The finalists for the Mattia Torre Award have been announced, as this year marks the award’s second edition and its focus on the best comedic, humorous, and socially satirical monologue—tackling fashion, politics, and society—written by authors of any nationality but strictly under 35. The jury behind the recognition, named after the screenwriter and director who passed away on July 19, 2019 at the age of 47, is composed of Valerio Aprea, Giacomo Ciarrapico, Geppi Cucciari, Pietro Sermonti and Luca Vendruscolo, and has determined that the winner will be one of these seven magnificent:
- Giulio Armeni (Il pozzo di Valloxen)
- Francesca Bertozzi (Poi mi viene l’ansia)
- Laura Guerrieri (Gli piaccio o non gli piaccio?)
- Stefano Rinaudo (Cronache ospedaliere)
- Fabrizio Sani (Lucio)
- Nemanja Suvajac (Il curioso caso del Bulldog)
- Giulietta Tisminetzky (Nutella Love)
The monologues and comic acts will be presented at the Teatro dell’Unione in Viterbo and read aloud by actresses and actors during the Friday evening of October 2, at the end of which the audience will be invited to evaluate the works on offer. On Saturday, October 3, there will be the award ceremony for the Jury Prize, the Audience Prize, and the special prizes Splendida Cornice and Propaganda Live.
The Mattia Torre Award is organized by the Tuscia Film Fest with the support of the Lazio Region and the Roma Lazio Film Commission Foundation, the Municipality of Viterbo, SIAE – the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, the University of the Tuscia, and the Carivit Foundation. Tickets for the two evenings can be purchased on the Tuscia Film Fest website or directly at the Teatro dell’Unione box office.
Mattia Torre was, besides being a screenwriter and director, also a theater author and wrote for cinema as well as for television. He is most remembered as a writer, together with Giacomo Ciarrapico and Luca Vendruscolo, for the first, second, and third seasons of the famous TV series Boris, as well as the director of the second season. With Ciarrapico and Vendruscolo, Torre also wrote the TV series Buttafuori, and he wrote and directed the comedy Ogni Maledetto Natale and Boris – Il Film. In 2017 Mattia wrote and directed for Rai3 La linea verticale, a TV series from which the eponymous novel was published by Baldini-Castoldi. Its lead was Valerio Mastandrea, who was chosen as the main actor, alongside Paola Cortellesi, in the film Figli. Mattia Torre wrote the screenplay and would have directed it as well. Sadly, he did not live to see it through.
We also owe to Mattia Torre a series of beautiful theatrical monologues, including In mezzo al mare and Migliore (the latter written for Valerio Mastandrea). He is also remembered as one of the writers of the program with Serena Dandini Parla con me and for the theatrical piece Qui e ora.
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