Giffoni Film Festival and ‘Le cose impossibili’: opening night with Bella Ramsey
From 17 to 25 July, the 56th edition of the children’s film festival, featuring 104 films in competition
The 56th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival, a festival dedicated to children’s cinema, taking place from 17 to 25 July. For nine days, Giffoni Valle Piana will welcome young jurors from all over the world, who will be tasked with assessing the 104 films in competition, including feature-length and short films selected from thousands of international entries.
The overarching theme of this year’s festival is intended as an invitation to transcend boundaries – geographical, cultural and personal – and to transform what seems unattainable into a tangible opportunity for change. The festival thus once again focuses on the great questions of our time: the construction of identity, the need to belong, our relationships with others and with the world, fragility and the desire for a future.
The festival will be officially opened on 17 July by Sunny Dancer by George Jaques, in the presence of the director and the lead actress Bella Ramsey, known for her role in the Game of Thrones series. The film, an ironic and irreverent coming-of-age story, follows young Ivy through a summer destined to change her life, amidst rebellion, friendships and new realisations. Perfectly in keeping with the festival’s theme, Sunny Dancer explores resilience and the ability to reinvent oneself, offering an authentic insight into the complexities of growing up.
But it is above all in the wealth of the competition sections that the true spirit of Giffoni 56 comes to the fore. For the youngest viewers, the Elements +3 section offers a world of wonder and discovery, where films such as Bug’s Story by Natalia Malykhina Bratli, Dancing Friend by Elena Walf or Cloud Fish by Noé Garcia tell the story of the formation of first friendships and children’s encounters with the world around them, whilst works such as Rub by Júlia Francino and The Little Train by Angel Wang guide children through delicate and imaginative journeys of growth.
With Elements +6, the story is enriched with adventure and responsibility: films such as Born in the Jungle by Edmunds Jansons or Garuda: Dare to Dream by Ronny Gani speak of courage and dreams, whilst Smartie and Me by Kacper Lisowski and Super Furball and the Lying Squirrel by Joona Tena tackle the themes of justice and environmental protection. These are complemented by significant short films such as Alby – The Last Tree by Alessandro Parrello and Jeans by Gaia Marotta, which reflect on identity and transformation.
