The short films created during the 2025 Laguna Film Lab are beginning a tour of Italian cinemas, starting this month. The Lab, a cinema of the real artistic residency coordinated by ZaLab in collaboration with Giornate degli Autori, concluded its work in Chioggia earlier this year.
The residency, which took place between July 24-29 and August 13-September 1, 2025, selected five filmmakers under the age of 35 with prior experience in cinema, writing, photography, or animation. Participants were tasked with independently creating a short film of cinema del reale, with a maximum length of 10 minutes. The first phase of the residency focused on location scouting, followed by filming and editing.
Mentorship was provided throughout the process by a team of international tutors, including directors Andrea Segre, Firouzeh Khosrovani, and Alessandro Cassigoli, as well as editor Chiara Russo. Additional tutors were expected to be announced in the months leading up to the residency. ZaLab also provided support for post-production and distribution.
The completed short films will be screened in six Italian cities between November 2025 and March 2026: Padova, Palermo, Milano, Bologna, Roma, and Napoli. A special event in Sala Laguna, as part of the 22nd edition of Giornate degli Autori, showcased the films, in collaboration with SIAE. The following day, the films were presented at the Auditorium San Nicolò in Chioggia, where the public voted for the best film, awarding the winner the Premio Laguna Sud 2025 – a pipe crafted by local artisan Giorgio «El Penelo» Boscolo.
The Laguna Film Lab is funded by the Otto per Mille funds of the Italian Buddhist Soka Gakkai Institute. The initiative is part of the 11th edition of Laguna Sud – Il Cinema fuori dal Palazzo.