Biografilm Festival
Biografilm Festival is an international film festival held in Bologna, Italy, dedicated to biographies, documentaries, and life stories.
Profile
The festival was founded in 2005. Fully titled International Celebration of Lives, it focuses on world's best biographical and documentary films. Biografilm is the only international event of that kind, with the time it grew into a high-profile venue and hosts important world premieres.Biografilm is managed by Associazione Fanatic About Festivals. Since 2013, Biografilm has been directed by. In 2018, Romeo stepped down, preserving a post of an honorary director, and was replaced by Leena Pasanen, former head of DOK Leipzig. 5 years later Pasanen retired, she was succeeded by Massimo Benvegnù and Chiara Liberti.
In 2010, the festival introduced two new competition sections, voted by the audience: Biografilm and Biografilm Italia. Later, in 2014, Biografilm Europa was separated into an independent section dedicated to the movies by filmmakers from the European Union. Since 2014, the fiction biopics have been included. The festival's sections are: Concorso Internazionale, Concorso Italia, Biografilm Europa, Contemporary Lives, Biografilm Music, Biografilm Art, Best of Fest, Storie Italiane.
As of 2024, in the International Competition the awards are: Best Film, Best First Film, Special Mention, and Audience Award. In the Italian Competition, the awards are: BPER Award for Best Film, “New Talents” Award, Audience Award, and Special Mention. Other awards are: Young Critics Award, SNCCI Italian Critics’ Prize, Unseen Italy Ucca Prize, Guerrilla Staff Award; three awards are given by the audience: for Best Film in the Contemporary Lives Competition, for Best Film in the Biografilm Art & Music Competition, and for Film in the Europa Oltre i Confini Competition.
In 2014, the festival inaugurated its industry section, Bio to B, that connects emerging filmmakers and cinema professionals, producers and distributors. Bio to B hosts a pitching forum, various showcasing events, business meetings, masterclasses, etc. After 10 editions, more than 148 projects have found partners for development and production.
Biografilm Park is an entertainment program that offers various outdoor music events.
Biografilm Campus unites educational initiatives led by the festival. Many of them target vulnerable social groups. For example, ‘Tutta un’altra storia’ is a social inclusion project dedicated to children in difficult life situations. The jury is composed of teenagers from juvenile penal institutions. With Alma Mater Studiorium Università di Bologna, in 2023 Biografilm Academy launched an educational program on Film Festival Management. ‘Bring the change’ is a collaboration between high school kids and neurodivergent teenagers.