At the heart of the festival's program, which will bring the Susa Valley to life with screenings, meetings, and performances until May 24th, the weekend of May 8th and 9th offers a blend of languages and content, from cinema to theater, to the narrative of the region and its histories.
On Saturday, May 9th, at the Cinema Comunale in Condove (5:30 pm), the Valsusa Filmfest celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with "Valsusa Filmfest... a thirty-year-long film," a special afternoon retracing the festival's productions throughout its history. It's an opportunity to revisit, through images, testimonies, and memories, the documentation and narrative work that contributed to the Susa Valley's history in the 20th century, giving voice to stories, characters, and individual and collective memories.
The evening will also pay tribute to director Luigi Cantore, the creator of numerous Filmfest productions. His filmography will be retraced through anecdotes and contributions from those who shared his experiences on the sets of "Profumo di resina," "Noi siamo i figli della Monce," "L'acqua e la fabbrica," "La partigiana Fasulin," "Nobel, un premio esplosivo," and "Sì sempre, Don Luigi Chiampo," works that over the years have contributed to the stories, characters, and memories of the Susa Valley. Cantore himself, actors and collaborators on his films, and actor Mario Brusa will be present, in a gathering that promises to be an opportunity for sharing and collective recognition.
On Friday, May 8th, Spazio X in Almese (8:30 pm) will host a screening of the works selected for the Music Video section of the film competition, dedicated to freely themed works with a maximum running time of six minutes, open to various musical languages and genres.
Also on Friday, May 8th, the Salone Polivalente Comunale in San Giorio di Susa (9:00 PM) hosts, as part of the Valsusa Liberfest, the narrative theater show "Il Geranio – Il fiore e la città," inspired by Flannery O'Connor's short story. Massimo Chianello, Antonietta Perretta, and Chiara Viffredo perform, with direction by Marco Scoffone, text by Tiziana Angilletta, assistant director Federico Carcano, and lighting and sound by Alessandro Bertini.
The show brings to the stage an intimate and universal story: an elderly man, a room that no longer belongs to him, and a pot of geraniums on the windowsill become symbolic elements of a silent and profound uprooting. Through three narrative voices and a simple stage design, the story unfolds between memory, nostalgia, and the search for meaning, inviting the audience to delve into the protagonist's thoughts and fragilities. A delicate and intense narrative that, starting from a simple event, opens a broader perspective on the human condition.
The three events are part of the 30th edition of the Valsusa Filmfest, a community film and cultural festival dedicated this year to Fabrizio De André. From March 28th to May 24th, the festival will involve eight municipalities in the Susa Valley and the city of Turin with a rich calendar of events on the themes of historical memory, the environment, mountains, and social inclusion.
