32th edition

African
Asian
Latin American
Film Festival

From 18 to 26 March 2023, in Milan and online

The 32nd edition of the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival – FESCAAAL will take place in Milan and online from 18 to 26 March 2023 in theaters in Milan and online in Italy streaming on MYmovies.it.

After the “hybrid” experience of 2022 where FESCAAAL finally returned to theaters to gife life again to the places of culture and cinemas while maintaining a virtual dimension, our two-engine Zebra returns this year to circulate in Milan and Italy, greener than ever.

Zebra Flower Power

This year’s image and slogan are inspired by the first environmental and non-violent movements of the last century, which recall respect for nature and the green-friendly commitment that every cultural event should promote, and a necessary and achievable ecological adjustment in the near future.

This attention to the environment was not a guiding criterion of the artistic choices of the selection, but the strong sign of FESCAAAL’s interest in these themes will be expressed this year with the 6th edition of Africa Talks dedicated entirely to Africa and the Environment.

The 32nd edition

The film programming officially begins with the Opening Ceremony on Sunday 19 March at 6.00pm in a new prestigious location: Fondazione Prada’s Cinema, marking the beginning of a prestigious collaboration.

9 days of screenings, meetings with our guests, special events about cinema and cultures of the 3 continents in different locations: Auditorium San Fedele, Cineteca Milano Arlecchino and two other theaters.

These are the main film sections:

“Windows on the world” Feature Films Competition, a selection of the most recent feature films of the fiction and documentary genres from the three continents.

African Short Films Competition with the best short films created by cinematographers from the entire African continent and the diaspora. This section aims at promoting fledgling and young rookie directors, paying close attention to innovations and new expressive languages.

Extr’A Competition dedicated to Italian or Italian-based directors, reckoning with different cultures. This section hosts movies without genres or length distinction, whether filmed in Africa, Asia or Latin America or exploring themes of Italian multiculturalism.

Flash Section, a non-competitive section that includes the runaway hits of the Festival, Italian premieres of affirmed directors, critically acclaimed or major films from the most important international film festivals: the best of contemporary arthouse films from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Special event

Africa Talks: focus on the environment

As one of the non-cinematic events, and as a pre-opening of the festival, Africa Talks will return to Auditorium San Fedele for its sixth year on Saturday, March 18th. This is a format for exploring contemporary Africa, curated by the Fondazione Edu and the Associazione COE, which includes a roundtable discussion and a film on the chosen topic.

The focus for this edition will be on environmental protection and resource management in Africa. The roundtable will delve into the debate around ecology and environmental justice, touching on various topics: from activism of movements to resource exploitation, from climate change to the intersection of social and environmental aspects.

Many international guests will be in attendance, including Noo Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian writer and journalist, Patience Nabukalu, representative of the Fridays for Future movement in Uganda and the MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas), and Christina Hicks, an expert in political ecology at the Lancaster University Environmental Center.

MiWY

MiWorld Young Film Festival

From March 20th to 26th, 2023, the 4th edition of the MiWorld Young Film Festival – MiWY will also take place. This is the first and only film festival for students in Italy entirely dedicated to the knowledge of the cinematographies and cultures of Africa, Asia, and Latin America and intercultural education. As always, it will be held within the framework of the FESCAAAL and in a hybrid mode, in a movie theater and online. In-person screenings will take place in Milan, Lecco, Lodi, Bergamo, and Catania, while online screenings will be available on the MYMovies.it platform with live links for debates and meetings with the festival’s guests.

MiWY continues to showcase reality and stories from the three continents through unique perspectives and angles, adopting an approach that values education in the language of cinema and the experience of communal viewing and post-screening debates in person and remotely.

This initiative is part of the ” MiWY 4.0: dai banchi di scuola al cinema in sala con i film dal mondo” project, funded by the Piano Cinema e Immagini per la scuola promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education and Merit.

The MiWorld Young Film Festival – MiWY is a project of the Associazione COE in partnership with the Fondazione ISMU and is twinned with Castellinaria, the young cinema festival of Bellinzona.