Concorto Film Festival

Flatpack Festival Programmer Max took a trip to Northern Italy last month to watch shorts under the stars at Concorto Film Festival. From great films and eye-opening conversation to a visit to the 'Shit Museum', here's how he got on...

I touched down in Piacenza on the Saturday, as the very first industry guest to arrive. As such, I got the royal treatment (being driven from the station to my hotel). From there I found my accreditation (which was largely drinks tokens) along with my festival pass and programme, and I was ready to go.

The films themselves didn’t kick off until 9pm, so I got a chance to hang out with other festival guests for a few hours which included filmmakers from Lithuania, the Netherlands, Italy and Argentina. Everyone was super nice and we quickly got chatting about all sorts (including the slightly awkward question of why I hadn’t selected one of their films for last year’s fest). I don’t often get to properly talk with filmmakers in this kind of environment (especially so many people at once), and so being part of conversations about the filmmaking process for example was very eye-opening.

We settled in the Parco Raggio (the main venue for the fest) as kick off time approached. The vibes were real nice and the temperature was still around 30 degrees. My previous experiences with outdoor cinema meant I was worried it was going to be too light to see the films, but as if by magic, with 5 minutes to go, the sun went in and we were away.

The films

The main event for me was of course the competition programme. While not always to my (admittedly niche) taste, every short was high quality and clearly thoughtfully curated. One of my pet peeves when going to other festivals is when the shorts programme feels like an afterthought or hastily put together (if there even is one). Seeing shorts being put front and centre with care and attention was lovely! Animation appeared seamlessly alongside docs and live-action - so many festivals put animation in its own programme, alongside films that have nothing in common with each other save the medium itself, so this was a real treat.

I also went along to various special programmes in the park's greenhouse. You're given headphones to watch the films, giving the whole thing a silent disco vibe. It’s a little disconcerting laughing at a comedy film and not being able to hear anyone else alongside you, but once you get into the swing of it it's great, guaranteeing the perfect audio experience.

The rest of the fest

I quickly settled into a daily routine - mooching around Piacenza in the daytime (sampling various aperitivi at various bars), chatting with filmmakers, programmers and other industry types, before heading back to Parco Raggio for another evening of excellent short films.

The festival arranged a trip to the ‘Shit Museum’ one morning. The museum/gallery was on the site of a working farm, focussing on the positives that come from dung and other agricultural waste - namely energy (the museum was heated and powered using the gas from the dung), construction (various cracks in the walls had been patched up with manure), and art (they’d turned the building materials into award-winning sculptures). It was an unexpected invite, but gave me a lot to think about - and a festival volunteer being sent home with the biggest wheel of cheese I’ve ever seen was a highlight.

Industry Day

The thing that brought me to Concorto was the Industry Day. Daniel Vadocky (Festival Manager at Pluto Film) and Lauma Kaudzīte (Managing Director at Short Film Conference) delved into the responsibilities of film programmers in an hour-long talk called 'Not Just Showing Films'. It's easy to start thinking about programming as just finding the best of the best, but it's also about being conscious of the people we're platforming and the stories we're sharing. The talk didn't necessarily cover new ground, but was a timely reminder of how important it is to select films with the utmost care and consideration, never forgetting the responsiblity you hold as a programmer.

Final thoughts

Overall, being at Concorto this year was a blast! It’s a fantastically well put-together short film festival, and it was a privilege to be able to go. If anyone's looking for recommendations, there were a few films that really stood out to me:

Les Belles Cicatrices by Raphael Jouzeau
Montsouris Park by Guil Sela
Teen Girl Fantasy by (Flatpack alumni) Marisa Hoicka
Tako Tsubo by Fanny Sorgo and Eva Pedroza
Dancing in the Corner by Jan Bujnowski

The films aren’t currently online, but I encourage any short film fan to seek them out where you can! And watch this space - it’s more than likely at least one will crop up at Flatpack next May.