Reclaim your city, Reclaim light

The 1st edition of the video competition organized by AIDI has come to an end. More than 150 videos have shown us how young people see light and what this element evokes for them.

The awards ceremony of the five winners of the first edition of the national video competition “Reclaim your city, reclaim light” for short films organized and sponsored by AIDI (Italian Lighting Association) with the patronage of the Ministry for Economic Development, ANCI, ENEA, the Museum of Cinema, the National Board of Architects, landscape artists and curators, the City Councils of Milan, Turin and Venice, the Politecnico of Milan, the Politecnico of Turin, the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, the IED – Design European Institute and University of Rome 3, was held at la Fenice Theatre in Venice.

The event was attended, as well as by representatives of Italian and international associations of the world of lighting, by figures from the world of the institutions such as Alessandro Maggioni, councillor for public works and heritage of the City Council of Venice and the world of education and training such as Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis, Dean of the School of Design at the Politecnico of Milan and President of the Triennale Design Museum Foundation and Igor Zanti, director of the Ied of Venice.

One hundred and fifty videos, more than two hundred entries on the You Tube channel dedicated to the initiative and thirty-one thousand views are some of the numbers that bring to a close this first edition of the “Reclaim your city” competition organized by AIDI and which confirm the great success of the initiative.

Five filmmakers under 30 were awarded prizes out of the twenty-five videos that reached the final. For the category “Places of movement”, Gabriele Scarcelli, 24 , from Trani won with the video “The light of men”. For “Places of leisure”, Alvise Facchinetti, 29, from Venice won with “Click the night”. For “Places of culture”, Francesco Maria Conti, 23, of Alatri (Frosinone) won with “Lighteart”. “Contrast” by Riccardi Bartali, 24, from Volterra, was selected as the “most original video” and the “special prize of the jury” went to “My city” by Daniele Del Miglio, 23, of Milan.

All the winners received, as well as a prize in cash, a scholarship for courses and master degrees organized by Ied –Design European Institute: the refresher and specialization course “Design Light” (IED Milan), the three-year course of “Video Design” (IED Milan) and of “Multimedia Visual Arts” (IED Cagliari), the two-year course “Graphics – Digital, Video & Web Design” (IED Venice) and the master in “Interior Design” (IED Milan).

The prizes were awarded by the representatives of the main sponsors of the competition: Pio Nahum, Marketing Director of Clay Paky, Barbara Serafini, Marketing Director of Enel Sole, Dante Cariboni, Chairman of the Cariboni Group, Alessandro Visentin, Director of the Public Lighting division of Gemmo and Raffaele Bonardi, Managing Director of Covedi Scarl, award supporter of the event. iGuzzini and Performance in Lighting also sponsored the initiative. All are leading companies in the sector of lighting and aware of how strategic it is to produce instruments capable of creating and spreading the culture of light, starting above all from young people.

Young people responded with great enthusiasm and with many quality videos which showed us how they see light and what this element evokes for them. What they admire and do not admire. A young view which through many 60 seconds of other views, built up a new and more up-to-date “overall picture” of their hopes and dreams, of the image of our cities and, above all, what their eyes look at and tell us.

Videos arrived from all over Italy and from abroad as well. Several works filmed cities in other countries and some were by young foreigners who live or work in Italy.

This way, light was seen in different meanings and variations, with original and creative reconstructions and often as a source inspiring various forms of art: from dance to music, from the cinema to the theatre.

Light emerged as a symbol of life, as an element that gives hope, induces joy and kindles passions and brings stories of love and friendship to life. That magic touch that makes a city unique and fascinating at night and that helps experience it in all its dimensions. Light for young people is the vital lifeblood of a place, it draws its physiognomy and exalts its culture and traditions and light also contributes to making the city more welcoming for those are strangers to it and makes them feel less alone.

“Light moves everything” is the title of one video, “Light is like the moths that flock to sources of light” are some of the words that describe another. For some of the youngsters, light is “a beacon, a note of positivity in a world of nightmares”, therefore an antidote to a society made up of uncertainties and fears.

Light was also interpreted as a way to acquire a social conscience and awareness on very important questions such as the homeless and the violence that often takes place because many areas are not well lit. The competition, through the images and the words sent by young people, also represents an opportunity to raise the awareness of the public administrations because a place that is well lit is above all a safer place.

The films were judged by a jury made up of different representatives from the world of culture: Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis, Margherita Suss, lighting designer and in charge of the competition for AIDI, Gaetano Capizzo, director of the Cineambiente Festival of Turin, Maurizio Melis, journalist with Radio 24, Paolo Castagna, set designer and theatre director, Davide Sgalippa, video and interaction designer and coordinator of the Video Design Course at IED Milan and three young lighting directors, Helena Gentili, Alberto Carone and Francesco Marelli.

“I thank the sponsors, the partners of the competition and the members of the jury,” explained Gianni Drisaldo, Chairman of AIDI, a non-profit cultural association founded in 1958,”because this initiative is one of our most important objectives, which include making a significant contribution to the diffusion of the “culture of light” in order to improve the quality of our lives without overlooking the theme of energy saving, today dear to many. “Let’s light better and consume less” is the message that we try to delivery through many of our initiatives, especially to avoid this topic being discussed too superficially as, unfortunately, often occurs in Italy. With the competition, we wanted to have an immediate instrument of communication, capable of reaching young people empathetically, also being very attentive to the value of the contents that were delivered mainly by the universities and training institutions that enthusiastically accepted collaborating with the project and promoting it internally, also enriching it with prizes for cultural training.”

There were not only videos and images to “celebrate” light and the winners of the competition in Venice at La Fenice Theatre. Musical intermezzos from the work of W.A. Mozart were performed by Roberto Baraldi, first violin and Alfredo Zamarra, first viola of the Orchestra of La Fenice Theatre. The actress Rosanna Sparapano, accompanied by Paolo Castagno performed passages inspired by the light, from Goethe to the futurist Marinetti.