Apulia Webfest Awards Ceremony with Luis Pedron are Guiseppe del Curatolo, Michele Pinto, Alex Zaum, Raffael Tedeshi and Daniela Iosca, September 13, 2026
Three days of international independent cinema, meetings, premieres, music, and entertainment. Over 220 works in competition and creators arriving not only from every region of Italy but also from North America, Canada, the Philippines, France, Spain, England, Greece, the Czech Republic, Peru, and Argentina. Michele Pinto: “It was a wonderful crossroads.”
The eighth edition of the Apulia Web Fest—”Audiovisuals, Peace and Food”—has concluded in Corato. Dedicated to cinema and new forms of independent audiovisual storytelling, the festival brought works, creators, and professionals from around the globe to Puglia from September 11 to 13.
Three intense days of screenings, premieres, meetings, panels, and discussions transformed Corato into an international hub for independent cinema, reaffirming the festival’s mission to intertwine audiovisual media, culture, rights, sustainability, and the promotion of the local area.
The program was further enriched by entertainment and musical events that engaged the audience far beyond the scope of traditional film screenings.
The festival was officially inaugurated on the evening of Friday, September 11, with the evocative theatrical reading “In Vino Veritas”, performed by the theater company Il Carro dei Comici. This event—dedicated to the relationship between wine, culture, the spoken word, and conviviality—introduced the audience to the spirit of the eighth edition through an artistic style that blended theater with storytelling.
However, the evening of Saturday, September 12, provided one of the most moving and well-attended moments of the entire event. Hundreds of people attended a grand concert featuring iconic film scores, performed by the Vito Giuseppe Millico Band of Terlizzi under the direction of Maestro Rino Campanale. It was a truly evocative evening, where music served as a bridge between great cinema and the audience, revisiting some of the most celebrated moments in the history of the seventh art. The event was hosted by Alina Liccione, a well-known television personality from Telenorba, who guided the audience on a musical journey through cinema, emotion, and memory.
The repertoire spanned some of the most famous film scores composed by giants of international cinema music: Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, and Danny Elfman. It was a tribute to music that has become part of the collective imagination—music which, when performed live by the Vito Giuseppe Millico Band, fully recaptured its evocative power.
The event perfectly embodied the spirit of the Apulia Web Fest: taking cinema off the screen and transforming it into a shared experience capable of engaging diverse audiences through music, theater, and personal connection.
The festival concluded with an awards ceremony in the Palazzo di Città Cloister, where the winners across the competition’s numerous categories were announced.
Among the technical awards, “Man of the Sea” won Best Cinematography, while “Dov’è che ci siamo già visti?” took home the award for Best Screenplay.
In the acting categories, Catherine Joy White was named Best Actress, and Michelangelo Gregori received the award for Best Actor. “The Monkey Claw” won the award for Best Ensemble in Acting.
The award for Best Production went to “Rock Bottom”, Best Editing went to “L’ombra del male”, and Hristo Todorov won the award for Best Director.
Across the various genres, “The Last Straw” was named Best Drama, “The screenwriter” won in the Best Horror/Thriller category, and “The Struggle for Life” took the prize for Best Comedy. “Candé” from the Philippines won the Best Feature Film award, while “Dov’è che ci siamo già visti?” added the Best Short Movie award to its earlier win for Best Screenplay. “Undercover” was named Best Mobile Cinema, while “Lo Sceneggiatore” secured a second honor by winning Best Trailer.
As always, the awards lineup for the eighth edition included prizes dedicated to sustainability, human rights, peace, and innovative audiovisual storytelling, alongside accolades for the various technical professionals who contribute to the creation of a film.
Particular attention was paid not only to the narrative and acting quality of the works but also to technical aspects—ranging from set design and the soundtrack to editing, cinematography, and makeup. Significant emphasis was also placed on films that address highly relevant social issues.
From the defense of LGBTQIA+ rights to peace, environmental sustainability, and women empowerment.
“We welcomed creators from the Americas, the Philippines, and across Europe,” stated Michele Pinto, Artistic Director of the Apulia Web Fest. “It was a wonderful meeting of minds.”
Over 220 works were submitted to the 2026 competition—a figure confirming the event’s steady growth and the journey of a festival that began as a small local initiative in Puglia and has now carved out a recognized international presence.
International guests attending the three-day event included Luis Pedron—a Filipino American artist and the Artistic Director of the International Film Festival Manhattan in New York, who selected two Official Selection works (Rock Bottom and Ren the Girl with the Mark) for his own festival—and Dani Antelo, Artistic Director of Mac Marin (an international film festival held annually in Galicia) and the Cusco Web Fest in Peru; their presence underscored the network of international relationships Apulia Web Fest has built over the years.
Raffaele Tedeschi hosted the closing ceremony, while the “blue carpet” and photocall—staples of the event—brought together the 2026 edition’s artists, creators, and guests prior to the awards presentation.
The eighth edition thus concluded on a note of engagement and connection, reaffirming Corato as a hub for exchanging ideas on independent audiovisual production and as a showcase for creators, performers, professionals, and emerging cinematic languages.
Organized by Arcadia Kinema with the patronage of the Municipality of Corato, Apulia Web Fest brought the curtain down on its 2026 edition after three days in which cinema, theater, music, and culture engaged with the local area and an ever-growing audience.
It was a festival that, once again, demonstrated how cinema can be more than just a visual experience—it can also be about listening, participation, emotion, and community. And as Corato bids farewell to the artists and guests who arrived from all over the world, the Apulia Web Fest is already looking to the future and preparing to welcome the audience back for its ninth edition in 2027.
Here is the link to submit works for the 2027 edition: https://filmfreeway.