Umbria World Fest Prize

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UWF 1st Prize, “Habibi”, Antonio Faccilongo. Irene Opezzo during a portfolio review

Umbria World Fest in Foligno is a photo festival in Central Italy. The festival plays an active role in the support of young talents through the Umbria World Fest prize. Finalist works will be selected through portfolio reviews by photo editors, international recognized photographers, experts from photo agencies, teachers and curators. The winning project will be exhibited in the 2017 edition of the Festival. 

The winning work by Antonio Faccilongo is “Habibi”, the story of Palestinian prisoners’ wives who have turned to sperm smuggling in order to conceive children from their husbands, who are serving long-term sentences. Around 7,000 Palestinians are serving time in Israeli prisons, with nearly 1,000 facing sentences of 20 years or more. Conjugal visits are denied and prisoners are separated from visitors by glass panels. In the past three years, 60 babies have been born through IVF.