Scandriglia Film Festival

Independent cinema in the heart of Sabina

The Scandriglia Film Festival is an international showcase for independent cinema held at the Teatro Sant'Antonio, located in the historic center of Scandriglia, a 15th-century medieval village perched in the Sabina hills, in the province of Rieti. Just forty minutes by car from Rome, the festival brings short and feature films from all over the world—from Italy to the United States, the UK to Iran—to this small town in the Lazio region.

A tribute to Massimiliano Scacchi

The festival is promoted by the Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to arts and education, in honor of Massimiliano Scacchi, a beloved figure in Scandriglia and a passionate film enthusiast. He is responsible for the permanent exhibition along the town's Via Entroterra, featuring over one hundred antique agricultural tools and machines dating from the late 19th century to the 1950s, which document the rural heritage of Sabina. Foundation president Anna Chinappi and executive director, filmmaker Skip Shea, established this event to honor his love for the silver screen.

Competition categories and awards

The competition is dedicated to short films under 20 minutes of any genre, divided into four categories:

• Italian Shorts — Italian short films;
• International Shorts — international short films;
• Experimental Shorts — experimental works;
• Student Shorts — works by students and film schools.

Each category awards an Outstanding Achievement prize, while select works receive the Massimiliano Scacchi Spirit Award, a special recognition named in memory of the festival's inspiration. Submissions are handled via FilmFreeway and Festhome; non-Italian films must include burned-in Italian subtitles, while Italian films must include English subtitles.

The inaugural 2024 edition

The first edition took place on Saturday, October 12, 2024, featuring a full day of screenings: the dystopian feature A is for Alice by young director Sharon Grace Badia, filmed in Italy; a block of twelve short films from Italy, the US, and Iran; and, in closing, the British documentary Outcaste: The House That Carol Built, accompanied by seven shorts, including Scandriglia by Giulio Quadrino and One Last Coin by Skip Shea himself.

Scandriglia, a Lazio village between Rome and Rieti

The municipality of Scandriglia, in the province of Rieti, Lazio, is an authentic rural mountain community, famous for producing some of Italy's finest olive oil. The festival is also an invitation to discover the village, its medieval alleys, and the Sabina landscape, in a day that blends cinema, tradition, and local territory just a stone's throw from the capital.