Skip to main content

A Look at Rome's Spectacular Exhibits Dedicated to Italian Cinema

Museo Italiano Audiovisivo and Cinema at Cinecittà Studios
I arrived in Rome planning to check out a few premieres and film festivals, and ended up immersed in numerous breathtaking multi-media exhibits recounting Italian cinema of yesterday and today. Here is a recap..

 Museo Italiano Audiovisivo e Cinema
Cinecittà Studios

 There is a new interactive museum opening soon at Cinecittà Studios on via Tuscolana. It's offers a magnificent full-immersion exhibit that will take you through more than a century of cinema. I had the pleasure of a wonderful, private tour that presented me with testament to the pride that Italians have for the rich history and origins of their cinema. MIAC, which stands for Museo Italiano Audiovisivo and Cinema covers 120 years of Italian cinema from the silent era to the Golden Age to today, and focuses on many aspects, including the stars, soundtracks, maestri, history and dialogues. There is a cool interactive part, which features touch screens in which you can check out the films from a certain timeframe. The years include- 1946-1967, 1981-1996, 2000-2009 and 2010-2019. There are several rooms with different themes that place you right in the eye of this perfect cinema storm. It truly is not to be missed. The museum is slated to open December 18. Click here for more information (in Italian).



 Permanent Exhibits
Biblioteca Nazionale di Rome 
(Rome’s Central Library)
Spazi900 Museum

 Sala Pasolini
There is a multimedia exhibit dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini's love affair with Rome and it's just beautiful. The exhibit takes you along a path divided by his passions of literature, filmmaking and the poor neighborhoods of the Eternal City where he often played ball with children in the streets. These interactions with the contadini of Rome inspired many of his writings, which can be found in the book, Pasolini: Roman Poems. Larger than life images of his films Accattone and Uccellacci e uccellini grace the walls of the exhibit space, situated over a television that loops black and white images of the maestro. There is a room in which his voice can be heard as you walk the corridor, listening to Roman music and gaze at his handsome portraits on the wall.


The Sala Pasolini is not just an exhibit of images but rather an experience that will leave you with the sensation that you walked a few steps in the life of this immortal artist whose work only seems to become more relevant with time.




Elsa Morante
Francesca Comencini's 1997 documentary, Ritratto di Elsa Morante, is on a continual loop in the permanent space dedicated to the Italian novelist. Walking through the dimly-lit exhibit of Morante's belongings, writings and photos taken with her beloved cats, creates an intimate experience that gives you a glimpse into her world.



Carlo Levi
The latest addition to the library's vast collection of artifacts and writings is a permanent exhibit dedicated to Carlo Levi, intellectual, painter, doctor and author of Christ Stopped at Eboli, the book that inspired the 1979 film by Francesco Rosi. Located right next to the Sala Pasolini, the realization of the exhibit was made possible thanks to a collaboration between the library and the Carlo Levi Foundation of Rome, which resulted in a loan of six paintings created by the maestro. According to an official statement by the library, the goal of the exhibit is "to promote and disseminate the multifaceted personality of Carlo Levi in ​​his dual role of painter and writer." Click here to read my previous entry about this exhibit.



70 Years of Cineteca Nazionale
Teatro dei Dioscuri at the Quirinale

 This exhibit by Cineteca Nazionale, Italy's national film archive, which is an integral part of the country's most prestigious film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, celebrates 70 years of archiving Italian cinema. You will find everything from Federico Fellini to Lina Wertmüller.. Silvana Mangano to Marlon Brando and beyond. It is a must-see exhibit if you love classic films. It’s like stepping into a time machine of cinema. The exhibit runs until January 12 and admission is free of charge. Click here (in Italian) for more information and for the complete program of events.



Luxardo e il cinema
Casa del Cinema
Elio Luxardo’s photographs of the protagonists of Italy's Golden Age of Cinema are on display at the Casa del Cinema. The exhibit was organized by Daniele Luxardo, nephew of the famous photographer and curated by photo critic and family friend, Roberto Mutti. Click here for more information and to watch a clip from my interview with Daniele Luxardo. The exhibit runs until December 8, 2019.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait  “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann.  Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ornella Muti: Four decades of Acting and Still Going Strong

Ornella Muti was born Francesca Romana Rivelli in Rome in 1955 to a Neapolitan father and an Estonian mother. She began her career as a model during her teenage years and made her film debut in 1970 with La Moglie più bella (The Most Beautiful Wife).  Her follow-up role was in the 1971 film, Sole nella pelle (Sun on the Skin) in which she played the daughter of wealthy parents who runs off with a hippie they don’t approve of. The film offers a telling journey through Italian society in the seventies with the political climate, the breathtaking seaside as well as the styles and cars of that time.  Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and succeeds in capturing the innocence and beauty of first love.   Muti made her American film debut in 1980 with Flash Gordon . She played the role of Princess Aura.  She’s appeared in two other American films, including, Oscar , which was directed by John Landis and featured Don Ameche, Chaz Palminteri, and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Iconic scenes from 'Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina' highlight Italy's North-South divide

If you’re in the mood for a quintessential old-school Italian comedy, look no further than “Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina.” Directed in the mid-1950s by Camillo Mastrocinque, the film has stood the test of time. Starring two of Italy’s most beloved comic actors, Totò (Antonio De Curtis) and Peppino De Filippo, it is widely regarded as one of the country’s most iconic comedies, showcasing mid-century Neapolitan humor. The film also features a young Nino Manfredi at the beginning of his prolific six-decade career. “Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina” is the story of two simple, old-fashioned brothers from Naples, Antonio and Peppino Caponi (Totò and De Filippo respectively), who embark on a trip up north to check on their young nephew Gianni. Gianni has moved to Milan and fallen for a seductive nightclub dancer named Marisa (Maria Luisa Mangini, aka Dorian Gray), whom they refer to as a “malafemmina,” meaning a “bad woman” or femme fatale. Believing she is corrupting him, Totò and Peppino ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cineuropa's Interview with Michele Placido

It was announced this week that Michele Placido's new film, "7 minuti" will be shown at this year's Rome Film Festival. 11 amazing actresses women star in "7 minuti" by Michele Placido , a drama co-produced by Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland and being distributed by German company Koch Media. The cast features Cristiana Capotondi , Ambra Angiolini , Fiorella Mannoia , Maria Nazionale , Ottavia Piccolo , Violante Placido , Sabine Timoteo , Anne Consigny , Mimma Lovoi and Clémence Poésy . The film is based on the play of the same name by Stefano Massini, who wrote the screenplay with Placido, and is the story of 11 women, a mixture of manual labourers and office workers, who are called to the negotiation table when the owners of the textiles company they work for sell the majority of their shares to a multinational. In a short space of time they must decide, for themselves and on the behalf of their fellow colleagues, whether to accept the...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Conversation with Actor- Luca Calvani from Warner Bros. Upcoming Release "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."

The cast and filmmakers of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  in Rome  A few years ago, I interviewed actor, Luca Calvani on the occasion of his U.S. release, When in Rome . Today, we are revisiting our conversation as he is promoting his much anticipated spy thriller, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the all-star cast includes Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris, and Hugh Grant. Based on the television series by Sam Rolfe, the story is set in the 1960's and follows CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin as they participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons. The U.S. release date is set for August 14, but the cast recently did some press for the film in the Eternal City, where much of it was shot. Luca Calvani Born in Tuscany, Calvani has traveled the world following his career. He began working as a model in the 1990's...
Post a Comment
Read more