Pordenone Docs Fest – Day 1
On Wednesday, March 25, the 19th edition of the Pordenone Docs Fest opens at Cinemazero. One of the most highly anticipated events kicks off the retrospective “Sarajevo, the Siege: 1992–1996”: at 6:00 PM, the Italian premiere of the striking documentary Sarajevo Safari brings to light the chilling story of foreign snipers who paid to shoot civilians in the besieged city. The screening, organized in collaboration with Kinoatelje and EMERGENCY, will feature director Miran Zupanič, Andreina Di Sanzo, and Andrea Paco Mariani from OpenDDB.
At 9:00 PM, for the opening night, the focus shifts to Iran with the unexpected story—also an Italian premiere—of a very young artist, Soraya, fleeing first Afghanistan and then Iran. The delicate A Fox Under a Pink Moon, by Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei, arrives in Pordenone after winning the prestigious award for Best Film at IDFA, the Amsterdam festival that is a key reference point for documentary cinema in Europe. The director and the protagonist Soraya Akhalaghi will be present; she contributed to the film as director of photography, sound technician, and co-director. The screening is in collaboration with Voce Donna.
The second retrospective of the festival is dedicated to the Spanish Civil War: ¡No pasarán!, curated by film critic Federico Rossin (starting at 3:30 PM with Viva la Spagna! by José María Berzosa, made in France in 1976 and considered one of the most lucid and devastating analyses of the Franco regime ever produced), along with the photographic exhibition “Homage to Robert Capa and Gerda Taro. Photography, Love, War”, in collaboration with CAMERA – Italian Center for Photography. The exhibition opening at spazioZero at 7:30 PM will be accompanied by AperiDocs and a concert by Club d’Heritage, offering a musical journey that blends cinematic atmospheres, dreamlike soundscapes, and elegant vibrations. The exhibition celebrates two key figures of 20th-century photojournalism, who captured the Spanish Civil War through the intensity of their images. The exhibition path highlights the narrative power and courage of their gaze: photographs that depict life on the front, civilian resistance, and the human complexity of war, transforming field documentation into historical memory and civic awareness.
Not only images: as always, the Pordenone Docs Fest also hosts discussions on cultural topics in all their forms. At 5:30 PM, the Cinemazero Mediatheque will host the public meeting “Open City: Round Table for Safe, Inclusive and Accessible Cultural Spaces”, a moment of dialogue focused on the role of culture in building welcoming communities. In view of Pordenone’s candidacy as Italian Capital of Culture 2027, the festival and Cinemazero—together with the social organizations involved in drafting the project—launch with this event the “Open Cities” initiative: an ongoing dialogue with cultural institutions, associations, and citizens to collectively imagine and work toward a Manifesto for safe, inclusive, and accessible cultural spaces.
Participants include Graziella Bildesheim, president of EWA Network with over thirty years of experience in the European audiovisual sector, particularly in gender equality; journalist and writer Jennifer Guerra, whose work focuses on feminism, cultural journalism, and public outreach; lawyer Roberta Parigiani, specialized in the protection of civil and personal rights; and philosopher and trainer Sofia Righetti Nottegar, engaged in issues of disability and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The Cinemazero festival is held under the high patronage of the European Parliament, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Municipality of Pordenone, and Fondazione Friuli, as well as the backing of CGN Servizi, ITACA Social Cooperative, and GEA – Ecological and Environmental Management S.p.A. Once again this year, it presents a program that weaves together cinema, history, rights, and contemporary culture.