Open Call IFF 2023

Open Call: Be Part of the Italian Fusion Festival 2023!

Calling all talented bands in Ireland! Are you ready to showcase your unique musical style to a diverse and enthusiastic audience? The Italian Fusion Festival is back with its next edition, and we are on the lookout for an extraordinary band with at least one element is Italian to join our vibrant lineup. This is an incredible opportunity to perform at one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year. So, dust off your instruments, bring your passion, and get ready to make your mark!

The Italian Fusion Festival celebrates the vibrant and diverse fusion of Italian and Irish cultures annually. It serves as a platform to showcase the extraordinary talent and creativity that arises from blending these two rich musical heritages. This unique festival brings together music, dance, art, and gastronomy, creating a truly immersive and memorable experience for attendees.

We are thrilled to invite bands based in Ireland to participate in our open call for the upcoming edition of the Italian Fusion Festival. The call is open to bands incorporating at least one Italian singer and /or musician. Whether you’re inspired by the rhythms of Tarantella, the emotive melodies of Irish ballads, or the infectious energy of British pop, we want to hear what you’ve got!

The open call is aimed at bands we have not yet had the pleasure of hosting in previous festival editions or live sessions in our radio studios.

To apply, send an email to info@italianfusionfestival.com with the following:

  1. Bio: Introduce your band and provide some background information. Tell us about your musical journey, influences, and any notable achievements or performances.
  2. Live Performance Videos: Share the links of two videos hosted on YouTube showcasing your band’s live performances. This is your chance to demonstrate your stage presence, musical skills, and the unique fusion of Italian and Irish elements in your music. Show us what makes your band stand out!

Deadline: The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2023. Make sure to send in your email well in advance to allow ample time for consideration.

What to Expect: After the submission deadline, our panel of judges will carefully review each entry to select the band that best embodies the spirit of the Italian Fusion Festival. If you are chosen, you will have the incredible opportunity to perform alongside other talented musicians, entertain a diverse audience, and be a part of an unforgettable cultural event.

If you’re an Irish band with a passion for music and a touch of Italian influence, this open call for the Italian Fusion Festival is your chance to shine! Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to showcase your talent, connect with fellow musicians, and be a part of a celebration that bridges the gap between Irish and Italian cultures.

Prepare your bio and live performance videos, and send them to info@italianfusionfestival.com before the deadline on 1 July 2023. We can’t wait to discover the hidden gems within Ireland’s vibrant music scene and welcome you to the Italian Fusion Festival family!

The Italian Fusion Festival on tv

The last edition of the Italian Fusion Festival has hosted a TV crew of the Italian TV program “Little Big Italy” The TV crew interviewed the festival coordinators at the Italian Institute of Culture this morning. The scenes recorded at the festival and the interviews have been part of the last episode of the TV show broadcasted at Nove channel in Italy. (part of Warner Bros. / Discovery).

Corto: Italy and Ireland in a snapshot 2022

A selection of short videos in English, presented at the last edition of the Italian Fusion Festival, combines elements of both Italian and Irish cultures.

Since its start, the short video competition has been an important part of the Italian Fusion Festival, and also an instrument to give visibility to local filmmakers. The participating directors, mainly Italian or Irish, express a real artistic fusion of elements from the two cultures.

The following short videos will be screened:

  • The plait by Chiara Viale
  • Shame by Chiara Provenzano
  • Uberman by Alois J.L. Steinmacher
  • A decent proposal by Cathal Feeney
  • Stage fright by Giuseppe Mirabella

A Q&A session coordinated by Valentina Settominiwill follow at the end of the screenings.

Information

  • Date: Monday, October 24, 2022
  • Address:  11 Fitzwilliam Square E, Dublin, D02 KN81
  • Time: At 6:30 pm
  • In collaboration with : IIC Dublino
  • Admission : Free

IFF 22 CREW

Grazie and Arrivederci

I wish to thank the audience for coming to the fifth edition of the Italian Fusion Festival!

This edition was very successful and we are happy about our decision to back live after the live streaming edition in 2020 and the cancellation in 2021 due to the pandemic. We restart in the venue of the last edition in an intimate space with jazz music, short videos… and of course Pizza!  This year we associate the festival also with an art exhibition. Those who participated and would like to send their feedback can also do so by e-mailing info@italianfusionfestival.com

If you are a musician/filmmaker/artist/ poet based in Ireland and you would like to participate in the next edition of the Italian fusion festival please contact us.

If you are a business and are you interested in one of our sponsorship packages get in touch and we will be happy to assist you. Contact us also to become an Italian Fusion Festival volunteer next year.

This edition was sold out very early ad more than 100 people on our waiting list were not able to attend the event. If you wish to stay in touch and know when the early bird tickets are available and buy the ticket in advance, you can subscribe to the Radio Dublino newsletter where we’ll announce the next year’s festival edition or follow our Facebook page and our other social media channels.

We also wish to thank everyone who collaborated with us:

  • The event partner Italian Institute of Culture – Dublin.
  • The music bands Almonte & Molina – A Guitar Duologue, Luisa Annibali Band,  Maja Elliott Ensemble, Antoni O’Breskey – Nomadic Piano Project and all musicians of te Jam Session
  • The filmmakers Chiara Viale, MChiara Provenzano, Giuseppe Mirabella, Cathal Feeney, Alois J.L. Steinmacherwho participate in the short-video competition.
  • Comites Irlanda for the support with the volunteers.
  • Journalists and websites that promoted our initiative.
  • The BelloBar staff and sound engineer.

Last but not least, I huge thank you to the volunteers for making this edition possible. This event was entirely organised with the efforts of committed volunteers who regularly volunteer for the Radio Dublino community project. Thanks to Cristina, Giuseppe, Lorena, Valentina, Luca, Shauna, Daniel amd Luigi!

Stay in touch with us (WebsiteRadio DublinoFacebookTwitterYouTube), soon we will announce our 6th edition of the festival.

We look forward to seeing you next year.

Ciao
Maurizio Pittau
Festival Director

Maurizio Pittau firma

Lineup

The Jazz & Pizza edition Lineup 2022 in 12 Videos

7PM – Almonte & Molina – A Guitar Duologue


8PM – Luisa Annibali Band


9PM – Maja Elliott Ensemble


10PM Antoni O’Breskey – Nomadic Piano Project


11:30PM – Jam Session

Short Video Competition

Winner Short Video Competition 2022

A Decent Proposal by Cathal Feeney is the winner of the Short Video Competition at the Italian Fusion Festival 2022.

All videos are been projected on the 2nd of July during the Italian Fusion Festival. The winner was announced during the event and was awarded with a plaque and a small cash price.

Winner

Motivation: “‘A decent proposal’ encompasses the true spirit of the Italian Fusion Festival as it really represents a fusion of the Italian and the Irish culture with members of the cast and the crew coming from both countries. The cinematic language develops through the use of a wide range of different shoots creating the right pace for the physical acting that characterizes this work. The storyline unravels through the tale of two voices over and is truly delivered by the original score able to grasp the light and refreshing sense of the urban comedy of the video.”

Cathal Feeney started filmmaking when he joined the Dublin Filmmakers film club in Dublin in 2011. In the intervening period, he has worked on numerous short films in various roles, although mainly as a writer and director. The Interview was his first film followed by Oh. Oh was made as part of a 72-hour challenge at the Offline film festival in Offaly where it took first place. His filmmaking style would lean toward comedy.


Shame by Chiara Provenzano, with 51,88% of the votes, won the Audience Award

Photos Jazz & Pizza Edition 2022

Credits: Maurizio Pittau


Credits: Gaia Garofalo


Credits: Felice Luca Maglione


Credits: Shauna Donnelly

Maurizio Pittau

TV programmes at the festival

The Italian Fusion Festival will host a TV crew of the Italian TV program “Little Big Italy” this evening. The TV crew interviewed the festival coordinators at the Italian Institute of Culture this morning. The scenes recorded at the festival and the interviews will be part of the TV show and more precisely of the section of the TV show “Italians in the city”, where events and activities of Italians abroad are shown. Little Big Italy is an Italian television program produced by Magnolia and broadcast by Nove (part of Warner Bros. / Discovery). The TV program is led by restaurateur Francesco Panella, who visits a different city for each episode in search of the best Italian restaurant.

At the festival, we will host also Declan Cassidy and his crew. Cassidy is making a television documentary about the Italian community in Ireland. The director of the festival Maurizio Pittau was interviewed by Declan as well at the Near FM radio studios.Declan Cassidy is a director and producer in Irish film and television. A founding member of the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA Awards), Declan Cassidy began his film career in the documentary genre and in 2021 Cassidy founded EurAV European Audio Visual CLG, a not-for-profit company that works to promote media literacy, climate action and social inclusion through community media provision and training.

 

 

Jam Session

Jam Session

We are happy to introduce the last part of our programme. This year the Italian Fusion Festival hosts, for the first time, a Jam Session.

A jam session is an informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To “jam” is to improvise music without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements, except for when the group is playing well-known jazz standards or covers of existing popular songs.

One source for the phrase “jam session” came about in the 1920s when white and black musicians would congregate after their regular paying gigs to play the jazz they could not play in the “Paul Whiteman” style bands they played in. When Bing Crosby attended these sessions, the musicians would say he was “jammin’ the beat,” since he would clap on the one and the three. Thus these sessions became known as “jam sessions.”

The jam sessions in Dublin started about 9 years ago, organised weekly, to play jazz standards in a relaxed atmosphere and to create a community of musicians in Dublin. The person who came up with the idea is an Italian, Marco Santaroni, who from the beginning involved some musicians in the organization (including Marco Francescangeli who is looking after the session at the festival). It was initially at the Grand Social, later moved to various other places (International Bar, Music café, Bohemian bar in Phibsboro, Hot Spot in Greystones). The jams are free, and very inclusive and accessible. Find musicians of all levels: professionals, hobbyists, and students. There is a Facebook page and a Meetup group to promote/organise the jams.

Here are the musicians who take part in the jam session at the Italian Fusion Festiva: Marco Francescangeli, Luisa Annibali, Riccardo Marenghi, Dario Rodighiero, Graham Wood, Maciej Blizinski, Johannes Aspman, Ken Hall, Andy Smith, Marion Smith, Mary Murphy, Enid Conaghan.

 

IIF Video Finalists

Short Video Competition 2022 Finalists

We are happy to present the finalists of the Short Video Competition 2022. All videos will be projected on the 2nd of July during the Italian Fusion Festival. The winner will be announced during the event and will be awarded with a plaque and a small cash price.

The Plait by Chiara Viale

Chiara Viale is an Italian born writer, director and producer based in Ireland. After obtaining a degree in English as a Foreign Language and Literature in Milan, she went on studying screenwriting in Dublin and began making independent films. Since then she has written, directed and taken part numerous short films. In 2017 she started her first Independent Feature Film ‘The New Music’, which has reached completion in 2019. She is also co-founder of the Dublin based independent production company Built To Fail Productions.


Shame by Chiara Provenzano

Born and bred in Italy, Chiara has cultivated a love for cinema since the age of 11, when she first saw The Lord of the Rings, and she was left in awe. After moving to Dublin 5 years ago, she hasn’t stopped editing: from short films to documentaries to weddings, she loves all art forms. Editing is her true passion!


Stage Fright by Giuseppe Mirabella

Giuseppe Mirabella was born in Naples in 1985. He currently lives in Dublin where he plays in two bands Skakki Blues and Locanda a jazz manouche project. He shot ‘Stage fright’ during the KinoD: an event in Dublin during which filmmakers are asked to create a short movie in 48 hours.


A Decent Proposal by Cathal Feeney

Cathal started film making when he joined the Dublin Filmmakers film club in Dublin in 2011. In the intervening period he has worked on numerous short films in various roles, although mainly as a writer and director. The Interview was his first film followed by Oh. Oh was made as part of a 72 hour challenge at the Offline film festival in Offaly where it took first place. His film making style would lean towards comedy.


Uberman by Alois J.L. Steinmacher

Alois J.L. Steinmacher is 37 and grew up in Kaiserslautern. Being a true faustian spirit he set off to study Philosophy and Law but he eventually graduated from acting school and also medical school after living a while in a French monastery. He started writing and directing mostly comedy shorts and won his first award for his slapstick spy shorts “Styler und Gyler”. “Uberman” is his first Drama on screen and was written during a creative break in Cinque Terre, Italy – a pilot version was shot 2021 with an Italian cast in Dublin. The background idea was to artistically explore the growing pressure of capitalism and migration on human relationships. He currently works at ICU in order to complete his emergency physician training this year. After this he wants to go dead serious about the arts once and for all. His dream is to become the German Adriano Celentano. He lives in Berlin whith his wife and their children.


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