24/04/2012 - The first of its kind in Italy, it will be held in Rome on June 6-9, 2012 promoting the mixing of genres and styles

It's an idea started from the intuition of two women, Mariangela Matarozzo and Alessandra Lo Russo – one the organiser of cultural events, the other a film journalist - the new MashRome Film Fest, the first festival in Italy devoted to film mash-up and remix, with the first edition taking place in Rome from June 6-9, 2012 in the evocative location of Rome's Aquarium - Casa dell’Architettura.

The mash-up - as the organisers explain - is a form of expression which, by mixing images and sounds, taken from different sources (documentary, animation films, fiction features) and by mixing up different art forms (cinema, contemporary art, photography), creates a new piece of work. Some examples? Woody Allen's first film, What's Up, Tiger Lily?, a re-edit of a Japanese film with completely re-adapted dialogues and sound and Ridley Scott's Life in a day, made with the contribution of over 300 YouTube users.

The festival is therefore set up with the ambition of becoming an important showcase for European cinema of the future (In the US, musical and film mash-up already holds an important place in the modern arts debate), full of events such as screenings, DJ/CJ sets, installations and live performances, with Italian and international guests including directors, actors and new talent.

“We have created a festival - says the artistic director Alessandra Lo Russo - dedicated to a medium which has not yet found its place in Italy. But there is fertile ground: as is shown by the over 300 mash-ups that we have received from all over the world”.

There are three sections: Mash Prime, an international competition devoted to mash-up (feature films), open to films made through crowd-sourcing and crowd-funding; New MashExperience, a competition for mash-ups made using new techniques and/or new technologies, of any length, format and support; Talented Youth, devoted to mash-ups (shorts) made by young people from Italian and international film schools.

"We have partnered up with many prestigious international festivals - stresses Mariangela Matarozzo,the festival's managing director and co-founder - from New York's RE/Mixed Media Festival to Paris' European Independent Film Festival (ECU), to the Tirana Mashup Festival, as well as the Nisi Masa, created by young people from 26 EU countries”.

The festival is sponsored by, among others, Regione Lazio - Department of Art, Culture and Sport. For the regulations, see qui.

(Translated from Italian)