The winners of the fourth Miami's 2009 Sicilian Film Festival have been declared. The fourth annual Sicilian Film Festival, which has become America's window to Sicilian cinematography and culture, came to a close on April 19th in Miami Beach. The Festival's goal is to promote Sicilians abroad and to furthermore remind the general public that a substantial part of the most notable Hollywood celebrities have Sicilian origins.

This year, the Festival's activities were held at the Miami Beach Cinematheque; its pre-opening party was held at the elegant house of Hon Marco Rocca, Consul General of Italy in Miami and its final traditional festivity was held at the Villa Viscuso with a party in honor of Franco Nero, after the screening of his movie The Breath Of Life that Franco Nero shot in Palermo together wit his wife Vanessa Redgrave.

Among the many celebrities attending the party, the Italian designer Renato Balestra, the Italian Oscar Award Francesca Lo Schiavo, HRH Princess Thi-Nga of Vietnam and many more. The closing event had the special touch of a song show by Kelly Roberts and a fashion show by Cecilia Perez, whose inspiration for this show was Sicily. During the closing event, the jury, made up of Claudio Angelini,Ed Cristin, Dana Keith, Camillo Ricordi, Marco Rocca and Jannette Stark awarded the movies af follows:

Best Film: Cover Boy by Carmine Amoroso, produced by the Sicilian producer Augusto Allegra with Finland Srl,
Best Direction: The Sicilian Girl by Marco Amenta, Produced by Euro Film, Rai Cinema, R&C productions, Roissy film
Best Actor: Luca Lionello in Cover Boy, Produced by Finland srl
Best Actress: Veronica D'Agostino in The Sicilian Girl by Marco Amenta Produced by Euro Film, Rai Cinema, R&C productions, Roissy film
Best TV Movie The Viceroys by Roberto Faenza, Produced by Rai Fiction and Elda Ferri
Best Short Film :The Heart Inside the Sea by Claudia La Bianca
Special Mention to the Short Film Being Handy by Vincenzo Cosentino
Special Mention to the Short Film  Faida 2 The Revenge by Giorgio Galieti
Best Artistic Contribution to Asuka Barden for the music of The Heart Inside the Sea by Claudia La Bianca
Best Documentary: The island Inside: A Journey Through Vincenzo Consolo's Sicily by Ludovica Tortora De Falco, Produced by Arapan Cinema Documentario
Special Mention to the documentary Vara by Joseph Gardella
Special Mention to the documentary Easter in Sicily by Sigal Bujman.

The founder and president of the Sicilian Film Festival, the Italian sculptor Emanuele Viscuso, and its artistic director Salvo Bitonti are already at work for the next annual event to be held in 2010.

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|CiaoAmerica.net|