Ragusa, the Maria Schininà Institute has received the award for the best school short film at the Spello Film Festival.

An evening rich in emotions, memory, and tributes to the talents of the big screen characterized the event on March 13 at the Spello Film Festival, where the award for the best school short film was given to the “Maria Schininà” Institute of Ragusa.

The short film was created as part of the project “The Iblean Coast Tells the Landing”, promoted by the School Office – Territorial Area of Ragusa, with the aim of enhancing the memory of the Allied landing in Sicily during World War II.

The recognition was accepted by the teacher Cettina Divita, who coordinated the students of class 3C for the school year 2022/2023 in the creation of the work dedicated to the events of 1943.

The evening, hosted among others by the presenter Sofia D'Elia, a young actress from Puglia who has collaborated with important figures in European cinema, was also enriched by a symbolic gesture related to Sicilian excellence. The journalist Gianni Contino presented, on behalf of the Consortium for the Protection of Modica Chocolate IGP, a special chocolate bar made for the occasion and dedicated to the Festival. The piece was signed by the president of the event, Donatella Cocchini, a key figure of the event, originally from Ragusa and engaged for years in cultural and cinematic promotion in Umbria.

The chocolate bar will be kept as a memento at the Modica Chocolate Museum, within the Palazzo della Cultura, becoming a tangible memory of the meeting between cinema, culture, and culinary tradition; it will be placed next to the one already made for the Berlinale 2024.

The Consortium for the Protection of Modica Chocolate IGP, recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, brings together artisan companies producing one of the most representative symbols of Italian confectionery excellence.

On stage, Professor Divita expressed deep emotion for the award, emphasizing the educational value of the project: it involved students in an immersive historical research, enriched by direct listening to the testimonies of Mrs. Maria Criscione, interviewed by Lopez Suri and Dierna Adriana.

The teacher emphasized how the meeting with those who have experienced past events firsthand represents a valuable resource for young people, often immersed in the digital world and less accustomed to intergenerational dialogue.

Recovering this exchange, she explained, means returning to new generations a heritage of values and experiences that risks being lost.

Divita also recalled her personal connection to the preservation of memory: her maternal grandfather, a survivor of the Russian campaign, had told her stories of marches in the cold, encampments, and battles. She had wanted to collect those stories in a book, but she didn't have time before his sudden passing. Since then, she said, she feels the duty to encourage young people to seek out and save testimonies of the past, often hidden in old photographs, letters, or family memories.

“Preserving historical memory is a duty for everyone” – she stated – because only by rediscovering their roots can a community build its future.

The award ceremony at the prestigious Spello exhibition, now in its fifteenth edition, represents a significant recognition for the entire Ragusa community.