Vasanello Film Festival "Sandro Ricci"

A festival born from a legacy of love for cinema

The Vasanello Film Festival "Sandro Ricci" owes its existence to a rare gesture. Professor Sandro Ricci (1947-2019), a teacher and man of letters born in Vasanello, who held a degree in Humanities from Sapienza University of Rome and spent thirty years teaching in public schools, was a great enthusiast of cinema, literature, and demo-anthropology. Upon his passing, he bequeathed part of his estate to the Municipality of Vasanello to organize an annual film festival. Since 2023, the town in the province of Viterbo has honored this wish with a short film competition that brings the big screen to the heart of Tuscia, in northern Lazio, every spring.

"The Island of Respect": a theme that serves as a manifesto

The festival's subtitle, "The Island of Respect," takes its name from an urban art installation in Vasanello dedicated to women victims of violence. The competition is thematic: the competing short films must promote the culture of respect in all its forms—towards others, cultures different from our own, the environment, art, and historical-cultural heritage—in continuity with the initiatives the Municipality has been carrying out for years against violence towards women.

Two sections: young authors and professionals

The call for entries includes two competition sections. Section A is reserved for secondary school students and young directors, while Section B (Open) welcomes emerging artists and professionals. Short films can be a maximum of 20 minutes long, including credits, and entry is free. Significant prizes are up for grabs for a village festival: a €2,000 technology voucher for the winner of the youth section (awarded to the school or the director) and €4,000 for the Open section, in addition to awards for best screenplay and best performance in each category.

Cinema Albertone, juries, and guests

Screenings and the awards ceremony take place at the Cinema Albertone in Vasanello, the town's historic cinema. Alongside the technical jury—chaired in 2025 by director Andrea Barzini—the festival involves a popular jury for the Open section and student jurors for the youth section, turning the competition into a community event. Each edition is graced by a guest of honor from Italian cinema: at the first edition in 2023, the closing was entrusted to maestro Pupi Avati, while in 2025, Massimo Boldi presented the awards to the winners before a large audience.

Vasanello, a village of ceramics in Tuscia

The festival is also an invitation to discover Vasanello, a village in the Viterbo Tuscia area known for its ancient ceramic tradition and dominated by the Orsini Castle. Located a few kilometers from Orte and the border with Umbria, the town offers medieval alleys, artisan workshops, and a convenient location for exploring the province of Viterbo. Thanks to the Ricci Film Festival, strongly supported by the municipal administration, this small community in Lazio has carved out a place for itself in the landscape of Italian short film festivals.