Alfio Leotta
Associate Professor in Film | APFF Director
Alfio's Story
Alfio is a scholar and film-maker based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington. Alfio has written several books that deal with topics such as New Zealand cinema, fantasy cinema and the relationship between film and tourism. Alfio is also an award-winning film-maker who produced and directed a number of poetry films and fantasy short films that have screened at festivals both in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. Alfio is the director of the Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival.
Filmography
(2023) The Death of Hector (Producer/co-director). Short Film. Winner of best peplum short film at Hercules Independent Film Festival, Seville.
(2022) Follow the Light (Producer). Short Film. Official selection: Māoriland Film Festival; Wairoa Film Festival (Te Papa Museum Special Screening for Matariki Day); Busan Inter-city Festival; Wairarapa Film Festival; Cineverse Melbourne
(2022) Fairy Tale. Short Film. Official selection: Nature & Culture Film Festival Copenhagen.
(2022) Canto LXXII by Ezra Pound (Director and Producer). Short Film. Official selection: Fotogenia; Blissfest Poetry Film Festival; Semi-finalist at Animate.
(2021) Selection of Poems (translated into Italian by Alessandra Corbetta) in Journal of Italian Translation vol. XVI no. 2 Fall 2021.
(2021) The Night of Ideas – Project Coordinator, Director and Producer of a series of videos commissioned by the French Embassy in Wellington.
(2021) Dante700 Videopoems – Inferno and Purgatorio (Executive Producer). Short Films commissioned by the Sydney Italian Institute of Culture.
(2021) Dante700 Videopoems – Paradiso (Director/Editor/Cinematography). Short Film commissioned by the Sydney Italian Institute of Culture.
About Alfio
What do you enjoy seeing as the director of APFF?
It's great to see such a variety of submissions in terms of style, themes and creative approaches. It is also great to see that APFF is finally coming to light!
Your favourite poetry film of all time?
'Acknowledgments' by Arvid Eriksson
Your current favourite poetry film or anything you are currently working on:
I'm currently directing and co-producing 'Butterfly' a poetry film which will premiere at APFF. The film was produced entirely by staff, students and alumni of Victoria University of Wellington. The text was written by Marco Sonzogni and James Ackhurst who both teach at Victoria University.