Dorino Minigutti, Cinema Prize

Biography

Dorino Minigutti lives and works in Friuli as an independent filmmaker and producer. Over the years he has directed numerous documentaries in both Friulian and Italian, collaborating with RAI and with various public and private institutions. For the University of Udine, he wrote and directed educational fiction films in the Friulian language within European Union projects dedicated to minority languages. Throughout his career he has deepened his research into themes of social unease, identity, and memory, also developing and leading audiovisual workshops for adolescents and adults within psychorehabilitation and health-promotion projects.

In 2010 he co-founded Agherose, through which he has produced and directed several documentaries, including “Si Vîf – une vite di musicant” (2023), winner of the Italymbas Prize at the Babel Film Festival 2025, and Atlante della Memoria (2020), presented at the 69th Trento Film Festival in 2021. In 2011 he directed Oltre il filo, a documentary exploring the little-known history of Italian concentration camps during the Second World War, awarded Second Prize at Un Film per la Pace in 2013. His television work includes several documentary series in the Friulian language for RAI FVG, among them “Nûfcent” (2004-2007), Int/Art (2016–2018), “Feminis” (2022), “Stra-ordenari”(2025) e“Zetaboom” (2026).

In Friulian he has created:

• ZetaBoom (2026, serie doc 7 x 20’)
• STRAordenari (2025, serie doc 7 x 20’) Lisbon Sport Film Festival 2026
• Il mont intune pagjine (2024, serie doc 13 x 20’)
• Altris Feminis (2023, serie doc 8 x 20’)
• Feminis (2022, serie doc 10 x 15’)
• Int/Art (2016-2018, serie doc. 15 x 13’)
• Il balon tal cjâf (2007 –  serie doc. 8 x 30’)
• Nûfcent (2004-2007, serie doc. 20 x 5’) 1st Prize “M. Quargnolo” ‘07, 1st Prize“R. Appi” ‘06, Mention VIDEOLAND ’05.
• Intrics (1998) Mostre Cine Furlan 1999
• Bielscrivint (1995) Videoland 1995 e Mostre Cine Furlan 1995

In Italian he has also directed:

• Big John (2023) coprod. Ita-Bel – Firenze Archeofilm 2024; Special Mention to Premio Internazionale di Archeologia A.Maiuri 2023;
• L’Atlante della Memoria (2020) – 69° Trento Film Festival 2021;
• Oltre il filo (2011) – coprod. Ita-Slo-Hr – 2nd prize “Un Film per la Pace” 2013;
• Il filo rosso (1998) – 1st Prize Videoland ‘98, Maremma Festival 1998;
• Il parco, l’acqua e la luna (1994) – Premio “Libero Bizzarri” ‘95, 42° Film Festival della montagna di Trento.

Motivation Prize

Premio Ostana 2026 is awarded to the Friulian filmmaker Dorino Minigutti in recognition of the coherence and quality of his cinematic work, distinguished by a constant commitment to minority languages and, in particular, to Friulian. Through works such as the series Int/Art, dedicated to contemporary art in Friuli, Si Vîf – Une vite di musicant, which elevates the story of a musician into a universal reflection, until Atlante della memoria, which explores linguistic identity and the meaning of memory — to mention only some of his projects — Minigutti demonstrates how Friulian can be a living language of storytelling, reflection, and cultural resistance.

In his films, the territory is never merely a local backdrop, but rather the root of a cultural journey grounded in the living relationship between language and land. People, stories, and communities exist “through” and “within” language, which becomes a natural means of expression, free from rhetoric or folkloric reduction. His work shows how the use of a minority language in cinema can move beyond nostalgia and become a conscious and contemporary way of engaging with the real world and narrating it — existing both “behind us” and “on the horizon” of our history, at once personal and collective.

For this ongoing commitment and for his ability to unite artistic research with cultural responsibility, we award him the 2026 Cinema Prize.