Cervara Soulplace Film Festival

Independent cinema in the Simbruini Mountains

The Cervara Soulplace Film Festival is an international film competition held in Cervara di Roma, a small town in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region. It is part of the Soulplace Film Festival network, a series of events dedicated to independent cinema that selects villages with strong cultural identities as the backdrop for its screenings. The festival finds a natural home in Cervara di Roma: at 1,053 meters above sea level, it is the highest village in the province of Rome and one of the highest in Lazio, famous as the village of artists for its sculptures, murals, and works carved directly into the rock, making it an open-air museum.

A competition open to the world

The event is aimed at filmmakers from all over the globe and welcomes films of every genre, from feature films to short films. Entries are evaluated by a jury, and the winning works are publicly screened at the Church of Sant'Emidio, on Via San Rocco, before the awards ceremony. The stated goal is to support young authors and independent artists by offering them visibility and recognition to help advance their professional careers.

Competition categories

The festival presents numerous awards covering the entire creative process of filmmaking:

• Best Narrative Feature and Best Narrative Short Film
• Best Documentary and Best Animated Film
• Best Director and Best Debut Director
• Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing
• Best Original Score
• Best Actor and Best Actress
• Special Jury Prize

A village that lives through art

The choice of Cervara di Roma is no coincidence. Nestled in the Simbruini Mountains Regional Natural Park, the village has hosted painters and sculptors since the 19th century, who arrived during the Grand Tour and turned it into a symbol of creativity. The Staircase of the Artists and the Staircase of Peace, along with the numerous works scattered among the alleys and squares, reflect a community that has always engaged with art. In this context, independent cinema finds a coherent and evocative stage, capable of uniting the seventh art with the artistic tradition of the Lazio region.