Armani partners with the BFI London Film Festival for the first time

www.framesoflife.com

Giorgio Armani is pleased to announce the second edition of Films of City Frames, the project which first launched in 2014. This second edition sees Armani join forces with the , to showcase the films to audiences at one of the world’s key film festivals. Once again the designer is demonstrating his commitment to supporting bright new creative talent, and the brand’s strong relationship with the world of cinema through the rich narrative universe built around the Frames of Life eyewear collection.

Created in collaboration with Luxottica and Rai Cinema, the project involves the most promising students from a selection of international film schools, who will be asked to create a series of short films. With this undertaking, Giorgio Armani continues its activities to support young talent in various fields, including fashion and film, helping aspiring filmmakers from four prestigious international schools to gain recognition. The schools for this edition are:

• Scuola Holden – Torino
• Academia Internacional de Cinema – São Paulo
• Sydney Film School – Sydney
• Seoul Institute of the Arts – Seoul

Students will be given the task of making short films inspired by real lives – tales told through the eyes and emotions of characters filmed in the context of their daily lives. Glasses from the Giorgio Armani Frames of Life collection will be the element that unites the stories, and will play a narrative role, not one that is purely aesthetic. The glasses will be cast as a means of perception, instruments through which the protagonists observe reality, capture feelings and experience situations. Each film will be set in the city where the film school is located.

In this second edition, Rai Cinema will once again oversee the creation of the films during all stages of production, from the evaluation of the script to editing and postproduction.

The short films will be presented in October at the 59th BFI London Film Festival (LFF). One of the world’s leading international film festivals, the event is organised and promoted by the BFI (British Film Institute), the UK’s lead organisation for film, which invests in and nurtures filmmaking talent, from new filmmakers through to the UK’s most established voices, and provides cultural and strategic leadership for the UK film industry. The LFF provides an ideal showcase for the young directors of Films of City Frames, who will have the opportunity to present their work in front of an engaged audience in one of the world’s most vibrant, stimulating and creative cities.

Giorgio Armani says:

“I’ve always been a big fan of movies; this is why in 2010 I wanted to start the Frames of Life project. These are advertising campaigns and videos for special collections of Giorgio Armani eyewear, shot in black-and-white, with clear references to the films of the Forties. Given the great response to these, it seemed natural to evolve this approach with Films of City Frames and take on a cinematic and narrative aesthetic rather than that of advertising. The success of the first edition of the short films presented in 2014 at the Toronto International Film Festival convinced me to pursue the initiative, offering another great opportunity to young talents who are not yet known and established. I thought that the London Film Festival was just right context for this second edition, considering the attention that the British Film Institute has always devoted to finding and supporting new talents.”

Clare Stewart, Festival Director, BFI London Film Festival said:

“Giorgio Armani is as passionate as we are about discovering, supporting and showcasing new talent and that’s why we’re thrilled to be working together on the second edition of Films of City Frames.”

The various production stages of the short films will be showcased on a dedicated section of the website www.framesoflife.com – live from today – and on Armani’s social media channels.