Animaphix Audiovisual Memories: Knowing the past to imagine the future. Cinema Excelsior and Cinema Capitol Multisala May 6, 7, and 8, 2026.
In Bagheria, the film festival of the Animaphix Audiovisual Memories project features screenings, meetings, and training. Guests include actor Francesco Di Leva and directors Giulia Cosentino and Antonio Piazza.
In Bagheria (PA), on May 6, 7, and 8, the Cinema Excelsior and Cinema Capitol Multisala will host the film festival of the Animaphix Audiovisual Memories educational film and image project. The project, which during the 2025-2026 school year involved 12 school buildings in Bagheria and Villabate, will officially conclude on May 22, involving students from schools of all levels in the area.
During this three-day event, students will engage with cinema through conscious viewing, critically reflecting on their own positioning in relation to the film image: an opportunity for direct encounters and dialogue between school audiences, directors, actors, and industry professionals through a shared and participatory viewing experience.
Specifically, on Wednesday, May 6, starting at 9:30 a.m. (Cinema Excelsior), director Giulia Cosentino will present her film Le prime volte (2025, co-directed with Perla Sardella), which explores the delicate transition from adolescence to adulthood, recounting the experiences, discoveries, and transformations that mark its construction. Following this, actor Francesco Di Leva and production supervisor Tania Scalercio will present Familia (2024) by Francesco Costabile, a work that addresses the theme of domestic violence and its profound consequences on family bonds, exploring the dynamics of power, fear, and silence that permeate everyday life.
On Thursday, May 7th, starting at 9:30 a.m. (Cinema Excelsior), Lorenzo Quagliozzi’s ARCA (2025) will be screened. This science fiction tale explores the themes of diversity and coexistence through a century-long narrative that explores shared memory as a precious asset. Also screening will be Sicilian Ghost Story (2017), by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, who will be in attendance. Piazza reimagines a true mafia story in a fairytale and visionary style, exploring the themes of memory, absence, and resistance to silence.
On Friday, May 8th, starting at 8 a.m., the Capitol Multisala Cinema will host Ugo Bienvenu’s animated film Arco – Un’amicizia per salvare il futuro (2025 – the screening is in collaboration with the Biografilm Festival), which explores the themes of diversity, solidarity, and responsibility for the future through the emergence of an unexpected bond between two protagonists from different worlds. and The Breadwinner (2017) by Nora Twomey, which highlights individual courage and the power of imagination as tools of resistance and survival; and Ernest & Celestine (2012) by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner (in collaboration with Biografilm Festival), Beurk! (2024) by Loïc Espuche, Fish River Anthology (2024) by Veera Lamminpää, and The Red Turtle (2021&) by Michaël Dudok de Wit.
The project is part of the National Cinema and Images for Schools Plan, promoted by MIC – Ministry of Culture and MIM – Ministry of Education and Merit; conceived and organized by the QB Association – Animaphix Film Festival in collaboration with AAMOD – Audiovisual Archive Foundation of the Workers’ and Democratic Movement (RM); Home Movies Foundation – National Archive of Family Films (BO); Ecomuseum Mare Memoria Viva (PA); TCB – The Culture Business (PD); Fanatics About Festivals Association – Biografilm Festival (BO); University of Palermo – Department of Economics, Business, and Statistics (PA). Institutions involved: I.I.S. G. D’Alessandro, Liceo Ginnasio F. Scaduto, I.C.S. I. Buttitta, I.C. Scianna Cirincione.