The very recently departed Giorgio Gosetti was voted vice-president of the association which manages Cineuropa at the most recent general meeting in February. He was one of the founders of our website back in 2001.

Your smile, kind and mischievous. Your eye, watchful and attentive to the finest detail but also to the many people around you, to their state of mind, their vulnerability and their energy levels, and to any possible tension or shared moments of joy.

Your voice, warm, calm and authoritative yet as gentle as a caress. Your intelligence, brilliant and incisive. Humane.

Your ideas, always new and so plentiful; volcanic eruptions which prevailed over people and old habits, which innovated film festivals and events, making them unique, unprecedented and often difficult to pull off but which, under your guidance, metamorphosed into adventures to embark upon with faith and joy, with the certainty that we’d get there in the end and create something which had never been seen before.

Your knowledge, rich and profound like an abyss brimming with fantastic creatures to explore in each and every conversation, a journey we embarked upon without knowing where it would take us, but safe in the knowledge of being accompanied by a nurturing guide who placed focus on sharing, who was generous with his teachings, and who was passionate about exchange.

Your laughter, and the small lines around your eyes, like as many tiny smiles, revealed a radiant, and infectious, kind of joy.

You were the beating heart of so many adventures which changed the very nature of festivals and film, in Italy and in Europe.

Giornate degli Autori and the Noir In Festival, Cineuropa, Italia Cinema and Rome Film Fest, 27 Times Cinema and the presence of Europe and the LUX Audience Award in Venice, the Casa del Cinema, your many articles and books, the time you spent teaching in classrooms and, most importantly, your everyday interactions with all those who were lucky enough to cross your path or to encounter one of your bicycles.

It’s hard to find the words to express the disbelief and shock we’re feeling upon hearing of your passing. It pains us to imagine Venice without you, it’s incredibly sad to think we won’t be able to call on you for advice, to share an idea, to laugh about some funny anecdote, to discuss or debate a film.

We’ll miss the wonder you always left us with after our many conversations with you. We will miss you immensely, dearest Giorgio.