premiere status question

Hi, I have a question about the premiere status of my film.

It won best special effects at an Italian intl. film festival, and I'd like to submit it to another Italian film festival which asks the premiere status for the Italian region.

Please note that the first film festival didn't show the film, and we were discouraged from attending in person. There was virtually no public and very limited screenings because of the very recent passing of one of the organisers.

Is it right to assume that my film did not premiere in Italy? It would feel wrong to me to say that it premiered in Italy despite not being screened and the event being virtually not public.