The ferocious North-Easterly wind directs the observers’ gaze, in photography just as in life. This year’s posters spotlight two iconic fifties snapshots taken by the recently passed photographer: a Triestine native and witness to the 20th century.
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A man and a woman make their way through the wind, in the Trieste of the 1950s, clutching their hats and coats. This snapshot by Ugo Borsatti captures one of the protagonists of Triestine life, both current and past: the ‘bora’ wind These are the images that will be on the official posters of the 37th TSFF (Italy’s most important event on Central and Eastern European cinema), in homage to the great Triestine photographer, who passed away last year.
The festival will take place in Trieste from the 16th to the 24th January: the quintessential month of the bora. It is for this reason – with some wit and irony – that the TSFF intends to put the bora, its eternal companion, in centre stage. The festival will include feature films, documentaries, shorts, masterclasses and talks from the most eminent figures in Eastern European Cinema, from the established masters to the up-and-comers – both directors and actors.
The photo captures, with clarity, an everyday moment: when, in the winter months, the dry and cold continental wind descends on the city, travelling across the Karst Plateau to the sea. The bora has become part of the Triestine way of life: a force of nature with which to coexist and a symbol to share. It is not just a meteorological phenomenon, but an energy which bursts into the city, shaping gestures, rhythms and bodies. In stark black and white and with dynamic composition, the photographs transform ordinary moments in visual poetry, honouring a deep and unmistakable civic identity.
The photos selected to represent this year’s edition are in the Museums of History and Art of Trieste Photo Library, taken from the Foto Omnia of Ugo Borsatti Archives: the collection includes pictures taken by Borsatti himself, displayed in chronological sequence. It is an extraordinary visual narrative of Trieste, which spans from the beginning of the fifties to the early nineties – from the post-war period (when the city was not juridically Italian) to more recent times.
Ugo Borsatti (1927-2025) was a Triestine photographer, among the most attentive witnesses to the 20th century. He begins taking pictures very young, in 1943, immortalizing a historic moment: the capture of Italian soldiers by the Germans. After forced labour during the war, in 1952 he opens the photography studio Foto Omnia, and becomes one of the leading photo reporters in Italy, working for various national newspapers (among others, Il Gazzettino, Tuttosport, Corriere della Sera and Messaggero Veneto.) He spent his life side by side with his wife, Bruna Iaculin, and was given multiple major national awards, among which the ‘Cavaliere della Repubblica’ (Knight of the Republic) and ‘Sigillo d’Oro del Comune di Trieste’ (Golden Sigil of the Council of Trieste). His archive, made up of 500,000 photographs, is now supervised by the Museums of History and Art of Trieste Photo Library.
Born on the eve of the fall of the Berlin wall, the festival is a privileged vantage point from which to view contemporary society. It offers a critical look at the running themes of modern life, from inequality to migration; gender issues to civil rights; nationalist insurgence to frontiers and plural identities. The festival provides a multiethnic vision of Eastern Europe, making space for the encounter between the voices of countries in constant change.
Among the categories on the festival programme is “Wild Roses”, the section dedicated every year to European female directors, which this year celebrates the voices of women in Slovenian cinema. Curated by Nerina T. Kocjančič, head of Promotion and Distribution at the Slovenian Film Center in Ljubljana, this category has the aim of promoting new female perspectives. It will be Slovenian women directors who will be the focus, with 13 feature films (among which documentaries and fiction) and 10 shorts featured, made by as many female filmmakers.
