The names of the finalists of the IX edition have been announced. The project will be hosted in the village of Capranica (VT)

Everything is ready for the ninth edition of Castello Errante – International Cinema Residency, which from November 5th will once again bring together young filmmakers from Italy and Latin America. Hosting this new adventure will be the village of Capranica (Viterbo), which will become a set, a workshop, and a meeting place between different cultures, languages, and sensibilities.

The international crew will be made up of professionals under 35 selected through this year’s Calls: from Colombia comes set designer Maria Luisa Gómez Hoyos, alongside Costa Rican colleague Valeria Azofeifa Rodríguez; from Chile, editor Pablo Andrés Carrasco Canales will participate, while from Argentina arrive assistant director Lucia Benavente and camera operator María Cecilia Acuña. In Cuba, the project has chosen sound engineer Marcos Alejandro Yglesias Ravelo; from Venezuela, sound technician Esteban Lema; and from the Dominican Republic, production assistant Dominique Gabrielle Muniz Gomez. Mexico will be represented by director of photography Isay Peña Cruz, and Brazil by filmmaker and director Gabriela de Oliveira Poester Nunes. Representing Italy within the crew will be costume designer Caterina Cingolani, first assistant camera Matteo Maiore, and director Mounir Derbal.
From November 5th to 17th, the group will take part in an initial online phase with masterclasses and sessions on screenwriting, directing, sound, cinematography, and production, led by international teachers and professionals. Then, from November 24th to December 9th, the village of Capranica will host the crew in person, transforming into a true open-air set: a training and production experience that weaves together cinema and territory, tradition and innovation.

As Adele Dell’Erario, creator of the residency, reminds us: “In a time marked by conflicts and divisions, Castello Errante demonstrates how cultural exchange can still represent a driving force for emancipation, solidarity, and progress.”

The Last Day of the Bear: an incredible journey around the world for the short film made during the VII edition of the project

The short film The Last Day of the Bear, directed by Antonio Donato and distributed by Sayonara Film, continues its journey across international festivals with new and exciting selections.

After its first selection in Hamburg at the Junges Kurzfilm Festival Mo&Friese, the film went on traveling through Europe and beyond: it was presented at the Ischia Film Festival and the Sarajevo Youth Film Festival, then reached Indonesia for Minikino Film Week. In Italy, it was welcomed at the Concorto Film Festival and the Torino Underground Cinefest, while in Romania it was selected by the Bucharest Kids Film Festival. Its path also took it to Ecuador, at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Quito, and finally to Poland at the Warsaw International Film Festival.

This increasingly broad trajectory confirms not only the artistic value of the short film but also the strength of Castello Errante’s unique production and training model, capable of generating works that travel far and continue to engage in dialogue with the world.

The original soundtrack of the short film, composed by Paolo Casali, is also available on all streaming platforms. The music, conceived to amplify the visual and emotional experience of the film, is published by BNC Music, with mixing and mastering by Carlo Purpura.

Checkpoint: the title of the short film shot during the VIII edition in an enchanting castle in Sabina

Photo by Luna Binder

Post-production has been completed for the short film made during the 2024 edition of Castello Errante, which is now ready to begin its journey of promotion and distribution. Leading the international crew of professionals selected in the past edition is Spanish director Luis Vicente Fresno, who, with sensitivity and precision, has brought to life an intense and personal story.

The film follows a young boy, played by Martin Francisco Montero, who resolutely decides not to attend his grandmother’s funeral, a figure distant and almost unknown to him. While the adults evade his questions, he takes refuge in a video game that mirrors the real world as a mute and fragmented echo. In that digital space, he searches for meaning in what escapes him: death, broken bonds, the silence of those who should guide him. Grief thus becomes a threshold: not only a film about pain, but about the difficult apprenticeship of growing up, about the search for authentic tools to navigate what truly matters. With an essential and rarefied gaze, the short film turns death into a checkpoint: not an end, but a point from which to start again.

In the coming months, the short film will begin its journey through festivals and showcases, carrying with it the distinctive mark of Castello Errante: the ability to weave together training, production, and a cinematic vision that speaks to different generations and cultural contexts.

!! In the next issue of the newsletter: the documentary by Peruvian director Cristina Miranda, who took part in the 8th edition and tells us about her journey with Castello Errante through an elegant and surprising perspective. !!