The inspiration for SENZA FRONTIERE, is a documentary by Paul Smaczny “Knowledge Is The Beginning”, about the West-Eastern Divan orchestra. Founded by Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim, the orchestra is made up of students from Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. Their countries are at war but these individuals are not -- they perform Beethoven in Berlin, Sevilla and Ramallah together. As the musicians work together and learn about each other, it empowers them personally to imagine another vision for the Middle East. What Daniel Barenboim concludes for the Middle East holds true for all of us: “we either kill each other or share what there is to share.”
Each year Senza Frontiere chooses about 15-20 internationally selected films from all genres: feature films, documentaries, shorts, experimental and animation. We are looking for works that suggest a common humanity among people -- beyond national, racial, economic and religious borders.
The venue for the festival is the Casa del Cinema in the Villa Borghese Park in Rome. Each film is introduced by the director and discussed with the audience.
Following the festival in Rome some films travel to other venues: cinemas, universities and schools.
THIS IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT EVENT AND WE DEPEND ON DONTATIONS TO SUPPORT ALL ACTIVITIES.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Fiamma Arditi Janina Quint Mariam C. Said Danae Elon
BOARD OF ADVISORS Carolyne Baron Bernardo Bertolucci Carroll Bogert Francesco Casetti Elena Dagrada Valerio de Paolis Giorgio de Vincenti Shirin Neshat Richard Peña Guglielmo Pescatore
SELECTION COMMITTEE Shoja Azari Ellen Brodkey Larry Kaplan David Leiber Verena Lueken Sandro Manzo Lizbeth Marano
SPONSORS UNESCO ILO (International Labour Office) Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri Ministero dei Beni Culturali Ministero degli Affari Esteri Città di Roma Università di Bologna, DAMS Università Roma Tre, DiCoSpe Agiscuola
CONSULTANTS Guy Borlee Emanuela Cascia Marina Fabbri Giorgio Gosetti Mirella Haggiag Iman Sabbah Najla Said Jordi Torrent Anthony Weintraub
PARTNERS Intesa Sanpaolo Telecom Italia Postevita Fondazione Roberto Rossellini per l’Audiovisivo Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore Mondadori New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Alliance of Civilization (AoC) Plural + Haiti Cinema Institute Global Mind Shift Media That Matters Film Festival Danish Embassy in Rome Danish Film Institute Robert F.Kennedy Foundation of Europe Gruppo Sina Hotels Planeta Monsù - di Caro Viticoltori Ponte CoGeDi, Uliveto Artiser Helicopter (New York) - graphics Charles, Michele, Paul Schorin Alexander & Anne Papachristou James & Katherine Goodman Family Philantropic Fund Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Ariel & Tal Recanati Michael Silber Christian Scheidemann Rachel Adler Bob & Ginny Walther Jeffrey Haber
