short films

Valentina: Well, there are lots of reasons. Firstly, I think that short films are a very undervalued form

Radio journalist: How do you mean

Valentina: Well, a short film isn’t just a normal film – but shorter

Radio journalist: How is it different

Valentina: Well, so many big films now have so many special effects and famous actors, that they often don’t have a story! We’re not interested in special effects or leading “A-list” actors. None of that matters in a short film. A short film is a real test of having a great script. Of being able to tell a good story in a few images

Radio journalist: It goes back to what film is really about

Valentina: Exactly! Added to that, it’s so expensive to make a film now. First time directors can’t hope to make a full-length feature film. Short films are great places for new directors to practice their skills. You don’t need a huge budget to make a short film – just a huge imagination

Radio journalist: So money is also a factor

Valentina: Of course. The big film festivals in Cannes and Venice cost a fortune to put on. Many short films are now made using high quality digital video. This means they can be stored on DVD, so we don’t have to transport large, heavy reels of film

Radio journalist: How is all this affecting the short film industry

Valentina: Well, it’s having a tremendously positive effect on short films

Radio journalist: In what way

Valentina: It means that now more films are being made – and it’s incredible how good the quality of a lot of them is. People are beginning to be interested in short films again. There are several festivals of short film across the world, some directors are now insisting that short films are shown with their films on major cinema releases, and more tv channels are showing short films. Short films are currently the most exciting form of film production

Radio journalist: Valentina, thank you, and good luck with the next festival

Answers