Staff of River Film Festival

Emilio Della Chiesa graduated from the School of Architecture (Venice) and is the Artistic Director of the River Film Festival. He began his career in cinema with music documentaries by Brian Eno, John Lourie, Arto Lindsay and Lidia Lunch. He regularly participated in Città in Cinema in L'Aquila, where he took part in internships and workshops with many of the greatest directors of photography, Rotunno, Storaro, Alekan, Almendros, Bayle, Zsigmond and others, after which he became a member of the AIC (Italian Association of Cinematographic Authors). Emilio was influenced by the personality of Joris Ivens, whom he met at the Venice Film Festival where he worked for over 30 years as a projectionist. In Venice, he also met many of the great personalities of cinema, such as Fellini and Bergman. He continued his training in cinema by working first as an assistant, then cameraman and then as director of photography at Olmi's school for 12 years. Subsequently, he was a jury member at various festivals around the world. As Director of Photography, he has made several documentaries, feature films and short films.

She fell in love with cinema when she first saw it at the age of 10, infected by her parents and Truffaut's Effetto Notte. She graduated in communication design, then graduated in film direction at the Luchino Visconti Civic School of Cinema, was an editor for a period, then assistant to an advertising director, author and television editor for Rai 2, DeAgostini - DeAbyDay, La3 TV.

Federico Grandesso works as a journalist specialised in cinema for the Chinese news agency Xinhua (Brussels office) and the European weekly New Europe. For these two newspapers, he has regularly published interviews with actors and directors he met during prestigious film festivals such as Venice, Cannes and Berlin; he has also written for national newspapers such as Le Soir Magazine (Belgium), Daily Mail (UK) and Together Magazine (Belgium). Grandesso is currently Board Member and contact person for the European Union and Asia of the Fellini Foundation for Cinema (Sion-Switzerland), this position has led him to organise exhibitions on Fellini in Singapore, Jakarta, Brussels, Bangkok and Calcutta. During his career, Grandesso was Academic Guest at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where he also gave monographic lectures and masterclasses. He then took care of communication for the Veneto Region (Brussels office) for four years, also managing exhibition and film projects; still in the field of communication and press office, he then realised projects with Fujitsu Belgium, the Catholic University of Milan and the Ministry of Health.

With a boundless passion for cinema in all its forms, enriched by a deep love for Asian cinema, its culture, and traditions, Laura's professional life is a continuous journey among the world's most prestigious festivals. She has breathed the air of Venice, London, and Berlin, the exotic atmospheres of the Red Sea Film Festival and the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, bringing her voice and interviews to international outlets like The Upcoming and FRED Film Radio, meeting and featuring directors and actors.

Laura has also enriched her experience as a Social Media Manager, Journalist, and Cultural Content Creator for Xinhua News Agency, a multifaceted role that allowed her to investigate social and cultural issues, managing online presence and creating in-depth content.

A member of the Italian National Society of Film Critics (Società Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani) since 2025 and a former quality juror at the Florence Korea Film Festival, she combines the depth of film analysis with an innate talent for storytelling. With a Master's in Film Distribution & Marketing and solid training in Oriental Languages, she brings a rich and articulate vision to the world of communication, always ready to capture the soul of every film, whether with the pen or the microphone.

Vice President of the Researching Movie Cultural Association, he is one of the co-founders of the River Film Festival. Since the first edition, he has overseen the installation and security of the festival's electrical equipment, for which he also works in logistics and public relations. For almost forty years, he has been dividing his passion for cinema with his profession as a representative of school publishing, in daily contact with secondary school teachers.

A Welshman who was introduced to the Festival through his friendship with Vincenzo Dimasi. As a retired engineer and safety officer, he was happy to combine a holiday in Italy with assistance with the Festival on technical and safety issues.

Communication designer, studied Applied Arts and Visual Communication at the University of Fine Arts Berlin (now University der Künste Berlin). Co-founder of the communication agency Sehstern - a few kilometres from Berlin - where he has been responsible for the communication aspect and conceptual signature since 1978.

Teaching collaborator at the IUAV Diploma Course in Industrial Design; contract lecturer at SSIS of Ca' Foscari in Venice. Founder of FLUXUS TATA; initiated DESIGN WORKSHOP, InGuardia!, VENEZI.A.RTE etc.. He has curated and set up art and design exhibitions. He edited the 'Diario di Bordo' series for Overview. He was a founding member, secretary and president of the AR/CO (Contemporary Architecture) Association. He was editor of 'Padova e il suo territorio'. Author of hundreds of scientific articles dedicated to Architecture, Urbanism and Art. He has organised and participated as a speaker in numerous national and international courses and conferences. He carries out architectural design, work direction, safety coordination and design activities in Padua.

Lawyer, expert in environmental law. He has filed various administrative appeals for the protection of the territory in relation to PFAS, as well as supported the establishment of various committees in defence of the territory against land and water pollution, and assists them in all judicial venues. He is often in the news for his important victories before the Council of State as well as in local civil and criminal courts.

Andrea Raiteri has attended various courses of study and training, including the Academy of Fine Arts and the IUAV University of Venice. He has participated in and received awards at competitions, art and music festivals, collective and personal exhibitions. He ranges as an artist between music, painting, photography, video-art and literature. A collaborator of Joseph Kosuth in 2007, he continues his creative processes and research in various disciplines of art and knowledge.