Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival

An international film festival made by youth

The Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival is the International Youth Film and Social Communication Festival: an event established in 1998 in the municipality of Marano di Napoli, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, which has become a national benchmark for school-based cinema and young filmmakers. Here, it is not adults telling stories about youth; it is the young people themselves who take up the camera to capture the world they live in.

The core of the project is both simple and radical: using audiovisual language as a tool for active citizenship. Social spots, short films, documentaries, and animations address human rights, personal dignity, gender equality, the memory of the Holocaust and victims of the mafia, environmental protection, intercultural dialogue, and the culture of responsible legality.

Sections and competitions

The event is divided into two major competitions, accompanied by special screenings and sections:

• Spotragazzi Competition — reserved for students from Italian schools of all levels, featuring 3-Minute Spots and Short Films sections.
• International Youth Contest — open to filmmakers under 35 and students from schools, academies, and universities worldwide, with Students, Filmmakers, Italy, and Animation sections.
• Kids and Cartoons — an animation showcase designed for primary school pupils.
• CIPS Section — dedicated to the best productions from the National Cinema and Images for Schools Plan, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Merit.

Directors, producers, and protagonists of the works selected for the International Youth Contest are invited to participate—either in person or via video link—in the debates following each screening alongside jurors, the public, and journalists, which is one of the most appreciated aspects as it turns the auditorium into a laboratory for discussion.

The awards

The awards recognize the best films in the Students, Filmmakers, and Italy sections, the best spot, and the best animation, alongside thematic awards with a strong identity: the Libera Award for social commitment, the Enrico Trucco Award dedicated to smiles and creativity, and the CIPS Award. In the Spotragazzi competition, the best spot in the 3-Minute section and the best work in the Short Film section are awarded.

The festival's uniqueness lies in its juries: alongside the expert jury, there is a Youth Jury composed of hundreds of students aged 10 to 18 and a Public Jury involving thousands of students from schools across Italy: they are the ones who decide the winners.

The home of the festival

The headquarters is the Giancarlo Siani Auditorium on Via Musella, renamed the "Home of the Festival" during the week of screenings. The naming after the young journalist from *Il Mattino* killed by the Camorra in 1985 is no coincidence: it speaks to the spirit with which the festival links cinema, information, and civic engagement in a territory in the northern area of Naples.

A network of schools, institutions, and associations

The festival is promoted by the Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival Association together with the Regional School Office for Campania, the Marano City Schools Consortium, and the Municipality of Marano di Napoli, in collaboration with the Libera association and the Pol.i.s. Foundation. Over the years, the event has received the High Patronage of the President of the Republic and, in 2009, the High Quality for Childhood Award.

The figures from nearly thirty years of activity show the scale of the project: thousands of spots entered into competitions, over 1,500 Italian schools involved, tens of thousands of students, and works arriving from more than 120 nations. Every year, hundreds of young guests are hosted by local families: hospitality is an integral part of the formula.

Why it is worth attending

Those who arrive in Marano di Napoli during these days will find a dense, free program: short films that leave a mark, debates where the authors are fifteen years old, workshops for children, meetings with teachers and parents, exhibitions, and round tables on the importance of teaching cinema in schools. A festival that can be enjoyed as a family, with a class, or as a curious individual, which portrays a side of Campania made of vibrant schools and young people who have something to say.