VERNISSAGE | IMAGINARIA EXHIBITION
Church of St. Clare
August 17th to 24th – Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission

Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Covers” curated by Federico Cano Correa of the Caracol Gallery in Turin
An internationally renowned artist, he is one of the most appreciated illustrators in Italy and abroad.
Born in Cesena in 1975, he has lived in Berlin, Oslo, Paris, and Venice. He contributes his illustrations to magazines such as The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, to newspapers such as La Repubblica, Le Monde, and Il Sole 24 Ore, and to publishing houses such as Feltrinelli, Einaudi, and EL. In 2017, he collected and commented on them in L’ora dei miraggi (Oblomov Edizioni).
With the graphic novel Cinquemila chilometri al secondo (Coconino press 2010) he won the Fauve d’Or award for Best Album at the 2011 Angoulême International Film Festival. L’intervista (Coconino press 2013, Oblomov 2019) marks his black-and-white debut. He has also published Le variazioni d’Orsay (Coconino press 2015), I giorni della merla (Coconino press 2016), a collection of short stories, La signorina Else (Coconino press 2009), an illustrated story based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler, and Rosso Oltremare (Coconino press 2006), Celestia (Oblomov 2020).
In 2016 he designed the poster for the 70th anniversary of the Strega Prize. Meanwhile, in America, thanks to the US edition of Five Thousand Kilometers per Second, Fior was nominated for an Eisner Award in the Best Painter category. In 2018, he illustrated the poster for the International Book Fair and tried his hand at animation for the first time, creating a cartoon short for Jovanotti’s Lorenzo Live 2018 music tour.

www.manuelefior.com

SPECIAL OPENING
Monastery of St. Benedict “Lemon Garden”
Starts: 10:00 PM
> Free tickets on Eventbrite

NINO GVILIA Concert
Nino Gvilia is a fictional character, no more, no less. According to biographical notes found online, she was born in Poti, near Lake Paliastomi in Georgia, but has always led a wandering life, as depicted in the pseudo-film “Songwriting in Times of a Global Crisis.” Being fictional, Nino Gvilia is an explicit disidentification of the body that embodies her with a scenic and digital “self”; a way to replace the construction of a coherent artistic self—imposed by the cultural market and social media—with a totally fake literary construct. Influenced by folk and minimalism, Nino Gvilia sings of forests, bodies, and materials that love each other in unusual ways. She uses magnetic tapes, field recordings, philosophers’ voices, a series of bizarre instruments with vintage textures, and choral canons, anachronistically questioning whether folk songs can still convey sentimental and political content, influencing our desires. Joining her on stage is the ensemble that worked on the double album “Nicole / Overwhelmed by the Unexplained,” released on Hive Mind Records (UK): multi-instrumentalists Zevi Bordovach and Pietro Caramelli, on harmonium, guitars, keyboards, and electronics, Giulia Pecora on violin, and Clarissa Marino on cello.
The live performance will be accompanied by the images and inspirations of the painter and musician Egidio Marullo.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Wandering – Because Life Isn’t a Straight Line (Recommended Ages 10-13)
Workshop led by Alessandro Frisina and Francesca Quatraro
Life doesn’t always go from A to B. Sometimes it twists and turns, stumbles, goes backwards, or stops at a red light.
And that’s okay. In this drawing workshop, we’ll explore together the value of alternative paths and unexpected pauses, building a collective map composed of many drawings. Because drawing helps us look at the world with new eyes. A creative journey for girls and boys aged 11 to 13, combining imagination, storytelling, and illustration. To learn to tell our stories without rushing and to find beauty even off the beaten track.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Conference Room, 1st floor)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated film workshop led by Domenico Bombini in collaboration with the Falcone e Borsellino – Carelli Comprehensive School and the Via Firenze-Forlani Comprehensive School.

Church of St. Clare
Timetable: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior’s solo exhibition entitled “12 Covers”

Monastery of St. Benedict (Church of San Benedetto)
Starts at 8:00 PM | Free admission
FAN Tour 2025
The Imaginaria Festival participated as a partner in the “European Film Festival Networks” call for proposals under the MEDIA Creative Europe program, where the FAN – Festivals Animation Network project was successfully approved.
The network promotes auteur animation, with a particular focus on nurturing emerging talent. Its objectives include audience diversification and expansion, film production in schools and other community settings, as well as study and analysis through debates, idea sharing, and educational exchanges in the field of animated film. Under the guiding theme “Looking to Expand”, this network unites five partner festivals: Cinanima (Espinho, Portugal), Animafest Cyprus (Salamiou, Cyprus), Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece), Imaginaria – international festival of authorial animated films (Conversano, Italy), and Prime The Animation (Valencia, Spain), along with associated European and non-European festivals, such as BLON Animacijos ir video žaidimų festivalis (Klaipėda, Lithuania), Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) (Stuttgart, Germany), Kaff Hungary (Kecskemét, Hungary), Viborg Animation Festival (Viborg, Denmark), Melbourne International Animation Festival (Melbourne, Australia), Pixelatl. Festival (Guadalajara, Mexico), and SIFFCY FilmFestival (New Delhi, India).

Screenings from partner Cinanima (Portugal) – FAN Young European Talents
Porto’s Old Man by Tânia Sofia da Costa Marques (Portogallo,2023, 5’)
52hz by Diana Rodrigues – Universida de do Algarve (Portugal, 2023, 4’52)
My Seagull Espanhol (A Minha Gaivota Espanhol) by Bárbara Barreto, Catarina Santos, Raquel Salvado (Portugal, 2023, 4’)
My House has a lot of windows (A minha casa tem muitas janelas) by Leonor Faria Henriques (Portugal, 2023, 5’)
Jungle (Selva) by Leonor Calaça (Portugal, 2022, 3’)
Spark (Faísca) by Laura Equi (Portugal, 2022, 3’04)
Sadness Comes in Waves by Joana Leal – Escola das Artes (Portugal, 2023, 5’)
Everything that stayn on the surface dies (Tudo o que fica à superfície more) by Carina Pierre Corso (Portugal, 2022, 3’)
The Beating Seed (A semente que palpita) by AsA (Marta Ribeiro), Alice do Carmo, Laura Pires, Tiago Pimenta (Portugal, 2023, 4’34)
Aromas by Tiago Silva, Eyshila Gondim, Sofia Ceia –  IPP Portalegre (Portugal 2023, 1’27)
Mona Lisas by Beatriz Nunes – ESMAD (Portugal, 2023, 13’51)

Screening from partner Cinanima (Portugal) – FAN Masters (theme: memory)
Fragments by José Miguel Ribeiro (Portugal, 2016, 18’)
Drop di Drop by Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves (Portugal, 2017, 9’15)
Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez (Portugal/France/UK, 2022, 14’)
Soot by Vasco Sá e David Doutel (Portugal, 2014, 14’)
Uncle Thomas, Accounting for the Days by Regina Pessoa (Portugal/France/Canada, 2019, 13’)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 9:00 PM  | Ticket 3€
Screenings (Children’s Short Film Competition)
A dream takes flight by Chiara Helm (Italy, 2024, 5’33)
Dreaming of Flight by Elena Walf (Germany, 2025, 5’40)
Everything we missed by Marta Prokopová (Slovakia, 2024, 11’56)
Hello Summer by Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová (Slovakia, 2024, 10’45)
I found a box by Éric Montchaud (France, 2025, 10′)
Le case di Achille (The Achille’s houses) by Nespy 5Euro (Italy, 2024, 3’12)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:00 PM| Ticket 3€
Retrospective Michel Ocelot
Kirikou and the Sorceress by Michel Ocelot(1998, Francia/Lussemburgo/Belgio, 71’, italian dubbed version)
Little Kirikou is born in an African village that has long lived in terror. The evil witch Karaba has devoured all the men, demands gold and jewels from the women, and has dried up the water source, making work and daily life difficult. Even as a newborn, Kirikou declares that this spell must end. Thus begins his journey to challenge the witch and the secret of her wickedness.
Director Michel Ocelot will be in attendance.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 9:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Graduation Short Film competition)
A september in 2001 by Thomas Heath (France, 2025, 4’19)
Adhesion by Rafael Cuculić (Croatia, 2025, 3’39)
As long as it takes by Cassandre Dantier Faugère (France,2024, 4’21)
C’era la Luna! by Simone Caramazza (Italy, 2025, 3′)
Chair Cemetery by Alicia Lévy (France, 2024, 3’35)

Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Dance of Creation (Olshansky Fusion Duo) by Natalia Ryss (Israel, 2025, 3’13)
Dark Mystery Enigma Bird (Nap Eyes) by Jordan Minkoff (Canada, 2024, 4’58)
Fear is a rose (Ella Hue) by Isabel Stub (USA, 2024, 4’54)

Screenings (Main Competition)
Amarelo Banana by Alexandre Sousa (Portugal, 2025, 12′)
As if swallowed by earth by Natalia León (France, 2025, 13’31)
Balconada by Iva Tokmakchieva (Bulgaria/France, 2025, 8’06)
Boundaries by Seun Yee (Republic of Korea, 2025, 11’34)
Dark Globe by Donato Sansone (Italy, 2024, 3’18)
Dead weight by Øyvind Tangseth (Norway, 2024, 8′)

Marangelli Civic Library
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated reading and themed workshop with Roberta Ursi for Ciurma Libreria (recommended ages 3-6)
Starting with the book “Ettore, the Extraordinarily Strong Man” by Magali Le Hoche (Settenove).
“Ettore, the Extraordinarily Strong Man is capable of incredible things; the audience adores him! But once his act is over, Ettore becomes shy and solitary. He’s parked his caravan far away, away from prying eyes, because he wants to keep a secret…” What is Ettore’s secret? At the end of the reading using the loom, the boys and girls will make a colorful bracelet.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Conference Room, 1st floor)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated film workshop led by Domenico Bombini in collaboration with the Falcone e Borsellino – Carelli Comprehensive School and the Via Firenze-Forlani Comprehensive School.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Covers”

Monastery of St. Benedict (Church of San Benedetto)
Starts at 8:00 PM | Ingresso libero
FAN Tour 2025
Initiative of the FAN – Festival Animation Network network project funded thanks to the “European Film Festival Networks” call within the MEDIA Creative Europe programme which includes: Cinanima (Espinho, Portugal), Animafest Cyprus (Salamiou, Cyprus), Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece), Imaginaria – international festival of authorial animated films (Conversano, Italy) and Prime The Animation (Valencia, Spain)

Screenings from partner Animafest (Cyprus) – FAN Young European Talents
Poppy Flowers  by Evridiki Papaiakovou (Estonia, 2024, 4’24)
Blak by Giorgos Tsangaris (Cyprus, 2020, 4’06)
Erma by Angelos Charalambous (Greece/Cyprus, 2021, 12’26)
Water Film by Maria Katerina Ieridou (Cyprus, 2022, 4’)
Tobin by Adonis Sergiou (Cyprus, 2023, 7’16)
In the city of dust by Haris Pellapaisiotis, Maud Nivet (Cyprus, 2022, 6’28)

Proiezioni partner Animafest (Cyprus) – FAN Masters (theme: memory)
Enan tzi enan by Michalis Papanikolaou (Cyprus, 2020, 3’32)
Cypriot Transfigurations by Spyros Dimitriades (Cyprus, 2012, 9’55)
2000 Miles and Thirteen Years by Yiannos Economou (Cyprus, 1997, 7’38)
Dahlia by Ana Mougis, Fox Schwach (Cyprus, 2017, 4’21)
Phantom of Venus by Christiana Ioannou (Cyprus, 2023, 10’52)
The Tornado Outside by Maria Tomazou (Cyprus, 2023, 8’15)
Golden by Antony Petrou (Cyprus, 2022, 1’42)
Pasty Child by George Tymvios, Andy Luck (Cyprus, 2012, 6’08)
Outsiders by Wirrow (Cyprus, 2013, 3’16)
Rite of Springs by Yiorgos Tsaggaris (Cyprus, 2021, 4’30)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 9:00 PM | Ticket 3€
Screenings (Children’s Short Film Competition)
Lola and the Sound Piano by Augusto Zanovello (France, 2024, 25′)
New – world Tour by Moonjoo Lee (Korea, 2024, 9’24)
Nils Karlsson Pussling by Yaprak Morali, Are Austnes (Norway/Sweden, 2024, 14′)
Nino and the missing cat’s crown by Saskia Kowollik (Germany, 2025, 3’25)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:00 PM | Ticket 3€
Retrospective of Michel Ocelot
Princes and Princesses by Michel Ocelot (2000, France. 63′, Italian dubbed version)
A refined and evocative animated fairy tale inspired by the technique of shadow puppetry. Costumes, drawings, the magic of distant lands, and two imaginative children who, in six different stories, travel through time and space: from Ancient Egypt to the Middle Ages, from Japanese art to the most classic of fairy tales (the princess’s kiss with the toad) turned upside down in a comically absurd situation.
Director Michel Ocelot will be in the theater.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 09:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Graduation Short Film competition)
Cold Home by Alicja Liss (Poland, 2025, 8’22)
Detlev by Ferdinand Ehrhardt (Germany, 2024, 12’50)
Flares by Jáchym Bouzek (Republic Czech/France, 2025, 5’15)
Floating by Jelena Milunović (Serbia, 2025, 7′)
Hollow by Szymon Baran (Poland, 2024, 3’33)

Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Flame (Marcin Jaruszewski, Katarzyna Swierczynska) di Elzbieta Muskietorz (Poland/UK, 2024, 1’54)
Je Ne Sais Pas (Clara Néville) di Cemre Beyza Yağız (France/Turkey, 2025, 3’40)
Mediterranean (Mango) di Alessandro Rak (Italy, 2025, 4’48)

Screenings (Main Competition)
Dog Alone di Marta Reis Andrade (Portugal, 2025, 13′
Fačuk di Maida Srabovic (Croatia/Slovenia, 2025, 12’47)
Flow of Being di Helen Unt (Bulgaria/Estonia, 2024, 11’11)
How di Marko Mestrovic (Croatia, 2025, 8’47)
Il burattino e la balena di Roberto Catani (France/Italy, 2024, 8’11)
Kafka. In Love di Zane Oborenko (Latvia, 2024, 10’11)

Marangelli Civic Library
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Comic book workshop with Francesca Torre for the Moleste collective (recommended ages 10-13).
Starting from the book “Fai rumore” (Il Castoro), participants will analyze a selection of representative vignettes, which will be broken down, reworked, and reinterpreted through a process of visual editing and textual rewriting. The activity involves direct intervention on the iconographic material to produce a new comic strip capable of conveying emotional states related to discomfort or annoyance. The aim of the workshop is to stimulate expressive awareness and refine communication skills through the intentional combination of visual sign and word, in a participatory and reflective creative process.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Conference Room, 1st floor)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated film workshop led by Domenico Bombini in collaboration with the Falcone e Borsellino – Carelli Comprehensive School and the Via Firenze-Forlani Comprehensive School.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Copertine” at the San Benedetto Terrace | 7:30 PM | Free admission

Monastery of St. Benedict (San Benedetto Terrace)
Starts at 7:30 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Meetings
Pino Creanza presents “Lama Loco – Metamorphic Psycho-Experipezie in the Bonzosfera.”
Lama Loco – Metamorphic Psycho-Experipezie in the Bonzosfera is the latest comic book by Pino Creanza, one of the most original and reclusive authors of the Frigidaire generation. The protagonist is a wandering one-eyed, one-legged bonze, a modern-day Odysseus who embarks on a visionary journey that intertwines irreverent tragicomedy, psychedelic spirituality, and philosophical reflection, in a plot animated by surprising graphic inventions, cutting irony, and a narrative structure that challenges convention. We will discuss the topic with the author, who will be present at Imaginaria with his books and drawings, on August 20th at 7:30 PM.

The Author
Pino Creanza debuted with his humorous and surreal strips in Frigidaire in the early 1990s and has since appeared in numerous publications, from Manifesto to Dinamite, Mondo Mongo, Repubblica XL, ANIMAls, and EAST, as well as online and in numerous fanzines. His characters include Prof. Knox, Tom and Ponsi, and Gino & Sberla. In 2013, he published Cairo Blues, a graphic novel dedicated to the Egyptian capital during the “revolution” that led to the fall of Mubarak. The work was subsequently translated and published in France, Spain, and Egypt. In addition to his comics, which can be read on his blog sillytragedies.it, he has published several children’s books (“Michelino and the Bandits’ Treasure,” “The Disappeared Olive Tree,” “Escape from the Planet Mongo”).

Monastery of St. Benedict (Church of San Benedetto)
Starts at 8:00 PM | Free admission
FAN Tour 2025
Initiative of the FAN – Festival Animation Network network project funded thanks to the “European Film Festival Networks” call within the MEDIA Creative Europe programme which includes: Cinanima (Espinho, Portugal), Animafest Cyprus (Salamiou, Cyprus), Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece), Imaginaria – international festival of authorial animated films (Conversano, Italy) and Prime The Animation (Valencia, Spain)

Screenings from partner Animasyros (Greece) – FAN Young European Talents
Cut The Tie by Anna Oikonomou (Greece, 2024, 4’)
Echoes by Robinson Drossos (Greece, 2024, 7’)
Choosing Ignorance by Mariza Tseva (Greece, 2024, 6’)
The Last line by Io Andrikopoulou (Greece, 2023, 4’)
The Gabardine (La Gabardine) by Kimon Papadatos (Greece, 2024, 4’)
Watering Hole by Foivos Chalkiadopoulos (Greece, 2023, 7’)
Moon landing with a twist by Simos Tokalakis (Greece, 2023, 3’)
Our Road (Amaro Drom) by Valasia Dodulu (Greece, 2023, 4’)
Stavros the Great: Starring in a balkan cartoon by Kostas Firinidis (Greece, 2025, 9’)

Screenings from partner Animasyros (Greece) – FAN Master (tema: memoria)
Apodemy by Katerina Athanassopoulou (Greece, 2012, 5’03)
Aenigma by Antonis Doussias (Greece, 2016, 10’)
The Blind Writer (L’écrivain Aneugle) by George Sifianos (Greece, 2021, 10’)
I lost the Way by Panagiotis Rappas (Greece, 2021, 8’)
Canary by Chrysoula Korovesi, Manos Gampierakis (Greece, 2021, 5’54)
Pink Mountain by Thomas Kunsler (Greece, 2022, 8’40)
My stuffed Granny by Effie Pappa (Greece, 2014, 9’33)
Ethnophobia by Joan Zhonga (Greece, 2016, 14’)
Heatwave by Fokion Xenos (Greece, 2019, 7’ 13)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Giardino dei Limoni)
Starts at 9:00| Ticket 3€
Screenings (Children’s Short Film Competition)
Once Upon a Time in Dragonville  by Marika Herz (France/Switzerland, 2024, 9’15)
One Track Mind by Faye Isherwood-Wallace (UK, 2024, 6’50)
Pader by Jean Vergé (France, 2024, 8’25)
Per Dono by Alison Julia Forest (Italy, 2025, 9′)
Polliwog by Julia Skala (Germany, 2024, 9’13)
Yore Gramps And The Whale by Mariana Elisabetsky (Brazil, 2025, 13’12)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:00 PM | Ticket 3€
Retrospective of Michel Ocelot
Azur and Asmar by Michel Ocelot (2006, France/Spain/Italy/Belgium, 94′, Italian dubbed version)
Ocelot takes us back to his exotic worlds through the story of two children raised as brothers, one the son of a nobleman and the other of a wet nurse. As always in his films, the story is based on the ideals of hope and dialogue, against all discrimination and misunderstanding. A splendid tale of multiculturalism and the peaceful coexistence of peoples.
Director Michel Ocelot in the theater.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 9:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Graduation Short Film competition)
Lights, Haze by Tata Managadze (Finland, 2024, 8’04)
Loss by Sonya Umanski, Alika Levinson (Ukraine, 2024, 6’40)
Madri Terra by Anna Giulia Pricoco (Italy, 2024, 3′)
Missing words by Amin Touati (France, 2024, 2’21)
Né una né due by Lucia Catalini (Italy, 2024, 5’57)

Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Mediterranee (band Juniore) by Clément Soulmagnon (France, 2024, 3’40)
Paulinha (Raul Manarte) by Ana Marta Mendes (Portugal, 2025, 3’39)
Sabana y banano (Ëda Diaz) by Juliette Laboria (France, 2024, 3’24)

Screenings (Main Competition)
Long Distance by Iulia Voitova (France, 2025, 8’30)
La vie avec un idiot by Theodor Ushev (France, 2025, 17’58)
Like Friend, Like Deer by Malek Eghbali (Iran, 2025, 12’59)
Tinnitus#3 by Michele Bernardi (Italy, 2025, 6’40)
One-Way Cycle by Alicia Núñez Puerto (Portugal/Spain, 2025, 10’49)
Ordinary Life by Yoriko Mizushiri (France/Japan, 2025, 9’48)

Marangelli Civic Library
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
First session of the screen printing and printing workshop with Else Edizioni (recommended age 8-13)
A creative and hands-on workshop to introduce children to the world of screen printing and artisanal printing. Using screens, squeegees, and inks, participants will create original images on paper or fabric, exploring the language of printing as a form of personal and collective expression.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Conference Room, 1st floor)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated film workshop led by Domenico Bombini in collaboration with the Falcone e Borsellino – Carelli Comprehensive School and the Via Firenze-Forlani Comprehensive School.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior’s solo exhibition entitled “12 Copertine” at the San Benedetto Terrace | 7:30 PM | Free admission

Monastery of St. Benedict (San Benedetto Terrace)
Starts at 7:30 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Meetings
Marino Guarnieri
Director, animator, illustrator, he has worked as a graphic designer across all forms of expression and communication for the last 25 years. He approached animation by collaborating with television broadcasters, public bodies and later as an author, participating in the creation of commercials and music videos, TV theme songs and educational products, documentaries, specials and feature films. He began collaborating with MAD Entertainment right from its foundation, participating in various projects. He worked on the feature film The Art of Happiness (2013) by A. Rak as Assistant Director, covering technical, artistic and organizational roles including Director of 2D Animation and Special Effects and Editor. The film, which has won several international awards, won the European Film Awards 2014 as Best European Animated Film. His first feature film as a director, Cenerentola the Cat, directed together with Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello and Dario Sansone, produced by MAD Entertainment with RAI cinema, was presented at the 74th Venice Film Festival, in the Orizzonti section and distributed in Italy and abroad, garnering acclaim and important awards, to the point of being included in the Academy’s short list for the 2018 Oscars and winning two David di Donatello Awards (Best Digital Effects and Best Production) and a Nastro d’Argento. He is currently the Coordinator of the Animated Film Course at the Italian School of Comix, for which he directed the promotional commercial Chi sogna Disegna (2013) and the short film Mezzanotte di Segni (2015). Since 2019 he has also been the president of ASIFA Italia (International Association of Animated Films) with which he made the short film LOOP (2020). He recently finished his work as Assistant Director, Artistic Director, and Editor on the film Yaya and Lennie – The Walking Liberty (2021) by A. Rak and is currently working on pre-production on the short film Due Battiti, financed by MiBacT.
For the occasion, Marino will present his book “Chiedi al maestro. Confronti d’autore sull’animazione” published by Tunuè.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Church of San Benedetto)
Starts at 8:00 PM | Free admission
FAN Tour 2025
An initiative of the FAN – Festival Animation Network project funded by the “European Film Festival Networks” call within the MEDIA Creative Europe program, which includes: Cinanima (Espinho, Portugal), Animafest Cyprus (Salamiou, Cyprus), Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece), Imaginaria – international festival of authorial animated films (Conversano, Italy), and Prime The Animation (Valencia, Spain).

Screenings from partner Imaginaria (Italy) – FAN Young European Talents
The Meatseller by Margherita Giusti (Italy, 2023, 17’)
Supersilly by Veronica Martinadonna (France/Italy, 2024, 9’28)
Dòma by Chiara Seveso (Italy, 2023, 4’)
Un sogno, io ricordo (A dream, I remember) by Chiara Cecchetto (Italy, 2023, 3’19)
Né una né due (Neither one nor two) by Lucia Catalini (Italy, 2025, 5’57)
Le gobbe nel giardino (The humps in the garden) by Rachele Marrazzo, Marco Caverni, Luna Oliver (Italy, 2024, 1’46)
Masadeg by Federico Attardo (Italy, 2023, 2’03)
Mare ‘ngannatore (Deceptive sea) by Carola Pignati (Italy, 2021, 4’31)
Pronta (Ready) by Alessia Angelini (Italy, 2021, 3’50)
53, Rue de Verdun by Riccardo Ambrosi (Italy, 2022, 2’20)

Screenings from partner Imaginaria (Italy) – FAN Masters (theme: memory)
Per tutta la vita (For life) by Roberto Catani (Italy, 2018, 6’)
Mercurio (Mercury) by Michele Bernardi (Italy, 2024, 9’49)
Dell’ammazzare il maiale (Of killing the pig) by Simone Massi (Italy, 2011, 6’35)
Sogni al campo (Dreams at the camp) by Magda Guidi and Mara Cerri (Italy, 2020, 9’)
Maestrale (Misral) di Nico Bonomolo (Italy, 2021, 10’30)
Ekart di Ahmed Neb Nessib (Italy, 2017, 9’)
Journal Animé di Donato Sansone (France/Italy, 2015, 4’19)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 09:00 | Ticket 3€
Screenings (Children’s Short Film Competition)
Rain by Roza Gimatdinova (Russia, 2025, 7’21)
Remember Me by Bárbara Barreto, Caroline Soares, João Cadima (Portugal, 2024, 4’35)
Reven by Babey Hugo, Barreau Victor, Bossard Line, Hurard Chloé, Monnier Coralie, Morin Mathilde, Ripoche Lèna, Salaün Tanguy (France, 2024, 6’36)
Skin Colour by Gilad Pfeffer, Liya Daniel Elbashan (Israel, 2025, 3’24)
Son by Zhanna Bekmambetova (Kazakhstan/Russia, 2025, 20’55)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:00 PM | Tickets €3
Michel Ocelot Retrospective
Dililì in Paris by Michel Ocelot (2018, France/Germany/Belgium, 95 minutes, Italian dubbed version)
In Belle Époque Paris, Dilili, a young girl from New Caledonia, and the young delivery boy Orel investigate the mysterious kidnapping of several young girls. This improvised detective duo finds support from some of the great figures of an extraordinary era, from Proust to Matisse, from Marie Curie to Louis Pasteur. A joyful animated fairy tale that explores the roots of colonial racism and violence against women. “A feast for the eyes is guaranteed, especially since Ocelot’s taste oscillates between Art Nouveau and Art Deco, but with clear influences from painters such as Rousseau and Ligabue.
On this pictorial framework of rare refinement, Ocelot grafts a moral parable with powerful cultural and even political implications.” (Gianni Canova)
Director Ocelot presents in the theater.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts 9:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Graduation Short Film competition)
Pomegranate by Livvy Seabrook-Wilkins (UK, 2024, 2’31)
Poppy Flowers by Evridiki Papaiakovou (Estonia, 2024, 4’24)
Sesame by Alix De Clerk, Alice Diop (France, 2024, 5’49)
Spine by Marta Margetić (Croatia, 2025, 4’21)
The bird from Within by Laura Anahory (Portugal, 2025, 5’56)

Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Sensational (Stuck) by François-Marc Baillet (France, 2025, 3’20)
Straniero RMX (Massimo Pericolo ft. Tedua, Neima Ezza) by Davide Vicari, Dario Imbrogno (Italy, 2024, 4’05)
The Glitch (Tomasz Jakub Opałka) by Michał Janicki (Poland, 2024, 3’17)

Screenings (Main Competition)
Ovary-Acting by Ida Melum (UK, 2025, 12’24)
Percebes by Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves (Portugal, 2024, 11’30)
Playing God by Matteo Burani (Italy, 2024, 9′)
Raaf by Jeroen Ceulebrouck (Belgium/Portugal, 2024, 13’05)
Radix by Anne Breymann (Germany, 2025, 4’14)
Sappho by Rosana Urbes (Brazil, 2025, 9′)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated reading and themed workshop with Roberta Ursi for Ciurma Libreria (recommended age 3-6).
Reading of the book “Foto di gruppo” by Gek Tessaro (Lapis).
“Explorers leave all sorts of things lying around. Almost never interesting objects. This time, however, it was a camera. And the monkey found it.” At the end of the reading, participants will make a film camera from recycled materials.

Marangelli Civic Library
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Second session of the screen printing and printing workshop with Else Edizioni (recommended age 8-13)
A creative and hands-on workshop to introduce children to the world of screen printing and artisanal printing. Using screens, squeegees, and inks, participants will create original images on paper or fabric, exploring the language of printing as a form of personal and collective expression.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Conference Room, 1st floor)
Starts at 5:30 PM | Reservations only
Animated film workshop led by Domenico Bombini in collaboration with the Falcone e Borsellino – Carelli Comprehensive School and the Via Firenze-Forlani Comprehensive School.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Copertine” at the San Benedetto Terrace | 7:30 PM | Free admission

Monastery of St. Benedict (San Benedetto Terrace)
Starts at 7:30 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Meetings 
Michel Ocelot in conversation with Marino Guarnieri
The meeting will be supported by an interpreter for Italian translation

Monastery of St. Benedict (Church of San Benedetto)
Starts at 8:00 PM | Free admission
FAN Tour 2025
An initiative of the FAN – Festival Animation Network project funded by the “European Film Festival Networks” call within the MEDIA Creative Europe program, which includes: Cinanima (Espinho, Portugal), Animafest Cyprus (Salamiou, Cyprus), Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece), Imaginaria – international festival of authorial animated films (Conversano, Italy), and Prime The Animation (Valencia, Spain).

Screenings from partner Prime The Animation  (Spain) – FAN Young European Talents
All Good by Diana Acién Manzorro. (Spain, 2023, 6’0)
Papirola by Fabián Molinaro San Martín (Spain, 2022, 7’)
Chimborazo by Keila Cepeda Satán (Spain, 2022, 7’17)
Pobre Antonio by Mariana Guerreiro Ferreira, Eudald Rojas Lluís (Spain, 2022, 8’06)
Quiche for two by Isabel Lloret Lejarreta (Spain, 2021, 3’42)
Conej Steps Out by Pablo del Río (Spain, 2023, 7’)
Bakeneko by Meritxell Gavaldà (Spain, 2023, 1’38)
I’m fine mum by Jose Manuel Palenzuela (Spain, 2022, 5’23)
Big Box by Nuria Torreño (Spain, 2023, 6’32)

Screenings from partner Prime The Animation  (Spain) – FAN Masters (theme: memory)
Alike by Rafael Cano Méndez, Daniel Martínez Lara (Spain, 2015, 8’01)
Patchwork by María Manero (Spain, 2018, 8’)
El Diañu by Samuel Fernandi (Spain, 2018, 8’)
Los Patos by Ángela Arregui (Spain, 2021, 5’54)
Un cuarto de equipaje by Daniela Cuenca (Spain, 2021, 7’)
Fashion Victim by María Lorenzo Hernández (Spain, 2023, 2’07)
Ivet y Michuco by Ignacio Meneu Oset (Spain, 2020, 4’49)
Becarias  by Marina Cortón, Marina Donderis, Nuria Poveda (Spain, 2023, 10’)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 09:00 PM | Ticket 3€
Screenings (Children’s Short Film Competition)
Sortie de route by Alice Beneux, Victoria Demonin, Laura Lebaillif, Zohra Lecointre, Camille Maniffatore, Nathan Mathieu, Noémie Thiallier (France, 2024, 6’21)
Sparrows by Rémi Durin (France, 2024, 11’37)
The Carp and the child by Morgane Simon, Arnaud Demuynck (France, 2024, 6’50)
The Girl with Occupied Eyes by André Carrilho (Portugal, 2024, 7’55)
The Nights Boots by Pierre-Luc Granjon (France, 2024, 12’29)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:00 PM
Screening of the short film made during the animation workshop followed by the Best Children’s Short Film award ceremony in the presence of the Kids Jury

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 10:30 PM | Ticket 3€
Retrospective of Michel Ocelot
The Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess
(France/Belgium, 2022, 83′)
An epic set in ancient Egypt, a medieval legend from Auvergne, a 18th-century oriental fantasy, with Ottoman costumes and Turkish palaces, to let yourself be transported by contrasting dreams, populated by splendid divinities, horrible tyrants, cheerful avengers, princes and princesses who do whatever comes into their heads and all this in a kaleidoscope of colors!

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 09:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Graduation Short Film competition)
The Peel by NanTung Lin (Taiwan, 2025, 6’20)
Void Spaces by Marta Koch (Poland, 2024, 13’40)
Weathered by Karina Casañas Invernon, Jáchym Bouzek (UK, 2025, 6’25)
Wild animal by Tianyun Lyu (USA, 2024, 12’35)
Windy Day by Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Elise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez Camille Truding (France, 2024, 6’32)

Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Unicorn (AYR ft. Gintsugi) by Andrea Liuzza, Riccardo Ambrosi(Italy, 2024, 3’48)
Uomini contro insetti (Giorgio Poi) by Filippo Rossi (Italy, 2025, 4’33)
Wagon des Rêves (Armand Fonty) by Juliette Bonvallet (France, 2024, 3’31)

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 10:30 PM
Lifetime Achievement Award to Michel Ocelot
Imaginaria is particularly proud to present its Lifetime Achievement Award to French director Michel Ocelot.
The meeting will be facilitated by Marino Guarnieri.

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Start at 11:00 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Main Competition)
Silent Panorama by Nicolas Piret (Belgium, 2024, 5’09)
Simply Divine by Mélody Boulissière, Bogdan Stamatin (Romania, 2024, 14′)
SKRFF by Corrie Francis Parks, Daniel Nuderscher (Austria, 2024, 7′)
Sulaimani by Vinnie Ann Bose (France, 2025, 20′)
The Dying World by Lauren Tsai (USA, 2025, 4’39)
The Girl & The Pot by Valentina Homem, Tati Bond (Brazil, 2024, 12’18)

Marangelli Civic Library
Opening hours: 5:30 PM | Free admission
Else Edizioni exhibition with community outreach
At the end of the two-day workshop dedicated to screen printing and artisanal printing, all participants—guided and supported by Else Edizioni staff—will be involved in the collective outreach of an exhibition open to the public. The exhibition will recount the creative journey undertaken, highlighting the processes, thoughts, experiments, and works created during the workshop. This moment of shared outreach, conceived as an opportunity to meet with the community, showcase and celebrate the work accomplished together.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Copertine” at the San Benedetto Terrace | 7:30 PM | Free admission

Monastery of St. Benedict (San Benedetto Terrace)
Starts at 7:30 PM | Free admission
Imaginaria Meetings – Meetings with the Authors
Manuele Fior

Monastery of St. Benedict (Romanesque cloister)
Starts at 090:30 PM | Ticket 5€
Screenings (Animated Music Video Competition)
Water Tanks (I hate my village) by Donato Sansone (Italy, 2024, 2’40)
We Will Go (Nous Irons) by Elodie Verheyden (Belgium, 2024, 3’58)
Where Does The Night Go (Hugo Races & Gianni Maroccolo) by Michele Bernardi (Italy, 2025, 6’13)

Screenings (Main Competition)
Mont Noir by Erika Haglund, Jean-Baptiste Peltier (France, 2024, 14’55)
To the woods by Agnès Patron (France, 2025, 15′)
Todos los futuros by Bárbara Cerro (Argentina, 2024, 12′)
VSEMIR – il confine nel cimitero di Miren by Lea Vucko, Damir Grbanovic (Slovenia, 2025, 2’51)
Ziki by Roberta Palmieri, Olga Sargenti (Italy, 2024, 12’33)

FAN – Festival Animation Network – Young European Talents Award
The jury composed of Deanna Morse (USA), Joanna Quinn (UK), Tamás Patrovits (Hungary) will award the prize for the FAN – Young European Talents Award category

Imaginaria Awards 2025
The jury composed of Fabienne Wagenaar, Margherita Giusti, Marino Guarnieri, Maria Anestopoulou and Yiorgos Tsangaris will award the prizes to the various categories in competition.

Church of St. Clare
Opening hours: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM | Free admission (last day of the exhibition)
Imaginaria Exhibition
Manuele Fior‘s solo exhibition entitled “12 Copertine” at the San Benedetto Terrace | 7:30 PM | Free admission

Monastery of St. Benedict (Lemon Garden)
Starts at 09:30 PM  | Ticket 10€
SPECIAL CLOSING EVENT
PITECUS by Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella
On the thirtieth anniversary of its debut, the Imaginaria Festival is proud to present PITECUS, the cult show by Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella.
An unmissable event, the only stop in Puglia to witness—or relive—a masterpiece that has shaped the history of contemporary theater.
Brilliant, irreverent, and inimitable: Rezza and Mastrella return to the stage with a work that continues to amaze, excite, and leave its mark, confirming their position as an absolute one-of-a-kind on the Italian theater scene.

“It’s a show that analyzes the relationship between man and his perversions: graduates, layabouts, young and desperate people seeking an opportunity to increase their pockets and fame, highly decorated moral figures who speculate on the misfortunes of others, old people seeking an identity that will help them kill time before time kills them, people who eke out a routine life, individuals who sell their bodies in exchange for purely material well-being, beings who travel to enrich their external and superficial cultural skills.”

“PITECUS tells the stories of many characters, a coming and going of people living in a chaotic microcosm: shreds of reality follow one another without a common thread, sublime wickedness makes even sensitive topics comical and aggressive. There are no positive representations, everyone is content, everyone feels like a victim, they work to hide, they buy feelings and dignity, they don’t love, they create dullness and disservice.”

The characters are ugly both physically and internally, they exude indifference, they sink into anonymity, but thanks to their narcissism, they are convinced they are original, contemporary, and, in the most blatant cases, avant-garde. They speak a mixed dialect, are very colorful, move nervously, and, through their acting, take on mythical and caricatural, almost cartoonish forms… PITECUS rails against the culture of drowsiness and creative quiescence.

More information: https://www.rezzamastrella.com