On Thursday, October 16, at the Italian Institute of Culture in New York, was held the selection of the winner of the second edition of Food and Future, the video art contest promoted and organized by Pensiero Mediterraneo reserved for students of the Italian Academy of Fine Arts: Naples, Bari and Lecce. Twelve short films of the brilliant students of the academy – four for each academy – told, through different languages and sensibilities, the relationship between food, sustainability and Mediterranean culture, focusing on collective responsibility in the management of food resources and the need to rethink the future of the planet starting from the table.
La Giuria, composed by Claudio Pagliara, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in New York; Stefano Prior, co-founder and administrator of Pensiero Mediterraneo, absent Luigi Capone, co-founder of Pensiero Mediterraneo but who had an essential role in the organization and promotion of the initiative) Jacqueline Greaves, a gastronomic journalist and President of the jury; Flavia Pankiewicz, journalist, writer and project creator; Antonella Marino, professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bari and art critic, artistic director of the initiative; Angelo Filomeno, artist; and Antonio Pio Saracino, architect, designer and artist – stressed the high technical and conceptual level of the works presented, rewarding the ability of young authors to combine visual art and civil commitment.
The 12 finalists of 3 minutes each, produced by the students of the Academy, were selected by authoritative teachers: Luigi Barletta for Naples, Raffaele Fiorella and Francesco Raganato for Bari, Ivan Corbucci and Patrizia Dalmaso for Lecce. They qualified for Naples: Alessandro Cicalese, Lorena Montella and Imma Tizzano with Italian sauce, Emanuele Fiadone and Carmen Franco with Le Tradizioni, Chiara Lotti with Ballarò, Marco Troncone with Avanzi. For Bari: Carmine A. Brizio and Davide Busco with Always Him; Sunday Colaiemma con Rifugi; Maria Rita Giordano and Alessia Pasquino with Orecchiette of Love; Francesco Zaza with Tavola. For Lecce: Federica Centonze con La Pasta: Respiro della Terra, Memoria e Futuro; Melissa Mazzotta con Soil; Margherita Pesce con Seta; Francesco Silvaggi con Do you really know what you’re eating?
To win the “Food and Future Award 2025” was Francesco Silvaggi, student of the Academy of Fine Arts of Lecce, with the video Do You Really Know What You’re Eating? an animation with an incisive rhythm and an essential aesthetic that invites the viewer to reflect on the origin and quality of the food we consume every day. Through evocative images and wise use of sound, the video faces with ironic tone but deeply reflective our unawareness regarding what we eat, denouncing the effects of industrial food. Ingredients are replaced by toxic materials — a powerful metaphor for contamination and artificiality that characterize contemporary food production — underlining how knowledge of what comes on our table represents the first step towards healthy, conscious and sustainable food.
The Mention of Merit of the jury of experts went Salsa all’italiana, realized by the students Alessandro Cicalese, Irena Montella and Imma Tizzano of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples: an ironic and refined tale that plays with the stereotypes of Italian cuisine such as salsa, combining dance and dressing with popular culture and creativity.
The Audience Award, awarded by the jury vote in the room, was given to the video entitled Always He was created by Carmine A. Brizio and Davide Busco of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bari, a work that with a poetic and affective look rotates around the oil as an emotional instrument.
Promoted by Pensiero Mediterraneo, a cultural magazine and a reflection platform created to enhance the critical thinking and creativity of the Mediterranean, Food and Future represents much more than a competition: is a laboratory of ideas in which food becomes artistic language and a tool of civil education. The goal is to give international visibility to young Italian artists, encouraging them to explore the connections between art, science, ecology and food culture.
The official award ceremony will be held in November in Italy, at the Academy of the winner, will continue the reflection between artistic creation and collective responsibility, a theme that, more than ever, concerns not only the present but also the future.
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