In Italian, with subtitles in English
Cinema at the Institute: Incontri in Biblioteca: Contemporary italian
The
Istituto Luce turned ninety in 2014, its decades-long history intertwined with
that of Italy itself, through cinema and that unique treasure trove of images
known to all as the Luce Archives. To celebrate its anniversary, some of the
most acclaimed rising filmmakers in Italy were invited to make a small film,
with each director selecting ten minutes of footage from the archives, out of
the thousands of hours of footage to be found there. The result is an album
full of different narratives. The film footage speaks of the outbreak of war,
implorations of peace; building collapses and reconstruction; recollections of
(possibly) lost landscapes, and lost realities; miracles, superstitions and
dreams.
It’s a weave of themes: women’s rights, sexuality, the meaning of a song, the
Moon, in the form of fairy tales or diaries, pseudo-history or poetry; the
words of great writers alongside the voices of the man on the street; starring
real people, historical figures, and characters made up out of thin air. A
diverse picture, a combinatorial game of intersecting moves, contrasts and
analogies, with one common thread: those images from the Archives. Or possibly
something else as well: there’s much talk of, and many glimpses of, something
you could call Italy. Not the Italy in history books, but Italy as it is (or
isn’t) today, seen through sequences often filmed when our nine directors
weren’t even born. Present-day Italy through images from its past.
Directors: Marco
Bonfanti,
Claudio
Giovannesi, Aline Marazzi, Pietro Marcello, Sara Fgaier, Giovanni Piperno,
Costanzo Quatriglio, Paola Randi, Alice Rohrwacher, Roland
Sejko
Ingresso gratuito; bisogna esibire la propria carta d’identità