The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival, born in 2017 as part of the International Festival of Landscape Radicepura Garden Festival (Giarre, Catania) and now in its fourth edition (1-2-3 August 2025), narrates the Garden through the language of cinema from a broad perspective that embraces every dynamic that fosters cultural, political, social and artistic values. Not only nature and landscape, but also ecology, sustainability, education, culture, human rights and environmental respect.
The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival, born in 2017 as part of the International Festival of Landscape Radicepura Garden Festival (Giarre, Catania) and now in its fourth edition (1-2-3 August 2025), narrates the Garden through the language of cinema from a broad perspective that embraces every dynamic that fosters cultural, political, social and artistic values. Not only nature and landscape, but also ecology, sustainability, education, culture, human rights and environmental respect.
The Festival consists of three days of screenings, meetings and conversations with prestigious guests and offers three different sections for feature films: ” Roots(Italy), “Mediterranean Essence (Mediterranean Countries) and “Beyond the Garden (Rest of the world). In addition, a competitive section for short films, the Garden-in-Movies / ShortFilmFest, an international competition of short films with an Expert Jury and an Audience Jury that respectively award the Best Short Film Award and the Audience Award.
The Festival takes place in the summer, at the evocative Radicepura Park, transformed for three days into an open-air botanical lounge and a movie theater under the stars, at the foot of Mount Etna and overlooking the sea, embellished by the fragrances and scents of the plants in the park.
The Garden-in-Movies Film Festival, created and directed by Ornella Sgroi, journalist and film critic, is in partnership with Radicepura Foundation.
Through Cinema, the Garden-in-Movies aims at enhancing nature and the environment as a driving force of development and contamination, in a holistic vision that goes beyond the narrow concept of “garden” and transforms it into a broad metaphor for landscape and life, from any cultural, political and social angle. All this in the name of Beauty.
The international short film competition Garden-in-Movies/ShortFilmFest is targeted at all those works that, through the language of cinema, enhance nature, environment, landscape, ecology and environmental sustainability as engines of development and contamination. But the “garden” also serves as a metaphor for any place, context, dynamic, relationship capable of fostering cultural, political, social and artistic values. Therefore, short films that express the concept of “garden” from this perspective are also eligible for selection.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The Entrants can submit short films of fiction, documentaries or animation, of any genre (drama, comedy, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, noir, etc.), with a running time no longer than 15 minutes (including opening and end credits), released or unreleased and coming from any country, produced after January 1, 2023.
All short films in Italian must be subtitled in English, whereas those in a foreign language must be subtitled in Italian. Films in a language other than English should also be subtitled in English, though this is not mandatory.
REGISTRATION AND DEADLINE
Registration for the short film competition must take place through the form available on the website (for info write to gardeninmovies@radicepura.com or call +39 095964154).
The deadline for registration and submission of the requested materials is April 30, 2025.
Ornella Sgroi, born in Catania on May 14, 1978, is a journalist, film critic, writer and screenwriter, and producer. And she has authored columns, programs and formats for television, radio and web, and podcasts. He has been involved in Cinema for 20 years, and also in Culture, Entertainment and Social. She contributes to Corriere della Sera and SicilianPost, Gigi Marzullo’s Rai Uno program “Cinematografo,” and is a guest as a film expert on two Tv2000 programs, Paola Saluzzi’s “L’Ora Solare” and “Di Buon Mattino.” She is artistic director of the “Garden in Movies” film festival, which she conceived in 2017 for the Radicepura Botanical Park. She is the author of the collection of literary shorts “The Contradictions of While,” Le Farfalle Editions (2015), with a foreword by director Roberto Faenza. In 2020 he published with HarperCollins the book “It’s the couple that makes the total. Journey in the Cinema of Ficarra and Picone,” with a foreword by director Roberto Andò. The text was awarded the Efebo d’Oro and the “Nino Maroglio” International Literary Award.
He edited the interviews for the documentary “L’AntiGattoparda” (2014) by Alessandro Aiello and Giuseppe Di Maio, dedicated to Catanian writer Goliarda Sapienza, author of “The Art of Joy.” In 2018 he wrote the subject and screenplay of the short film “Magic Show,” together with director Andrea Traina. The short film, starring an unprecedented Nino Frassica, launched on RaiPlay on May 20, 2022 for the International Day Against Gambling. She co-authored the subject and screenplay of the short film “Room 5” (2023) directed by Rosario Capozzolo, which she co-produced with Tramp Limited and Rai Cinema. Starring the intense Milena Vukotic, the short film was selected in competition at the Giffoni Film Festival 2023. She co-authored the subject and screenplay of the short film “The Jonas Cut” (2024), together with Ludovica Isidori, who was the director of photography, and Rosario Capozzolo, who was the director. The short film was awarded at the San Diego FilmFestival, among others.
She is the author and director of the podcast “Ashes. Catania, July 2023,” available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Mattia Arena, 24, a DAMS graduate from the University of Bologna, is currently a master’s student in Cinema and Television and Multimedia Production at Roma Tre University. He worked as an assistant director on the set of “La Terra Senza,” Moni Ovadia’s debut feature with Donatella Finocchiaro, and attended a course for TV writers organized by Banijay Italia in collaboration with the Catholic University of Milan, enriching his skills in writing and devising audiovisual content. Over the years, he has also accumulated significant experience in organizing cultural events and international festivals, actively participating in the “Festa del Cinema di Roma”; “Taobuk Festival”; “Capri, Hollywood” and “Los Angeles, Italy.” Passionate about cinema, he approaches each project with enthusiasm, combining a rigorous and analytical approach with a deep artistic sensibility, always looking for new stories to enhance and share.
Roberto Zito holds a degree in Modern Philology from the University of Catania. He was a finalist in the first and fourth editions of the film criticism competition “Scrivere di cinema – Premio Alberto Farassino,” organized by the Cinemazero Association, the Pordenonelegge Foundation and the National Union of Italian Film Critics. Over the years, he has collaborated with the University of Catania in organizing the “Learn by Movies” cineforum and served as a selector for the international short film section at the “Garden in Movies” festival. In 2023 he graduated from the two-year School of Writing and Storytelling training center Viagrande Studios. He made his fiction debut with the novel “Nail of the Earth,” published by Scatole Parlanti in 2022 and awarded in the “Ju Buk Opera Prima” competition as part of the Ju Buk 2023 Festival,
under the patronage of the City of Scanno (AQ) and the Abruzzo Region. The novel was among the selections for the XXVI City of Cuneo Prize for the First Novel and was a finalist in the 5th edition of the Literary Prize “A Story for Film.”
