Cinema d'iDea 2020 Awards Ceremony

EL DESPERTAR DE LAS HORMIGAS WINS THE FOURTH EDITION OF CINEMA D'IDEA

Cinema d'iDEA, an international festival of films directed by women, held in Rome, will be streamed this year on the platform Streeen.org, from November 15th to 21st, concludes its fourth edition with great satisfaction. The festival opened with the screening of the documentary Citizen Rosi by Didi Gnocchi and Carolina Rosi, available worldwide for an exceptional reason, and was preceded by the free streaming of last year's winning film, Platform by Sahar Mosayebi.

The jury composed of Giovanna Koch (Italian screenwriter), Nicolas e Sarah-Lou Billon (French producers), Paula Rivera (Mexican actress and author), Nino Russo (Italian director, screenwriter and playwright), Christine Höfferer (foreign press journalist - Austria) and Gianni Celata (Italian economist and professor, expert in two sub-commissions of the Mibact), wanted to award live on social media the first feature film of Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, The awakening of the ants. Other awards went to directors Mina Akbari, Chithra Jeyaram and Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, and actress Narineh Grigorian, present during the live broadcast.

The festival and Streeen They thank the public for their participation and the directors who came during the week to present their films. Thanks also go to Parisa Nazari, which provided translation for the live broadcasts with Iran. The live link was provided by Syria Calderone for Cine-Room via streamyard. 

The winners' films can be viewed online until midnight. Some films will be available again on Streeen soon.
The 2021 edition of Cinema d'iDEA will be held in June. Below are all the winners and the jury's reasons:

Best Film:

The dexpert of the hormigas by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss

  It is convincing because the film deals with a theme essential to female biography - the pressure from society to submit to a traditionalist role as mother and wife.
 Director Antonella Sudasassi drew inspiration from the questions women are pushed to act in ways others desire: "When will the next child be coming?" Questions like these suggest that what a woman is doing will never be enough. The director responds with another question that the protagonist Isabel asks herself: "What do I want?"

 Best Screenplay:

Foreign Puzzle by Chithra Jeyaram

For courageously and sensitively addressing the issue of an essentially female disease like breast cancer, examining every aspect of relationships with one's body, family, and profession, which in these situations are dramatically wounded and reduced—as the title suggests—to pieces that must be put back together, with suffering and tenacity, to return to health and wholeness. The fragments of these relationships are thus transformed into narrative threads that intertwine seamlessly, like the movements of the ballerinas that the choreographer stages to tell the story of herself and her rebirth.

Best Documentary:

Formerly Youth Square by Mina Akbari

For successfully narrating a political theme like the fight for press freedom through an adventure, combining comedy and drama, and the personal stories of editors whose very survival was threatened, as was their newspaper, which was ultimately closed by the hostility of the ruling regime. The director was part of the editorial staff and wanted to tell this story—hers, theirs—with a different craft: precisely through the story of her transformation from journalist to documentary maker, she manages to unite, by seeking them out in their new situations, the group of "free" people of that time, in a souvenir photo that portrays them still smiling and fighting. Mina Akbari continues to courageously work as a journalist, always and to this day.

Best Actress:

Narineh Grigoryan for the film Yeva by Anahid Abad

Beautiful, subtle, mysterious, and powerful, the performance keeps the viewer in a constant state of tension and hope, which the actress masterfully portrays: a mother, a professional, a lover, a woman who cannot truly live her life to the fullest. This makes the character's journey so difficult and devastating. This woman is treated unfairly by a society that condemns women who defy old and obsolete traditions. Narineh Grigoryan makes us feel Yeva's struggle, portraying her pain in an inescapable yet elegant way, telling us a story of passion, love, and forgiveness.
 

Best short film:

September by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt

September recounts two teenagers' first encounters with love in a simple, fresh, realistic, and hilarious yet profound way. The director has meticulously crafted the dialogue, demonstrating skill and understanding of a world often treated superficially or inadequately, as well as an equal ability to direct the young actors convincingly and sensitively.

Thank you.