FRED Film Radio is joining the 30th Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Turin, Italy from the 29th of April to the 4th of May.

This Festival took its first steps in 1985, shortly after Marziano Marzano had been put in charge of the Culture Department within the city of Torino’s administration. Despite the controversy raised by his decision, Marzano bravely supported the project of Ottavio Mai and Giovanni Minerba, two young filmmakers who were determined to give visibility in Italy to GLBT-themed productions, which too often enjoyed no distribution. “Da Sodoma a Hollywood” was therefore born in 1986, with support also from the Provincial Administration and the Regional Council. Several other Italian as well as foreign institutions active on the local territory also joined to bring to the festival their fundamental cultural and artistical contribution.

Initially born as a small film show, the event turned into an actual festival by 1989, and gained soon after the full recognition of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment. Since 2006, Torino GLBT Film Festival is organized under the auspices of Turin’s National Museum of Cinema and its fame has been constantly growing, attracting more than 40,000 spectators every year.
Since the very beginning, the Festival aims not only at screening the previews of numerous new movies, but also at promoting a cinema which wouldn’t otherwise circulate in Italy. It has also always been committed to supporting young and promising artists from different countries, while cultivating a close contact with the larger public.

The Festival presents every year over 100 titles spread across its different sections, from competition selections to retrospectives, tributes, special events and thematic forums revolving around the GLBT world. Throughout its twenty-six editions the event has hosted great artists like Gus Van Sant, Claudia Cardinale, Eytan Fox, Derek Jarman and Christophe Honoré. In some cases guests are invited so that a tribute to their work could be paid, while in others they were so “discovered”, at an early stage of their carreers.

Since 2010, the Dorian Gray Prize – a statuette specifically designed by Ugo Nespolo – is awarded to those artists who have been found to stand out for the GLBT cause over the years. James Ivory, Lindsay Kemp e Luciana Littizzetto were the first to receive the award.

Click here to visit the Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival official website