From the woods of San Marino to the international festival circuit. “Il patto di Agata” (“Agata’s Pact”), a short film directed by Sammarinese filmmaker Alessio Petrillo and produced by Arkadia Studios, continues to make headway. After winning an award at the Nòt Film Fest in Santarcangelo, the film has now been selected for competition at the Fi-Pi-Li Horror Festival in Livorno, scheduled for October.
The short was shot in some of Titano’s most evocative locations and blends horror, mystery and local folklore. The story centers on Emily and Agata, two young women traveling in San Marino. As Agata’s condition steadily worsens, Emily gradually realizes that what seemed like an ordinary trip is actually concealing a trap.
This new selection follows an earlier significant achievement. “Il patto di Agata” had already won the award for best short film in the Emilia-Romagna Filmmakers category at the Nòt Film Fest in Santarcangelo di Romagna. Now comes the leap to Livorno, where it will compete for the Federico Frusciante Award, dedicated to the film critic who recently passed away.
Fi-Pi-Li is a festival devoted primarily to horror and genre cinema, and over the years it has hosted well-known names in Italian film such as Dario Argento, Pupi Avati and Paolo Strippoli.
But behind the short film lies another goal as well: using cinema to show San Marino in a different light. The project received support from the Secretariats of State for Tourism, Territory, and Education and Culture, and fits into the broader push for film tourism — the idea of turning locations used for films and audiovisual productions into a showcase capable of attracting curious visitors.
The aim, then, is to bring San Marino to the screen and, through the screen, bring new tourists to Titano, highlighting the woods, vistas and locations that can double as film sets.
The Livorno festival selection also comes just days after the release of the short film’s official trailer, another milestone in “Il patto di Agata”‘s journey beyond San Marino’s borders.
