Giorgio Armani Is Headed to SXSW With Dev Patel to Share Student-Made Short Films
Giorgio Armani is headed to Texas.
The designer and noted film aficionado is slated to debut the third installment of his "Films of City Frames" short film initiative at South by Southwest this year, having previously shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 and BFI London Film Festival in 2015.
The initiative, launched in 2014, spotlights emerging filmmakers from film schools across the globe. For the 2017 edition, students were tasked with creating artistic shorts with a narrative where the Frames of Life eyewear was portrayed as "being the main instrument through which the protagonists observe reality, capture emotions and experience new adventures, demonstrating how our points of view connect all of humanity, in spite of geographical distance and diverse backgrounds."
The shorts will be screened at a special installation created by Armani on March 11 — but that's not all. The handsome (and Oscar-nominated) Dev Patel, who acted as a mentor for the film students, will play host for the evening, alongside Roberta Armani. The screening will be followed by a short panel discussion moderated by fashion critic Angelo Flaccavento.
"Cinema, just like fashion, is a wonderful medium, because it keeps endlessly renewing itself thanks to the contribution of young talents who bring their unique point of view," Armani said in a statement. "I am proud of my Films of City Frames initiative: we have reached edition number three, we are in Austin at South by Southwest, which represents the cutting edge of visual creativity, and we are presenting stories that are emotionally strong as they are engaging. This edition also expresses a message of true multiculturalism, which I think today is particularly important."
