Venice Movie Stars Photography Award, organised by Immagicgroup is the first photographic competition dedicated to the best images taken during the Venice International Film Festival.
Launched in 2004, the Award aims at highlighting the work of those photographers present at the famous Venetian show who, through their photographs, capture the most important moments of the event.
The Award originates from the idea that the worlds of cinema and photography are deeply related and connected. The project for the Venice Movie Stars Photography Award underlines this link giving photography a central role as a form of art and communication.
Since it began in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival has hosted the best of world cinematography. Each year photo-reporters have continued to tell the world the glories, the success and the gossip of the ten incredible days when the ‘Palazzo del Cinema’ is in the spotlight with the international press dedicating their front pages to the event.
The pictures taken by the photographers during the Festival often have a short life: only one day if they are published in newspapers, no more than some weeks if used in a magazine. But among these shots there are some real works of art, moments of deep intensity immortalized by the photographers’ lenses, capturing forever the most intimate emotions of the protagonists in this Venetian extravaganza.
The value of the initiative is underlined by High Patronage of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, obtained in 2010.
The first seven editions of the Venice Movie Stars Photography Award have achieved a success that went far beyond the expectations of the organisers. The participation of important names in photography, cinema and journalism as members of the award’s jury has contributed to this success. Artist such as John Landis, Gabriele Salvatores, Dante Ferretti, Douglas Kirkland, Julian Schnabel, Ferzan Ozpetek, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Raoul Bova, Valeria Golino, Isabella Ferrari, Carlo Verdone, Stefano Accorsi, Maurizio Galimberti e Domenico Procacci as well as being part of the jury, have also supported the initiative, attending the ceremony and awarding the winners.
The Venice Movie Stars Photography Award was created by Angelo Quarti, a psychologist specialised in communication. Since 1992 he has worked with the Press Office of the La Biennale di Venezia managing the photographers and television crews accredited to the Venice International Film Festival.