Now in its 16th edition, the award was established in memory of the Air Force meteorologist who passed away prematurely. Students from the ‘Ettore Majorana’ Higher Education Institute in Guidonia Montecelio were awarded. On Friday, 11 May, the awards ceremony for students participating in the 16th edition of the “Roberto Giontella” award took place at the auditorium of the “Ettore Majorana” Higher Education Institute in Guidonia Montecelio (Rome). The award was promoted by the family and the school, of which the Air Force meteorologist, who tragically died in 1999, was a brilliant student. This year, the proposed theme was Thunderstorms: “Thunder, Lightning and Bolts.”.
The awarded students were: Liliana Caretti, 1st place with the painting “Bubbolii dell’Anima” for her skill in finding inspiration from Giovanni Pascoli's poem “Temporale” and her ability to connect, metaphorically, sky and earth, man and nature through the sudden white of lightning.
Irene Sofia Scifoni and Lorenzo Zini, runners-up with their short film “Vite Tempestose” (Stormy Lives), have instead traced, through the three phases of a storm, “before, during and after,” the fine line that depicts the inner storms of young people of all ages, through contradictions and uncertainties.
Which third-placed winners, with the short film “Bach's Thunder”, Giada Fiorentini, Luca del Pio, Marco Toscano, Alessandro Di Giuseppe and Eleonora Di Giuseppe, for masterfully blending the profound story of a girl who left a boy's life, through images, shots and the use of retro-style black and white.
In this latest edition, two further special awards were also presented to the fourth-placed entrant, Nicolò Adamo, with an oil on canvas titled “Tempest on the Sea” and to the fifth-placed entrants, Zlatan Betuela and Zlatan Dorin, with the mixed media video/poetry work titled “temporali: tuoni, fulmini e saette”.
At the awards ceremony, presided over by the headteacher Prof. Eusebio Ciccotti, and the president of the Guidonia section of the Air Force Association (AAA), Marshal Pasquale Orza, the Giontella family intervened to emphasise the strong bond of affection that links them to the city of Guidonia and the Majorana Institute.
Major Roberto Giontella was born in Rome in 1961. After completing his scientific high school diploma, he joined the Air Force at a very young age, becoming a meteorological officer. He served at the 51st Wing in Istrana (TV) and the 5th Wing in Cervia (Ravenna), where, as Head of the Weather Section, he received a commemorative medal from NATO for his services in international operations. He was subsequently transferred to the National Air Force Meteorology Centre (CNMCA) in Pratica di Mare (Rome) and was designated for the national dissemination of meteorological information on RAI networks from 1995 to 1999, when he passed away at the age of 38.
