The 18th edition opened at the Teatro sul Mare of Hotel Santavenere, where the Italian Air Force Band took the audience on a journey through the most famous film scores in cinema history: a tribute to the inseparable bond between music and the big screen.

Guest of honour on opening night was Nino D’Angelo, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award. He presented Nino. 18 giorni together with his son Toni D’Angelo, who directed it: an intimate conversation between father and son about the man behind the public figure, from his Neapolitan origins to national recognition.

The same day saw the debut of La Perla, Marateale’s first industry platform dedicated to independent producers and audiovisual professionals, running on 20 and 21 July.

The evening also featured the presentation of “Basilicata Motherland. Patrimonio Vivo”, the new tourism communication campaign by APT Basilicata.

Awards during the evening also went to Lino Banfi, patron of the 18th edition, who presented Lino d’Italia, storia di un italiano just days after turning ninety; actress Noemi Brando; and Biagio Calderano, the photographer who has been telling the story of Maratea in images for years.

The day opened with the award ceremony for the Marateale in School short film competition, followed by the social programme of the Arcipelago di EVA Association.

On stage, guests of international standing: from Bollywood, director Vivek Singhania and actress Surbhie Sharma; Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass and Egyptian actress Laila Eloui, alongside American actress Debi Mazar. Italian favourites Jerry Calà, Roberto Ciufoli and Gabriele Cirilli were also there.

The evening closed with the screening of the national road-safety campaign “Quando sei alla guida tutto può aspettare” (“When you’re driving, everything can wait”), in the presence of Gianmarco Tognazzi, Ludovica Martino, director Cristian Marazziti and creative director Metis Di Meo.

The third evening opened with the Quartetto Ciak, from ARTErìa Produzioni, and with a conversation between the festival and the region: on stage the Lucana Film Commission, presenting the projects that take cinema where it usually never goes and the green protocol signed with the Trentino Film Commission, and Trenitalia, represented by Antonella Graziano: with Frecciarossa, official train of the festival for the sixth year running.

At the heart of the evening were the awards to American actress Debi Mazar, honoured for a career built across film and television since her days in 1980s New York, and to Spanish actress Beatriz Arjona, known to Italian audiences as Alma in Buen Camino by Gennaro Nunziante. Marateale — Premio Internazionale also went to Lucio Presta, for a career spent alongside some of Italy’s most important artists, while the 30th anniversary of Medusa Film was celebrated with an award collected by Paolo Orlando, Head of Distribution, and with video messages from Riccardo Milani and Fabio De Luigi.

The evening was completed by the tenth anniversary of Indivisibili, revisited on stage by director Edoardo De Angelis and its stars Angela and Marianna Fontana, and by an award to Francesca Bergesio, former Miss Italia: a sculpture of the Christ of Maratea made by students of the local art school.

The fourth evening belonged to young filmmakers. The Marateale in Short competition brought its jury on stage, with Paride Leporace and president Nicola Giuliano: the winner was La notte della luna fertile by Agostino Gambino, who attended in person; the World Section went to Like Friend, Like Deer by Iranian director Malek Eghbali; the Rai Cinema Channel Award to Fick Mich by Fabiana Russo.

Attention then turned to cinemas and to alliances between festivals: the ANEC Biglietto d’oro went to Donato Cosmo, who runs the Cineteatro Gerardo Guerrieri in Matera, the most attended cinema in Basilicata, presented by Margherita Romaniello, president of the Lucana Film Commission, and Simone Gialdini, general manager of ANEC; Antonella Caramia and Gabriella Carlucci signed the partnership agreement with the Italian-Spanish festival Estimar. Also on stage were director Carmen Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, with producer Asim Bhalia; Nunzia De Stefano presenting Malavia, Gianni Ippoliti with the restored short A seggia, and Matilde D’Errico with Indigo Stories for their campaign against gender-based violence.

Marateale — Premio Internazionale went to actress and director Micaela Ramazzotti and, closing the evening, to Paolo Ruffini, honoured for a career in which lightness and depth live side by side. Awards also went to Denise Capezza, Michele Rosiello and Euridice Axen, to Denny Mendez for Unicorni, and to siblings Lea and Damiano Gavino.

The fifth evening opened with Marateale in Green, the section devoted to films about environmental sustainability. The Champion of Sea and Earth award went to Selva Maya en Jaque by Guatemalan director Sergio Izquierdo, who sent a video message of thanks; the ARPA Basilicata award went to La luna sott’acqua by Alessandro Negrini, a film about the memory of the Vajont disaster; the audience award to Greta e le favole vere by Berardo Carboni.

Next came the Venusia Special Festival, with the Nino Postiglione Award — created by the newspaper Cronache Lucane in memory of a pioneer of independent radio — presented to Rossella Liberatore and Pierluigi Martire, and an award to Bianca Luna Santoro for Urban Green, her television coverage of the ecological transition. Also on stage were Daise Amaral, Edoardo Costa and Giulia Ragazzini with Pazzi amori liquidi, and Maria Guerriero and Luca Nobili with La mia storia con te.

The evening continued with Rai Fiction: director Maria Pia Ammirati presented the new season of Doc – Nelle tue mani together with Matilde Gioli, Giovanni Scifoni and Marco Rossetti. Marateale — Premio Internazionale went to actor Alessio Vassallo and to Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, honoured for an artistic path built on talent, determination and freedom of expression. The evening closed with the first feature Il protagonista, presented by director Fabrizio Benvenuto with Pierluigi Gigante.

The closing night opened with the students of Maratea’s art school, who created the sculpture of the Christ of Maratea given to the festival’s guests this year, with thanks to master goldsmith Michele Affidato, who designs the Marateale award, and with a performance by Numa Palmer.

Marateale — Premio Internazionale went to American actress Natasha Lyonne, star of Russian Doll and Poker Face, honoured for a career built on characters that are never conventional, presented by Prefect Maria Teresa Sempreviva, Chief of Staff at the Italian Ministry of the Interior and a native of Chiaromonte in Basilicata; to Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema; and to Massimiliano Caiazzo, who from 15 October brings Pino Daniele to the screen.

Awards also went to screenwriter Ludovica Rampoldi, making her directing debut with Breve storia d’amore, to Dario Aita and producer Francesca Chiappetta for Franco Battiato – Il lungo viaggio, to actress Clotilde Di Sabatino and to Professor Giuseppe Lavenia, presented by Assunta Mitidieri, president of Corecom Basilicata. The cast of the series Il medico di tutti was also on stage, with Antonio Gerardi and Giulia D’Aloia, alongside a video message from Rocco Papaleo.

Beyond cinema, the evening told the story of the region: the APT Basilicata Award, presented with Margherita Sarli, went to Martino Nurra, eleven years old, who came to Maratea with his family after choosing Basilicata as the subject of a school project; and a new international partnership opened with the Oman Film Society. The fifth edition of Young Blood closed the evening, with Daniele Orazi and Fabia Bettini: two special mentions and the final award to the selected young performers. Closing remarks came from Antonella Caramia and Nicola Timpone.