Eggshell wins the Ermanno Olmi Award 2020

The fiction short film Eggshell (Italy, Ireland, 2020) by Ryan William Harris wins the second edition of the Ermanno Olmi Award, an event aiming to promote short films by young directors. The experimental documentary film Boys Don’t Cry by Bobbie Faren Müller (Denmark, 2020) earns the second place, and third is another fiction film, Daily Breath by Anna Spacio (Switzerland, 2020). The Special Mention of the jury for the most significant entry concerning the relationship between Humankind and Nature, with a particular focus on the valorisation of ancient crafts and traditions, goes to the documentary film Pull It, Sharpen It by Marta Aitana Schmidt Yanez (China, Spain 2020). The three winners, selected among close to 100 contestants, are respectively awarded a cash prize of € 1,200, € 500 and € 300.

The jury – composed of Claudio Santamaria, Angelo Signorelli, Barbara Rossi, Monica Corbani and Maria Grazia Recanati – awarded Eggshell with the First Prize «for the powerful depiction of suburban adolescence spent on the fringes and scarred by violence and abuse. The stark contrast between Joey’s inner world and the outside, mostly hostile, is portrayed with great narrative immediacy, along with the not-yet-lost connection with the natural world, seen as a regenerative force». Boys Don’t Cry earned the second prize «for its unique and experimental aesthetics, that follow the “cinéma-verité” tradition expanding it beyond the typical “reality show” format. The self-deprecating and non-conformist production allows the four young protagonists to fully express their deepest urges and feelings, in a self-affirming and cathartic release». The third Prize goes to Daily Breath «for the measured and terse narrative style, capable of portraying, through silence, the sounds of the mountain and the gaze of a young woman, the powerful conflict between the awareness of imminent death and the will to live. The reading, in which the girl indulges while taking care of her old mother, runs in parallel with their daily life, reflecting it like a mirror».
Unanimously, the jury awarded their Special Mention to Pull It, Sharpen It «for the bright narrative style in portraying the story of Guo Chunxiang and his “little shop of wonders”. Inside “Great Shangai 1933”, among old abaci, tiny Esperanto books with a red cover and a whole paraphernalia of things, the memories of the East and West are preserved, filtered by Guo’s expert craft».

Over 100 entries – spanning from fiction, documentaries and animation – from the US, Russia, China and Cambodia, along with several other European countries and a substantial Italian representative, were selected to compete in the second edition of the Ermanno Olmi Award, an event aiming to promote short films by young directors.

Boys don’t cry, by Bobbie Faren Müller (Denmark, 2019), Daily breath by Anna Spacio (Switzerland, 2019), Eggshell by Ryan William Harris (Italy/Ireland, 2020) and Pull it, sharpen it by Marta Aitana Schmidt Yanez (China/Spain, 2019) are the four finalists among whom, on Thursday, December the 10th, the Jury composed by Claudio Santamaria (actor), Angelo Signorelli (artistic director of Bergamo Film Meeting), Barbara Rossi (film critic), Monica Corbani (teacher and translator) e Maria Grazia Recanati (art historian) will assign the Ermanno Olmi Award and the Special Mention to the most significant entry concerning the relationship between Humankind and Nature, with a particular focus on the valorisation of ancient crafts and traditions.
The audience will be able to follow the award ceremony and the free streaming of the four finalist entries on Bergamo Film Meeting’s YouTube channel starting from 6:30 PM. Ermanno Olmi’s Torneranno i prati (Greenery Will Bloom Again, 2014) will also be available for streaming on RaiPlay, courtesy of Rai. Olmi’s last feature film starring Claudio Santamaria, Torneranno i prati was made on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of World War I, and set among the trenches on the Asiago plateau, stage of many bloody battles and Olmi’s place of residence.

The Ermanno Olmi Prize is back in Bergamo. Established to promote short films by young Italian and international directors, the award was also created to honour the late filmmaker from Bergamo. An extraordinary visual poet, consecrated with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Venice International Film Festival.

In the course of his long career he received noteworthy awards including the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978 for L’albero degli zoccoli (The Tree of Wooden Clogs), the Silver Lion in 1987 for Lunga vita alla signora! (Long Live the Lady!) , the Golden Lion in 1988 for La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker) and the appointment as Grand Officer of the Italian Republic in 2001.

The Award is created to promote and support short films by young directors, the award is aimed at filmmakers of all nationalities and not older than 30, and consists of 3 money prizes (€1,200, €500, €300) and a special mention awarded to the most significant entry concerning the relationship between Humankind and Nature, with a particular focus on the valorisation of ancient crafts and traditions that have fallen into disuse.
The deadline for submissions (fiction, documentary or animation produced in 2019 and 2020), which must not exceed 15 minutes of length, is October 30, 2020.

The winners’ announcement and award ceremony will be held on December 10, 2020, at the Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà, Bergamo (or another suitable venue). Should there be still, on the appointed date, containment measures due to the Covid-19 emergency, the award ceremony and the screening of the finalist films will be broadcast online, on a dedicated streaming platform.

«The second edition of the Ermanno Olmi Prize is underway and, for us, it is a significant symbol of the role of culture in the recovery of our territory, bringing to the forefront issues that are ever so relevant during these times. First of all, the centrality of young people: the opportunity to offer them a stage to showcase their creativity, after a terrible lockdown that has inevitably crushed all the opportunities for visibility. The special mention for short films portraying ancient crafts that have fallen into disuse is introduced first time this year, with the aim of investigating that relationship between Humankind and Nature that has been the focus of many a reflection these days and hoping to be able to shed light on the most innovative and appropriate ways of human interaction with landscape and environment. We like to believe that Olmi would have particularly appreciated this award. Finally, the Prize is an international event, which brings to Bergamo visions from many parts of the world, in the hope of soon being able to return to visit those places and see them with our own eyes».

Nadia Ghisalberti, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Bergamo