The festival
An ecosystem bridging visual creativity, research, and design culture
The Contemporary Design Film Award originated in the heart of the Modena Ceramic District, a region where manufacturing excellence and avant-garde design merge into a unique industrial heritage. Originating as a special section of the Ennesimo Film Festival, the award has evolved into a premier observatory capable of investigating architecture and design through the lens of cinema, transforming local craftsmanship into a universal language.
Building on collaborations with leading figures like Mario Cucinella, the Contemporary Design Film Award now acts as a strategic, traveling amplifier, bringing the ethics and aesthetics of Made in Italy onto major global stages. In 2026, this mission reached a new milestone by arriving in London during the London Festival of Architecture, where the project presented the program Framing Cities: Design Beyond Borders. The format was featured as part of the London Festival of Architecture in collaboration with Site&Sound.
The London chapter is more than a milestone: it is a cultural bridge between Italy and the United Kingdom, using sound design and moving image to connect communities, professionals and students in a boundless multidisciplinary dialogue.
The Wannabe Designers Jury
The CDFA award will be decided by an exceptional jury: the designers of tomorrow. For seven years, the CDFA has built on its collaboration with students from the Industrial Product Design programme at the University of Bologna, creating a unique space for creative exchange. The award team meets the students for direct dialogue, where professional expertise and academic stimulus intertwine in an equal conversation between those who design today and those who will design tomorrow.
The journey culminates in a visit to the Marazzi facilities, one of the defining symbols of ceramic excellence in the District: a hands-on experience that turns theory into direct contact with the materials, processes and industrial vision that have inspired the CDFA from the very beginning.