Claudio Gubitosi, the creator, founder and director of the Giffoni Film Festival and the Giffoni world, makes an appeal to the Prime Minister and the government after the halt to cohesion funds.
The president of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, has announced to the entire regional culture system that there are not enough resources to carry out the activities of 2024. This is a fact now known, already a national issue. At the base there is the failure to transfer the development and cohesion fund to the southern regions. Among the many lines of funding that this fund includes, there is also one for culture. Not the most substantial in terms of entity, but fundamental for the value of what it finances. Now it's up to each of us, including Giffoni, to figure out how to deal with this complicated and bitter situation. I confess that I have never found myself in such a discomforting condition.
He also announces a block to the festival: 'I would never have wanted to write this appeal with these words but I feel a strong need to communicate the risk we are running. I would not want to use the term cancellation for our event, but at the same time there is no possibility of making a reduced edition of Giffoni or postponing it. This block, which I obviously hope can only be temporary, has significant consequences already at this stage of the year. We are not able at this moment to start the registration of our juries. This means depriving thousands of children and young people of the opportunity to plan their trip to Giffoni and putting them in a state of uncertainty about an experience they look forward to all year round. We are not able to carry out our activities abroad. We are not able to implement our social projects that concern those most problematic aspects related to the new generations, from combating educational poverty to mental health. And I say this with great bitterness in my heart.
He recalls the value of the festival, its visibility and the efforts made by the government and the Campania region up to now that would be nullified with the cancellation of the event.
At Giffoni the state has invested, in particular through the Ministry of Culture. So has Europe. So has the Campania region. Over 157 million euros have been employed in 15 years. This is certified by a report from the Nuvap, which is a branch of the Department for Cohesion Policies. This flow of resources has led to development, growth, a significant transformation of the territory. We don't say this, the Department for Cohesion Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers says it. The paradox is that today this process could experience a sudden, incomprehensible, unjustifiable interruption. We cannot allow it. Giffoni is a brand of Made in Italy and not just Made in the South. Giffoni belongs to the world as the world belongs to Pompeii, Paestum, Sibari, Agrigento, just to give some examples. That's why it deserves respect, as do all the investments made in recent years to make this brand so loved at all latitudes.
He also announces a mobilization tomorrow in Naples: Giffoni, together with all the trade organizations, under the aegis of the agis, general association of entertainment, will be called for a day of mobilization in Naples. We will be there. And we will make our voice heard. And we will give evidence of our weight and how this situation of uncertainty is dramatically experienced by thousands of culture and entertainment workers and their families. This is how the cultural emergency becomes a social drama. We are not looking for clashes. We do not belong to the logic of politics, which, however, must not take over until it overwhelms us. Our appeal is a chorus, which wants to reach everyone, hoping that Minister Raffaele Fitto and the president of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, will come to an immediate resolution of this dispute that damages our country. Our appeal is for cohesion so that no one can bear the burden of guilt, that of having dealt a mortal blow to the culture system of the most beautiful country in the world, our Italy.
The hope, despite all the difficulties, of seeing children and young people happy during the festival has not faded: 'On our part, Giffoni is ready to make up for the time lost so far. The only reassurance I now feel I can give is this: if this issue will be resolved quickly, we will work day and night to ensure everyone a happier Giffoni: for this, hurry up!'