Malta was this year represented at the Giffoni Film Festival by Max Scerri, Fabio Cini, Veronica Vella and Josephine-Marie Grima.

The four students were jurors in the 13+ and 16+ categories respectively and were accompanied by Lelio Spiteri Head of the Gozo College Rabat Primary School.

The theme for GFF 2014 was ‘Be Different,’ and the organisers of the young people’s film festival said, “difference means richness, it is the power of change though an anomalous element, which sets itself apart from what is perceived as normal and changes our vision of the world.”

The Giffoni Film Festival (GFF) was born in 1971 from a Claudio Gubitosi’s idea of promoting and developing cinema for young people elevating it from the marginal position it had back in those days, and leading it where it belongs, a high quality genre capable of “penetrating” the market. It is the largest children’s film festival in Europe, and possibly the world.

Over the years two things have turned out to be essential and are still the irreplaceable pillars of the Giffoni Film festival Concept, firstly a jury exclusively made up of young people and secondly the setting of the festival in the original small provincial town of Giffoni Valle Piana, Italy.

Since its beginning the number of jurors has by far out grown 3000 and they come from over 50 different countries embracing all the world’s continents.

The Festival organisers said that sensitivity in film selection is one of the main pillars to characterise the GFF and is only the final act of an assessment and analysis process of the world of cinema for young people.

“A film viewed in Giffoni has a trademark that certifies for its quality and appropriateness regarding an audience made up principally of teenagers and families.”

Photo: From L to R: Fabio Cini, Max Scerri, Lelio Spiteri, Veronica Vella and Josephine-Marie Grima.

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