Sestriere Sport Awards Film Festival
High-Altitude Cinema Celebrates the Avramidis Fairytale
By Enrico Capello
Born in 2025 as an experiment to unite cinema and sport in Europe's highest-altitude cinema, at 2,035 metres in Sestriere, the second edition has confirmed the value of the project.
Yesterday marked the conclusion of the 2026 Sestriere Sport Awards Film Festival, organised by the Cinema e Arte Association, led by Roberto Gualdi, together with the Municipality of Sestriere and the Sestriere Tourism Consortium, with the support of the Regional Council of Piedmont and under the patronage of the Metropolitan City of Turin, the Piedmont Region, the European Commission, the Automobile Club of Turin, the Fiamme Gialle Sports Group, and CSAIN Turin.
The Festival presents sports films through an international competition. Out of 1,435 submissions from 37 countries, only seven films were selected by the jury. The programme was also enriched by a photography competition.
During Friday evening's Grand Gala at the Cinema Fraiteve, the winners received their awards.
The prize for Best Film went to "Eagle's Rebirth" by Stathis Avramidis, which tells the true story of Pantelis Avramidis, born during the Second World War, who spent his life postponing his own dreams in order to support his family. After decades of hardship, illness and physical limitations, in his seventies he embarked on an unexpected journey into the sport of lifesaving.
A Special Mention was awarded to "Saeculum – 100 Years of Success and Tradition" by Mario Maellaro, retracing the history of the Fiamme Gialle skiing team.
In the photography competition, first prize went to "Alba di Passione" (Dawn of Passion) by Francesco Castelli, portraying surfers entering the sea.
A Special Mention was awarded to "Oltre la Sfida TT84" (Beyond the Challenge TT84) by Adriano Boscato, depicting the concentration of a para table-tennis athlete during competition.
Present at the Gala were Marcello Franzoso and Olga Burunova, parents of Matteo Franzoso, the Italian skier who died during training in Chile one year ago.
Earlier that morning, the 2026 Sestriere Sport Awards was presented to Costantino Rocca, the legendary Italian golfer.
"Cinema e Arte and the Municipality of Sestriere are extremely satisfied with the outcome of the festival," said Roberto Gualdi.
"There have been many positive signs, from the quality of the films to the enthusiasm of the audience. We have already scheduled the third edition of the Sestriere Sport Awards Film Festival for the same dates in 2027. Our ambition is to make Sestriere the world centre of sports cinema. We also support Sestriere's candidacy as European Capital of Sport 2028. Having a prestigious media partner such as Tuttosport is important, and we will continue working together to expand this collaboration."
