Best Short Film Documentary
| TITLE | 7 Minuti |
| COUNTRY | Italy |
| YEAR | 2024 |
| DIRECTOR | Alessia Bottone |
| LENGHT | 15′ |
| FORMAT | Digital |
| MUSIC | Francesco Costanza |
| SOUND DESIGNER | Raffaele Inno |
| EDITING | Fabrizio Franzini |
| SCREENPLAY | Alessia Bottone |
| PRODUCTION | Image Hunters |
Alfredo talks to himself, or rather he talks to a cigarette. Loneliness, real loneliness, is a bad thing, especially at seventy.
Alfredo is a man who loved another man, Mario. He loved him so much that he found the courage to come out and lose his job and family. Mario, on the other hand, continued his married life, then became a father and finally a grandfather, because he is gay, but only part-time.
Alfredo can’t let him go but he can’t even live that relationship halfway and so the separation becomes inevitable.
Initially Mario convinces himself that he can escape the melancholy but then, by mistake, he puts on one of his partner’s t-shirts and sees their whole life together again.
Yes, because a perfume is enough to return you to where you were loved. Mario no longer wants to be separated from that smell which turns into an obsession, convinced that once it disappears, the last traces of their love will also disappear.
Seven minutes is the time it takes to smoke a cigarette on the balcony, Seven minutes to think about your life and discover that it takes courage to exist, even what others haven’t had
Reasons For Award
The jury is pleased to award the first prize for Best Short Film to Sette Minuti for its original exploration of being gay in the mid-20th century, capturing the narrator’s conflicting emotions through the creative reuse of archive footage.
Sette Minuti offers a moving portrait of personal struggles during the oppressive climate of 1950s and 1960s Italy, shedding light on a marginalized perspective.
The film features a beautiful collage of images, creating a compelling and emotionally moving narrative. The thoughtful reuse of archive footage subtly evokes the era and suggests the currents of repression.
The gradual revelation of the protagonist’s lost love creates a sense of enigma. The poetic and evocative screenplay maintains the film’s momentum and emotional depth.
DIRECTOR
Alessia Bottone
Director, screenwriter, journalist and graduate in Institutions and Policies for Human Rights and Peace.
In 2017 she completed a Masters programme entitled Screenwriting ‘Carlo Mazzacurati’ at the University of Padua in Italy. She wrote and directed the short film Violenza invisibile (Invisible Violence), which explores psychological violence against women, and two documentaries: Ritratti in controluce (Backlit Portraits) and Ieri come oggi (Today Like Yesterday) and La Napoli di mio padre (My father’s Naples), made with archive material, starring Valentina Bellè – Special Mention Nastri d’Argento 2021, winner of 27 awards (including Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Editing), selected for more than 90 international and Italian festivals and translated into 8 languages.
Since 2021 he has worked on the set and in the production of international films including Without Blood by Angelina Jolie, Conclave by Edward Berger, A Sudden Case of Christmas by Peter Chelsom with Danny De Vito, The Pope Exorcist of Julius Avery and as assistant to Israeli director Avi Nesher of The Monkey House.
In 2013 she published Amore ai tempi dello stage (Love in the Time of Internships), Galassia Arte, 2013, and two years later, Papà mi presti i soldi che devo lavorare? (Dad Can I Have Some Money So I Can Work?), Feltrinelli, 2015.
In 2017 she won a number of prizes for her journalistic inquiries: the “Premio Giornalistico Claudia Basso” for her investigation into PFAS contamination in Veneto, Italy; the “Premio Alessandra Bisceglia” for social communication; and the “Premio Massimiliano Goattin” for an inquiry into architectural barriers.
In 2018 she was among the finalists for the “Premio Cesare Zavattini” for a project involving the creative re-use of archive cinema, as well as the “Premio Luzzati” for short films. My Father’s Naples is her first short film using archive images.
