September 5th, Venice. A rainy, windy afternoon… From our hotel, we waded through ankle-deep waters of San Marco Square, crossed the choppy waters to Lido island… to the Venice Biennale’s Hotel Excelsior screening auditorium—

For the first half of the 2-hour ceremony, Artistic Director Alessio Nardin set the stage by introducing the philosophy of the Venice Biennale’s Cinema & Arts Award. Mr. Nardin eloquently explained how the award strove to highlight excellence in voices and genres often overlooked in large festivals.

These films push stylistic boundaries, exploring how the dual languages of cinema and the performative arts communicate with each other in innovative, exciting ways. Alessio introduced “The Long Step” as a short film that reflected this spirit.

After handing out the prizes for the feature film awards, the Cinema & Arts ceremony screened our film to a riveted audience. We were happy to have in attendance: “The Long Step” actor, associate producer, and story originator Paola Calliari; Paola’s mother, Silvana (who sang the end credits!); director and co-writer Michael Sandoval and wife, Gladys; one of our wonderful music composers, David Giacomini and partner, Cliò Luciani (who also sang on one of the tracks); and even the parents of our editor, Amaru Modu!