As we do every year, we are pleased to present short films made by Ca’ Foscari students and by the Venice International University (VIU) film program of which our University is a member.
Born in Rovereto in 2003, during one of the hottest summers on record, he has been absorbing and reworking everything around him ever since, trying to make it his own. Searching for a personal style, in his early experiences behind the camera he hopes to be perceived as authorial, surreal, and aesthetically inclined.
Director, script, music: Matteo Tonelli
Director of Photography: Marco Deavi
Editing: Davide Cimonetti
Sound design: Federico Miconi
Cinematographer: Tommaso Zanella
Cast: Lorenzo Tomazzoni
2024, 8' 28''
Synopsis: A man wanders through Venice’s tragic beauty at night, searching for an object of inestimable value. When he finally finds it, he realizes the object is Venice itself.
A project under the supervision of Miriam De Rosa
This short selection of films is the outcome of critical thinking on the screens that populate our lives, created by students in the Visual Cultures classes of 2023 and 2024. From the screens of our media devices to the surface of the lagoon’s water, and even our own bodies, our experience compels us to engage with screen-like forms that differ in nature, texture, and symbolic meaning—yet all prompt us to reflect on the processes of seeing, visualization, and hyper-visualization that our culture of display and self-construction places in our hands, or rather in front of our eyes.
We explored these processes by trying to position them within a broader perception in which our bodies regained volume and a critical stance that does not necessarily coincide with their outward image. We approached visuality and perception in a holistic manner, focusing on the relationship between the screens we have essentially “naturalized” along with their use, and our gestures and sense of touch. This led to a reflective exercise on the digital tools we use daily, now scrutinized more consciously, “deconstructing” what we take for granted and turning it into a testing ground for experimentation. Our smartphones and the apps we use to shape our social media feeds—and especially our computer desktops—became spaces for creativity, where the study of visual and audiovisual media turned into a workshop aimed at seeing them with fresh eyes. Technically, we learned screen capture techniques, using our desktops as the stage for our “super shorts.”
We became interpreters of our own visual cultures, documenting and reworking the words from our study materials, sometimes distancing ourselves from our usual media consumption, yet also recognizing our presence in those mediated gestures—click, swipe, zoom in, zoom out. Ultimately, we performed these actions and recorded them, attempting to think in an experimental way, “seeing with our hands” at every play and click.
The sixth edition of the Summer School Films in Venice and Filming Venice, an initiative of Venice International University, in cooperation with partner universities Ca’ Foscari, Iuav, Tel Aviv, Waseda, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and Exeter, took place to coincide with the 81st Venice International Film Festival (online July 30 – August 1, 2024, and on site August 26 – September 4, 2024), involving 19 students from around the world.
The School aims to combine film theory and practice, applied to the representation of Venice, through a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach reflecting both the faculty composition and the student body.
(https://www.univiu.org/study/summer-schools/films-in-venice-and-filming-venice)
After arriving in the “city of death,” the Cinephile roams the streets of Castello determined to experience a romantic Venetian demise. He has no idea how it might happen, but while traversing the labyrinthine alleys and decrepit squares, he remains resolute about surrendering to destiny. However, a chance encounter with two Venetian locals leads him to what he believes is the true soul of Venice.
Director: Emma Havard
Scriptwriter: Ella Harding
Cinematography: Jiwon Choi
Producer: Bella MacLusky
Editor: Francisca Simões
Special thanks: Rebecca Legnaro
Cast:
Cinephile: Ella Harding
Italian 1: Francisca Simões
Italian 2: Rebecca Legnaro
When her Venetian grandmother passes away, Andreina looks for a place to scatter her ashes—and a reprieve from her own grief. She must deal with the city’s hustle and with internal conflicts in her family.
Scriptwriter: Esme North
Editor: Zigi Omerzel
Producer: Erin Davey
Director: Zigi Omerzel
Cinematography: Momoka Furusawa
Cast:
Andreina: Esme North
Mother: Sara Korolija
Rude Tourists: Erin Davey, Angelica Vuocolo
As she completes her studies in Venice, Livia wonders whether she should remain in the city or leave, and she cannot stop thinking about it.
Scriptwriter: Sara Korolija
Editor: Ema Bohanec
Producer: Ayaka Miyauchi
Director: Lara Valle Portella Lima
Cinematography: Kyong Chun
Cast:
Livia: Sara Korolija
Maria: Maria Mălcică
Special thanks: Venice International University Staff
An inexperienced film crew arrives in Venice to shoot its first major production. A series of mishaps soon leaves only a few of them. Without key personnel and lacking crucial resources, they realize they cannot complete the film.
Title: Found and Lost
Student Participants / Crew:
Tutor: Lili Murciano
Cast: Hugo Martinho Chaves, Nike Matthes, Yulu Zhao
Scriptwriter: Nike Matthes
Cinematography: Anna-Katharina Ullrich
Editor: Yulu Zhao
Producer: Hugo Martinho Chaves
Director: Ada Jarzębińska
Special thanks: VIU Staff, Erin Davey, Angelica Vuocolo, Restaurant “Robe da Matti”
