The Atena Nike Film Award, now in its fourth edition, is distinguished by the growing space it dedicates each year to emerging talents and debut works.
We are already working on the fourth edition, the 2025 edition: this year, as in previous years, both short films and feature films may be submitted.
As always, the theme is linked to social issues.
Date and location of the new edition:
9 July – Casa del Cinema, Rome
Submission deadlines
Feature films: 28 February 2026
Short films: 28 April 2026
Artistic Director: Giampietro Preziosa
Giampietro Preziosa
An architect and film producer, he has made his artistic flair into a profession, bringing his innovative ideas into the cinematic field. A skilled communicator and businessman, he is a key figure at INTHEL FILM S.r.l., a film production company with thirty years of experience. He has overseen the artistic direction of the Atena Nike Award in previous editions, giving the Prize a distinctly refined identity and high editorial quality.
Alina Trabattoni
Journalist and foreign correspondent with decades of experience at major outlets including CGTN Europe, TRT World, Reuters, Bloomberg, Associated Press, BBC, LA Times, CNN, CNBC, ABC, People Magazine, NBC, Eurovision, Standard & Poor’s Platts, Deutsche Welle, The Times, Screen International, the European Broadcast Union (EBU), International Herald Tribune, Euronews, and Montel News. She served as co-artistic director of the Globo D’Oro Film Award for six editions, beginning in 2018.
Artistic Management
Fabrizio Apolloni
(Artistic management and direction of the awards ceremony)
Actor, voice actor and dubbing director, Apolloni began working in theatre at a very young age, later moving into film and TV. Also active in education, he is currently a teacher at Action Academy. He is a member of the supervisory board of Nuovo Imaie and a founding member of RAAI – the Register of Italian Actresses and Actors.
Salvo Saverio D’Angelo
(Short Film Jury Coordinator)
Actor and music producer under the pseudonym SSd Project, he trained at Francesca De Sapio’s acting school and at Actors Planet. His eclectic personality has led him to work in TV, cinema and music. He has been a radio presenter, TV correspondent for Rai2 Notte, and TV host on Sky channels and for TV Cinquestelle. He has received various awards, including the Atena Nike Award.
Armando Pizzuti
(Artistic management)
One of the most respected casting directors in the Italian film scene, his career began in 2015 collaborating with major Italian and international productions, including the series The Young Pope directed by Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino. Since then, he has worked with renowned directors such as Ben Affleck, Derek Cianfrance, David Frankel, Terrence Malick, Simon Curtis, Edoardo Ponti and Michael Mann. In 2022 he received the Ischia People Award as Best Casting Director for his contribution to Italian cinema worldwide.
Academy
The work of the artistic management, co-directors and the foreign press jury is supported by an Academy selected for its experience and high artistic and professional qualification. It consists of five figures from the fields of acting, cinema, music and theatre.
Claudia Gerini
An eclectic and versatile actress, born in Rome, where she began her artistic career. After working in fashion and television, she gained public attention with Carlo Verdone in Viaggi di nozze and Sono pazzo di Iris Blond. Hollywood cast her in Under the Tuscan Sun and in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, where she played Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate. In 2004 she appeared in Don’t Move by Sergio Castellitto. Many intense years followed with Nero bifamiliare, The Unknown Woman, My Tomorrow by Marina Spada, and the horror film Tulpa by Zampaglione. She returned to comedy in Love Is in the Air by Fausto Brizzi. She achieved international fame in John Wick 2 with Keanu Reeves and won the David di Donatello for Love and Bullets by the Manetti Bros. On TV she played Sara Monaschi in Netflix’s Suburra. She made her directorial debut in 2022 with Tapirulan and recently appeared in Il corpo by Vincenzo Alfieri.
Lucia Sardo (Aurora Sardo)
Actress, director and screenwriter, she studied under major masters of experimental theatre such as Eugenio Barba, Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski. She founded the Institute of Theatrical Culture in Santarcangelo di Romagna and directed the prestigious Santarcangelo Festival, one of the most important experimental theatre events in Europe. She made her film debut in 1992, working with directors such as Aurelio Grimaldi, Giuseppe Tornatore and Marco Tullio Giordana in One Hundred Steps. Unforgettable protagonist of Picciridda – With Feet in the Sand by Paolo Licata and The Carousel by Giorgia Cecere, she reached Hollywood with the Netflix series From Scratch by Reese Witherspoon, alongside Zoe Saldana. Her collaboration with Franco Battiato, playing herself, is memorable. Recently she appeared as Lucia in It Happens in the Best Families and as Rosa Balistreri in The Love I Have, presented at the Torino Film Festival.
Lorenzo Urciullo & Antonio Di Martino (Colapesce & Dimartino)
The Sicilian singer-songwriters, best known as Colapesce and Dimartino, are among the most acclaimed names in contemporary Italian music. Since 2020 the duo has won over audiences and critics with songs such as Musica leggerissima and Splash, earning multiple awards: at Sanremo, the Lucio Dalla Press Room Award and the Mia Martini Critics’ Prize; a Nastro d’Argento; and Best Original Score at the Globo d’Oro Film Award. They are also active in cinema, with their first film La primavera della mia vita, accompanied by an album of the same name.
Federica Vincenti
Actress, theatre and film producer, singer and composer. In 2004 she founded Goldenart Production, an outstanding company producing numerous theatre shows, feature films and short films marked by strong artistic and emotional identity, earning her many awards. Since 2006 she has acted and sung in various theatre and film productions, working with directors such as Roberto Andò and Michele Placido, and performing alongside icons like Giorgio Albertazzi, Mariangela Melato, Moni Ovadia, Massimo Ranieri and many others. After playing Marta Abba in Michele Placido’s latest film Eterno visionario, she is currently preparing to star in the new theatre production Sissi, the Empress, directed by Roberto Cavosi, premiering in late February 2025.
Press Jury
For the 2026 edition, a press jury will again be introduced, composed of Italian and international journalists, experts in their field and passionate about cinema.
The Press Jury is chaired by Vera Naydenova, journalist and Italy correspondent for bTV Media Group. From 2018 to 2024 she was part of the Cinema Committee as Head of TV Series for the prestigious Foreign Press Award Globo d’Oro. She currently also serves as a Board Member of the Association of Foreign Press in Italy.
Short Film Section
Responsible:
Salvo Saverio D’Angelo
Jury President:
……………
Jury Members:
Matthew Gentile, award-winning director and screenwriter, known to the general public for his debut feature film American Murderer, which achieved significant success.
Paolo Licata, director, trained in film and theatre directing at Cinecittà; he made his film debut with his first feature Picciridda, awarded at the Taormina Film Festival. His latest film L’amore che ho will be released in theatres in spring.
Alessandro del Vigna, Italian-Romanian film producer and writer, executive producer of Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund), Siberia (Abel Ferrara) and The End (Joshua Oppenheimer).
Donatella Pascucci, expert in French cinema; she has worked for the Gan Foundation, and been involved in the organization of the Italian Film Festival, Comicittà, the Campidoglio Masters of Cinema Award, and the Barbaro Award for Best Cinema Book. She has served on juries for the Montre Leonard Festival du Film d’Amour in Mons, the Bolzano Film Festival, the Florence Short Film Festival, and Valdarno Cinema. She is a member of the Italy-France Co-production Commission of the Ministry of Culture (Cinema and Audiovisual Directorate).
Marianna Sciveres, Italian director, screenwriter and set designer, graduated in set design from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. In 2002 she made her first feature film Sara May, a work of national cultural interest. She has been a set and costume designer for numerous film and TV productions.
Heidrun Schleef, Italian screenwriter of German origin, studied directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She has received three David di Donatello nominations and two Nastro d’Argento awards, and has worked with numerous masters of cinema.
