ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Achille Schiavone – I was born in Turin in 1972 from parents emigrated from Montaguto (AV), a small village in the Irpine mountains. My being Queer activist has gone through various phases, including the participation in the Circolo Maurice LGBTQ of Turin (which, among the many activities, allowed me to experiment in the role of group facilitator with the sociodramatic methodology) and the TurinOrto group of urban horticulture (which opened me to the world of permaculture and the change of perspective on the plant world). Since I was a child, sometimes following my mother at work, I have been in contact with many people with psycho-physical diversabilities an extraordinary experience of growth experienced in childhood. I am passionate about cinema, I work at university as professor of animal nutrition and I live with two fabulous cats: Leo and Brio.
Murat Cinar – Murat Cinar is a journalist, videomaker and freelance photographer. After studying Economics in Turkey, in 2002 he moved to Italy, where he specialized in shooting and video editing, photography and journalism. He collaborates with several Turkish newspapers, including KaosGL, BiaNet and Sendika.org, and with newspapers, news agencies and Italian radio stations such as Pressenza, Caffe dei Giornalisti, Il Manifesto, Radio Onda d’Urto, Radio Onda Rossa and Radio Blackout. He wrote “A Guide to Understanding Turkey’s Contemporary History” (Simple 2016) and “Every Place Is Taksim” (Rosenberg & Sellier 2018), with Deniz Yücel.
Veet Sandeh – Born in 1964 in Catania and moved to her adopted city Turin in 1979. Queer activist for over 30 years and eclectic artist. She has experience in theatre, dance and cinema with the production of her docudrama “Metamorfosi, la strada dell’eccesso porta al palazzo della saggezza” which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2015. Specialist in holistic disciplines and meditation teacher. Lives with her fabulous poodle Gina.
COLLABORATORS
Tosca Cellini – social media manager. Born in 1999, graduate in Communication Sciences at the University of Turin. He joins Arcigay Torino 2017 where he manages social communication, is part of the board of directors and is an active member of the training group.
Olga Maíra Zannoni – queer creator. Born in 1997, she was raised in Brazil and has been living in Italy for nearly ten years. She holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology from the University of Turin, combining her academic interests with a strong social commitment. Passionate about drawing and art, she is actively involved in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights and in promoting the visibility of Indigenous Brazilian populations, carrying out her activism with both sensitivity and determination.
Ludo Muraro – assistant project manager.
Born in 1995 and originally from Abruzzo, Ludo grew up exploring creativity in its many forms. After gaining experience in Vienna and Berlin, they graduated with honors in Film and Multimedia Set Design from Brescia. In 2024, they founded Collettivo Q+, a queer collective dedicated to organizing artistic and cultural events.
Vito Raimondi – graphic Designer. Born in Turin in the fabulous 1970s, he approached graphic design out of passion with the belief that visual practice can help imagine and build more just spaces. He started by designing flyers for the drag queen/king nights of Circolo GLBTQ Maurice, then continued in France dealing with image and communication for various queer realities. After moving to Berlin, graphic design became her main occupation. Today works as a freelancer with international NGOs and devotes himself to book design in collaboration with artists and independent publishing houses. At the birth of Divine he designed its logo, and since then he accompanies the festival as one of those things he really cares about.
Susi Monzali – Susi likes to open windows and cause drafts that mess up hair and ideas. Working around the world has the opportunity to get to know people and experiences, including bridges, exchanges, mixes. This is what makes independent cinema that crosses borders, changes old paradigms, mixes languages by overcoming stereotypes, generating new imaginations, highlighting realities in the shade, offering new horizons. For her, Divine Queer Film Fest is a good ground for experiments of cultural hybridization.
Francesco Longo – web designer. He was born in 1984 in the province of Lecce, and moved to Turin at the age of 18 for his studies, like many southern Italian kids. Turin became the scene of his coming out, and of LGBTQ+ activism at the Maurice club. It was during those years that he met the souls behind Divine today, to whom he feels a deep affection. No longer in Turin since 2010, he maintains that strong bond and continues to take care of Divine’s website.
FILM FESTIVAL JURY
Lara Gastaldi – She likes to describe herself as a “badola” – a term from the Piedmontese dialect – in life and a professional in the social field. She is a member of the BADhOLE Video collective, founded in 2001 in Turin, composed of four women who found in cinema their creative and active way to fight discrimination and prejudice and to express their activism. With BADhOLE, she has produced around twenty works presented at various national and international festivals. LGBTQ+ activist and resistor. “A laugh will bury them” is the slogan she has made her own.
Michele Pipia – is a Sardinian activist and cultural promoter, committed to defending LGBTQIA+ rights and promoting inclusive literature. He is the co-founder and curator of the Rainbook Festival, the first literary festival in Italy entirely dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community. With the ARC association, he is one of the organizers—together with the other members of the association—of the USN|Expo International Film Festival, which has been held in Cagliari for 13 years.
Vesna Scepanovic – Vesna Scepanovic, born in Podgorica, graduated in political science in Belgrade, journalist. In 1991 she became politically engaged by taking a position against war and nationalism in the former Yugoslavia. She worked for Yu-tel TV in Sarajevo in the early 1990s and at Montenegrin National Radio. Vesna writes from Turin for the weekly Monitor. She has been practicing theatrical and cultural activities for thirty years and has produced numerous performances and poetic-political readings. She designs theatrical, intercultural, feminist workshops in schools and penitentiary institutions. She leads reading groups at the Circolo dei lettori in Turin. Promotes art and literature in Serbo-Croat-Bosnian and co-organizes historical and cultural trips to the Balkans.