Avvistamenti_2025

Avvistamenti was founded in 2002 in Bisceglie, reviving the history and meaning of the city's ancient name: Vigiliae. Literally meaning "sentinel," this name refers to its historical vocation for sighting, given its strategic location on the sea. To sight means to look into the distance, to see what is distant or not easily visible to the human eye. Sighting therefore presupposes an appropriate distance from things, which allows them to come into sharp focus: a distance understood not as an insurmountable barrier, but as a boundary to be crossed, a territory to be explored. Indeed, to look into the distance also means to see ahead to orient one's course, foresee new horizons and predict new languages and visions, intercept and verify poetics, processes, aesthetic values, and the vitality of expressive research linked to video and auteur cinema.

Avvistamenti is not a thematic festival: the content of the selected works, while always playing a fundamental role in constructing the festival's overall meaning, is subjected to an investigation into the form—or perhaps it would be better to say the forms—of video and experimental cinema, in relation to other artistic languages, such as music, performance, and the visual arts in general. In this way, the curators and selectors of the various sections have ample freedom of choice, allowing them to present the best of each selection, without being forced by the need to maintain thematic coherence within each section. The festival's main events, namely screenings and meetings with the authors, will be complemented by a series of collateral activities, such as performances, exhibitions, and workshops, which will allow for a rich educational journey.

Since the first edition, we have consciously chosen not to award prizes to the selected works, as we believe the value of a work of art cannot be measured quantitatively. There is no competition between artists, but rather mutual understanding, collaboration, and constructive exchange, fostering the development of joint projects, collective works, and artistic experiences: dozens of artistic collaborations, including international ones, have emerged thanks to Avvistamenti.

We have also always sought to adopt a selection criterion for the scheduled works that takes into account a gender balance, to the point of including a significant number of female artists, invited to discuss and exchange ideas for collaboration. Numerous first works by artists who have taken their first steps at Avvistamenti are among them, and they manage to find space and attention in a project that aims to spot young artists.

The festival program is divided into five main sections, each featuring different activities, according to the following schedule:

1) Made in Italy (December 27-28, 2025)

This historic section of the festival, curated by Antonio Musci, serves as an observatory on independent and experimental Italian cinema. It features a selection of approximately ten works by various filmmakers, with the aim of highlighting audiovisual experimentation in Italy.

2) Bob Wilson (December 27-28, 2025)

A monographic exhibition, curated by Bruno Di Marino, on the work of one of the greatest theater figures, Bob Wilson, who recently passed away, and who was also a formidable visual artist and creator of moving images. This Wilson retrospective is intended as a tribute to a multifaceted artist who, beyond his video work, played a significant role as a visual artist tout court. Consider his participation in the 1993 Venice Biennale, where he won a Golden Lion for a sculptural installation, a direct offshoot of his metaphysical theatrical imagery. Among the titles on the program are:

Video 50 (1978), Wilson's first and most famous video work, divided into 50 short spots conceived for television viewing;

Stations (1982), based on lightning-fast and surreal sketches that constitute a sort of journey through time, in which Wilson takes an almost narrative approach, while adhering to the logic of the fragment and evoking a series of worlds, where the performances have no connection to one another;

Don Juan (1992), La mort de Moliére (1994), films shot electronically;

Voom Portraits, created in the 2000s and installed on vertical and horizontal screens, exactly like actual paintings. Painting, after all, is one of Wilson's passions, a genre he has successfully updated through new technologies.

3) Sonimage (December 29-30, 2025)

A Sounds and Images Festival, curated by Antonio Musci and Gabriele Panico, which brings together cinema and music in a program of soundtracks and audiovisual performances, enabling encounters and collaborations between internationally renowned composers, musicians, filmmakers, and filmmakers.

4) Avvistamenti Workshop (December 27-30, 2025)

A space for theoretical and practical exploration, led by industry professionals, dedicated to the relationship between sound and images. Two workshops are scheduled, the first of which will focus on the intermedial relationship between various artistic languages, while the second will be an experimental 16mm animation workshop, conducted on analog film, using mixed techniques ranging from direct painting to darkroom exposure and actual film modification.

N.B. The authors and titles of the various works on the program will be announced following a careful selection process, currently underway, by the curators of the various sections.