Hi!
You may not know it, but Lago is coming of age.
After eighteen long, difficult and tiring hurdles to overcome, we start again with an edition that decides to put the art of the moving image at the forefront: cinema.
An art that in the last two years has been in difficulty, forced to relegate itself to our homes, to small screens in large spaces, or medium-sized screens in minimal spaces; with the impossibility of bringing us together, and entering into the darkness of the cinematic atmosphere.
After two years marked by a pandemic that prevented us from embracing, and the possibility of travelling and seeing each other again in the festival venues, we are finally ready to welcome spectators, volunteers, filmmakers, artists and workers, to the shores of Lago, to celebrate our eighteenth anniversary together.
But reality always turns out to be a film full of unpredictable twists and turns. Having come out of an emergency, we have entered a worse one, a bleak, cruel emergency, banal in its manifestation: that of war.
And it is precisely on turning eighteen that we want to communicate, today more than ever, our philosophy and vision of the world; to be a place of encounter, of ideas, where dialogue is the first and last resort, a place where one is fluid and plural, a place where any kind of violence has no place or voice.
Lago Film Fest declares itself against war in all its manifestations and locations. Whoever participates in any capacity in the 18th Lago Film Fest, implicitly subscribes to this peaceful manifesto, from the directors of this festival to the invited filmmakers and artists, from the workers who make the ten days of celebration possible, to the volunteers who decide to help.
Culture is by nature humanist, and consequently Lago Film Fest is inclusive, open, anti-ideological and above all: peaceful. The people we involve are chosen for their art and vision on the world and not for their political affiliation, background or skin colour.
In the age of maturity one starts to take responsibility and become independent, and this year more than ever, we reiterate this. For many years we have advocated that #LagoChangesYourLife, but it is time to say that without the love and support we have received from you, Lago would not exist, and would not be able to celebrate.
Without further ado, we invite you to enter barefoot into the shores of Lago.