"Anything can happen, anything is possible and probable. Time and space do not exist; on a minimum basis of reality, the imagination draws new motifs: a mixture of memories, experiences, inventions, absurdities and improvisations. The characters split, double, split, vanish, take consistency, dissolve and recompose. A conscience, however, dominates everything, that of the dreamer: for it there are no secrets, inconsistencies, scruples, laws. He does not condemn, he does not absolve; he reports".
(A. Strindberg -1901)
OFF presents itself in its new edition offering the participants a wide, multifaceted and fascinating theme: the world of the oneiric.
Since ancient times, everything related to dreams has been the subject of research and interpretation.
The dream is divinatory, prophetic, bearer of archaic symbols and generator of new dimensions.
It is precisely on this last aspect that we wish to dwell, in order to provide more detailed ideas to participants who decide to present their works at OFF.
We like to observe the dream as a creative workshop where stories are generated, other worlds where - above all - the fears and darkest sides of ourselves and of the world in which we live blend with contexts of light, of open and proactive visions, in short, utopian.
Onirica Film Festival will carefully welcome and evaluate all the cinematographic works that will present dreamlike contents in different forms.
"While we sleep we do not bother to bend the outside world to our ends. We are helpless and therefore sleep has rightly been defined "brother of death"; but we are also freer from the burden of work, from the obligation to defend ourselves or to attack, to monitor and dominate reality. We must not look to the outside world, but to our inner world. In sleep, the realm of necessity is followed by the realm of freedom in which the "I am" is the only system to which thoughts and feelings refer. Experiences lived during sleep are not devoid of logic, but subject to different logical laws, fully valid in that particular psychological state".
(E. Fromm – 1962)
Depending on the theme chosen, a further inspiration to the dream world is the one deriving from the impressive work on dreams carried out by the famous Swiss psychoanalyst C. G. Jung. He made the dream one of his main themes of study throughout his life.
According to Jung, the dream is an opening to a transcendent, wider reality in which the individual can immerse himself and draw insights from his profound unconscious wisdom. Therefore, in this sense, the dream becomes a phenomenon of extra-human experience that, as such, goes beyond any imposed limit, social conventions, personal and relational: while you dream you are free to be.
And this is precisely what we encourage to express through OFF: to show the most varied nuances of oneself, of one's own reality.
Therefore, the participants are called to dream big, immersing themselves in the boundless land of Utopia: the non-place par excellence and therefore everything to be built! Or, according to other interpretations, Utopia understood as the perfect kingdom of happiness.
In harmony with the dreamlike theme, the theme of Art and Nature is well connected.
As far as the artistic field is concerned, the dream was taken as a leit motif by the surrealism that tried to express - through painting - the most disparate impossible realities. Think of the well-known paintings of Salvador Dalì, one of the main exponents of Surrealism. The unconscious expressions that are manifested thanks to and through the dream become works of art around which you can compare. Moreover, this type of pictorial expressiveness acts as a driving force to generate criticism of the social reality of the time and to identify alternative ways of thinking also in relation to important community issues (divergent thought and dream ).
As far as Nature is concerned, remembering the great attention paid today to environmental issues, it is transformed into a powerful means of perception of human feeling of spaces, colors, sensations, emotions that unfold when you immerse yourself in contexts characterized by a powerful wild naturalness (we invite you to observe Impression at the rising of the sun by Monet).
Moreover, Nature - through its phenomena - becomes a dense and significant metaphor of the human essence: restless and in continuous evolution and change.
On the basis of what has been said so far, it becomes spontaneous to draw a thread that connects Dream, Art, Nature and Human Being.
Good work!!
"[The dream] as an infinite shadow of the True." (G. Pasoli - 1904)

LOCATION:

Villa Marigola represents in the history of garden art is one of the few perfectly preserved Italian gardens by the sea, set in a unique landscape context and for this reason it can be counted among the most beautiful gardens in Italy. Villa Marigola was purchased by the Marquises Ollandini in the late 1700s, initially as an agricultural estate for oil and wine production, with an espaliered citrus grove. The style was that of a country house. It became a holiday villa when in 1888 it passed into the hands of English banker Sir Reginald Pearse, who embellished the rooms in Art Nouveau style.
At the time there was a large colony of wealthy Englishmen wintering on the Ligurian Riviera, and, like the famous Hanbury brothers in Bordighera, Pearse was fascinated by botanical collecting. He placed ornamental trees alongside the dense native ilex grove to create an English-style landscaped park where one could stroll and spend hours contemplating nature.
Everything was framed by cypress trees and magnificent specimens of grandiflora magnolias, which, like the palms, reached their peak. The ingenious architect Franco Oliva revisited the traditional canons of the Italian-style parterre, simplifying and softening the design, creating an enclosed garden between neat hedges, which seem by enchantment to be suspended over the sea.

Onirica Award
Best Experimental film Award
Best Animation Award
Best Cinematography Award
Best Photography Award
Best leading actor
Best costumes award
Emerging Talent Award
Screenplay Award

Photography Contest Award

Best artificial intelligence video

Files for public projections have to be sent via DropBox, Wetransfer or similar in .mp4 Full HD (1080p) or max 2k.
The winners will be announced on the evening of the screenings and their prizes will be awarded.
Selected people are required to confirm their presence in the hall before the date of the event.
The winners will be published on all relevant OFF platforms, on all local national newspapers after the award ceremony through dedicated article and on the mobile app of the festival.
To present the awards evening will be a jury composed of different professionals every years.
(Directors, actors, set designers, journalists, photographers and prominent figures on the international art scene)
The prizes awarded may be multiple and of different nature for each selected film.
The finalists may be invited to take the stage during the prize-giving evening.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Fantastic Festival. Great communication. Definitely recommend!

    February 2021
  • Davide Vanacore

    Thank you for your selection of my microshort. Great festival to participate!

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you too,we hope to see you next time

  • francesco therese

    The whole organisation was perfect, considering they’ve been brave enough to run a festival in this time for all of us.
    They deserve the best. The selection was great and I’ve been honoured to be awarded for my work as Best Script.
    Thank you guys, see you next year!

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Congratulations, great job and nice person.happy to have chosen you

  • This is an interesting and dynamic festival. I was happy to have a film selected for it. Hopefully, next year the festival can be held in person, and all selected films can be shown.

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Of course we hope to do better and better and next year will be even bigger and more exciting.
    We are waiting for you in person to meet us!!

  • martin del carpio

    Very cool festival! Great to be a part of.

    October 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Proud to have you with us!!