Valsusa Filmfest (30)

Festival start: 20 March 2026      Festival end: 30 April 2026

The Valsusa Filmfest celebrates its thirtieth anniversary and has published on its website, www.valsusafilmfest.it
, the call for entries for its 30th edition, scheduled to take place between March and April 2026 in several municipalities of the Susa Valley.

This milestone marks an important achievement for a festival that, since 1997, has become a point of reference for the local community and for many filmmakers who, through cinema, have explored themes of memory, territory, rights, the environment, and social change. Thirty years of the festival represent a cultural and civic journey that has engaged generations of students, volunteers, artists, and audiences. A journey that continues today with the same founding spirit: promoting culture, fostering critical thinking, building aware communities, and reflecting on the social and political changes of our time.

Once again, the heart of the Valsusa Filmfest is its film competition, open to emerging and established filmmakers and divided this year into six sections: Cortometraggi, Disertare, Fare Memoria, Le Alpi, Videoclip Musicali, Green Screen.
The new section of this edition is Disertare, developed in collaboration with the Civilian Victims of War Association – Piedmont and Aosta Valley section, and dedicated to works that tell stories, experiences, and testimonies of nonviolence, rejection of war, antimilitarism, and civil disobedience, with particular attention to the contemporary issue of military spending and new forms of war propaganda. This section closely reflects the festival’s dedication to Fabrizio De André and its strong civic identity.

Alongside this new section, the competition includes the following categories: Cortometraggi, a free-theme section welcoming fiction films with a maximum duration of ten minutes; Fare Memoria, organized in collaboration with ANPI Valle di Susa, which invites works focused on the Italian Resistance or on contemporary interpretations of its values; Le Alpi, dedicated to exploring the mountain as a place of identity, community, environment, and adventure, with films up to thirty minutes in length; Videoclip Musicali, aimed at promoting visual and musical originality; and Green Screen, developed in collaboration with IISS Des Ambrois of Oulx, giving voice to works focused on environmental sustainability and the climate challenges affecting both the present and the future of our planet.

The full regulations, technical requirements, and details on awards are available on the website www.valsusafilmfest.it
.

To participate, filmmakers must register on the dedicated platform https://concorsi.valsusafilmfest.it
, where submissions can be uploaded until 11:59 pm on February 1, 2026.

DATES AND THEME OF THE EDITION DEDICATED TO FABRIZIO DE ANDRÉ

The 30th Valsusa Filmfest will take place between March and April 2026 in numerous municipalities of the Susa Valley, featuring screenings, cultural and artistic events that involve schools, associations, and many individuals, thanks to a network of relationships that over time has made the festival a permanent laboratory of active citizenship and critical reflection.

The 30th edition is dedicated to Fabrizio De André, the “bard and poet of the marginalized,” an artist who gave voice to injustice, marginalized communities, and the fragile beauty of nature. This dedication renews the festival’s connection to its original identity, born thirty years ago from the desire to create a space for culture, participation, and collective memory.

In 1997, Armando Ceste – a Turin-based director and visual artist, one of the founders and the first artistic director of the Valsusa Filmfest, who passed away in 2009 – designed what is still the festival’s logo today: a symbol inspired by Native American imagery (Unkathae), half North American indigenous deity and half strip of film. Ceste also created the image for the first festival poster, depicting a Native American on horseback seen from behind, evoking the beginning of a long journey often undertaken in a “stubborn and contrary direction.”

Drawing on this visual intuition, the Valsusa Filmfest now renews its journey toward the future through the figure of the legendary “Faber” and the image from the cover of one of his albums, Fabrizio De André (1981), commonly known as L’Indiano, which features an image taken from the painting The Outlier (1909) by Frederic Remington. In this image, the Native American on horseback is portrayed frontally: a proud figure moving toward us, evoking a people who resist, a memory that returns, and a path that continues—just like the journey of the festival throughout its long history and into this new edition.

Short Film Competition

1st Prize: €500
2nd Prize: €300

Disertare Competition

1st Prize: €500

Certificate “Ugo Berga Partigiano Award” awarded to the work that best represents a concept of peace and reflection on everyday life in our society.

Fare Memoria Competition

1st Prize – ANPI Valle di Susa: €500
2nd Prize: Certificate

Le Alpi Competition

1st Prize: €500
2nd Prize: €300

Green Screen Competition

1st Prize: Awarded by IISS Des Ambrois
2nd Prize: Awarded by the Italian Meteorological Society (Luca Mercalli)
3rd Prize: Special Mention

Music Video Competition

1st Prize: €500
Certificate

The full regulations, technical specifications, and details about the awards are available on the website www.valsusafilmfest.it
.

To participate, filmmakers must register on the dedicated platform https://concorsi.valsusafilmfest.it
, where submissions can be uploaded until 11:59 pm on February 1, 2026.



COMPETITION SECTIONS
The competition is divided into 6 sections: Short Films, Desertion (Disertare), Memory (Fare Memoria), The Alps (Le Alpi), Music Videos, and Green Screen.

Short Films Competition
This section has an open theme. Fiction films and videos with a maximum duration of 10 minutes can participate, with no restriction on styles, genres, or production techniques. Closing credits are not included in the total duration of the film. Competition section organized in collaboration with ANVCG Torino - Interprovincial and Interregional Section of Piedmont and Aosta Valley.

Desertion (Disertare) Competition
In full possession of my faculties, Dear President, I am writing you this letter which I hope you will read. The draft notice here tells me, in plain terms, to go and fight the war this coming Monday… But I am not here, Dear President, to kill people more or less like me. I have nothing against you, let it be said in passing, but I feel that I have decided and I will desert. (Boris Vian)

This section, proposed in collaboration with the National Association of Civilian Victims of War (Piedmont and Aosta Valley section), is open to audiovisual works with a maximum duration of 10 minutes, without restriction on styles, genres, or production techniques, that spread a culture and conscience of peace and the rejection of war. It also covers current arms races, military industrialization, and the increase in military spending, opposing propaganda in schools by telling stories, experiences, and testimonies of non-violence, anti-militarism, and civil disobedience. Dedicated to Ugo Berga, partisan and man of Peace.

Memory (Fare Memoria) Competition
This section, proposed in collaboration with the ANPI (National Association of Italian Partisans) sections of Susa Valley, is reserved for works intended to "preserve memory," whether regarding a testimony of the past—inspired by the theme or values of the Resistance through which Italy became a democratic country—or a current event that interprets those values. The winning film will be screened on the anniversary of April 25th at the Museo Diffuso della Resistenza in Turin. There is no time limit, but film files must not exceed a size of 1.7 GB.

The Alps (Le Alpi) Competition
This section is reserved for films on the theme of mountains, approached from various points of view: from mountaineering and other vertical sports to exploration; from the protection of the environment and animal species to the culture, life, and habits of small and large communities. The mountain as it is, how we live it, how we want it. The mountain as memory, roots, and research. As recreation, fun, solitude and silence, future, identity, and freedom. The maximum duration must be 30 minutes, excluding closing credits.

Music Videos Competition
Music videos with an open theme and a maximum duration of 6 minutes can participate, without restriction on musical styles or genres. Only music videos whose musical track is not a cover of other artists will be admitted. Music videos whose content may be offensive to morality or otherwise harmful to the rights of others are not allowed.

Green Screen Competition
This new section, created in collaboration with IISS Des Ambrois of Oulx, is open to audiovisual works with a maximum duration of 10 minutes. The jury will be composed of students, teachers, and external experts. Works should focus on stories and projects regarding environmental sustainability. Our Planet is ill. Humans have already transformed more than 70% of the Earth's surface from its natural state, causing unprecedented environmental degradation and contributing significantly to global warming. If current trends in land degradation continue, scientists predict an increase in disasters caused by climate change.

PRIZES
Short Films Competition

1st Prize: € 500.00

2nd Prize: € 300.00

Desertion (Disertare) Competition

1st Prize: € 500.00

"Ugo Berga Partisan Prize" Certificate to the work that best represents a concept of Peace and reflection on daily life in our society.

Memory (Fare Memoria) Competition

1st Prize ANPI Valle Susa: € 500.00

2nd Prize: Certificate

The Alps (Le Alpi) Competition

1st Prize: € 500.00

2nd Prize: € 300.00

Green Screen Competition

1st Prize provided by Ist. Des Ambrois

2nd Prize provided by the Italian Meteorological Society (Luca Mercalli)

3rd Prize: Special Mention

Music Videos Competition

1st Prize: € 500.00

Certificate

Prizes will be paid via bank transfer and timing is subject to the disbursement of public and private contributions planned for the organization of the current edition.

RULES OF PARTICIPATION
Technical and Content Specifications
Films must be sent in MP4 format with a maximum size of 1.7 GB. In case of technical problems, you can contact the telephone number +39 3470077000. It is recommended to send films in 1920x1080 format. Works that have already been submitted to the selections of previous editions of the Valsusa Filmfest will not be accepted. Industrial, advertising, propaganda films, or those produced by national networks are not accepted. Films with text in a foreign language must provide subtitles. The total duration of the film is intended to exclude credits.

Shipping Method
Authors must send their works through the portal https://concorsi.valsusafilmfest.it after registering and creating an account.

Registration Deadline and Other Rules
Films must be received no later than 12:00 PM (midnight) on February 1st, 2026. Each author may participate with only one work per competition section. Registration for the competition is free, and the film files will become part of the Valsusa Filmfest archive. By registering for the competition, authors authorize Valsusa Filmfest to screen their works, even partially and without profit, for promotional or study reasons, including outside the Festival program. The selection of works is at the sole discretion and judgment of the artistic direction of Valsusa Filmfest. At the end of the pre-selection, authors will be informed by telephone or email. The selected works and authors' names will also be published on the website www.valsusafilmfest.it.

PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING POLICY
Personal data processing is carried out through the operations indicated in Art. 4 No. 2) GDPR: collection, recording, organization, storage, consultation, processing, modification, selection, extraction, comparison, use, interconnection, blocking, communication, erasure, and destruction of data. Personal data are processed both in paper and electronic/automated form. Valsusa Filmfest will process personal data for the time necessary to fulfill the aforementioned purposes and in any case for no longer than 10 years from the termination of the relationship for Service Purposes and for no longer than 2 years from the data collection for marketing purposes.

Rights of the Data Subject
As a data subject, you have the rights under Art. 15 GDPR, specifically the rights to:

Obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you exist, even if not yet recorded, and their communication in an intelligible form;  

Obtain indication of:  

a) the origin of the personal data;  

b) the purposes and methods of processing;  

c) the logic applied in case of processing carried out with the aid of electronic instruments;  

d) the identification details of the owner, managers, and the designated representative pursuant to Art. 3, paragraph 1, GDPR;

e) the subjects or categories of subjects to whom the personal data may be communicated;

Obtain:

a) updating, rectification or, when interested, integration of data;

b) erasure, transformation into anonymous form, or blocking of data processed in violation of the law;

c) certification that the operations in letters a) and b) have been brought to the attention of those to whom the data were communicated;

Object, in whole or in part:

a) for legitimate reasons to the processing of personal data concerning you;

b) to the processing of personal data for the purpose of sending advertising material or direct sales or for market research.

Where applicable, you also have the rights under Art. 16-21 GDPR (Right to rectification, right to be forgotten, right to restriction of processing, right to data portability, right to object), as well as the right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority.

Exercise of rights: The interested party may at any time exercise their rights by sending an e-mail to valsusafilmfest@pec.it.

ORGANIZATION AND PARTNERS
VALSUSA FILMFEST is organized by the Valsusa Filmfest Association.

Founded by:

ANPI Valle di Susa

Gruppo 33

Habitat Environmentalist Committee

Piero Gobetti Study Center

The 30th edition is organized with the support and collaboration of: Piedmont Region – Department of Culture; Susa Valley Mountain Union; Valsusa Library System; Municipality of Almese – Avigliana – Bardonecchia – Condove – San Giorio – Susa – Villar Dora; IISS Des Ambrois of Oulx – ITCG Galileo Galilei of Avigliana – Chianocco Primary School – Gian Francesco Re Secondary School of Condove.

In collaboration with: Dozens of local associations including: Alexander Circus, ANPI sections, Cozie Alps Protected Areas, Banca Etica Torino, CAI sections, Museo Diffuso della Resistenza Torino, and various social cooperatives and local libraries.

Valsusa Filmfest Association via Bruno Buozzi 2 bis, 10055 Condove (TO) | www.valsusafilmfest.it | segreteria@valsusafilmfest.it