Italian Cinema Today

When a team of speleologists descended 700 meters into the Bifurto Abyss in Cosenza, Calabria, in 1961, they discovered that the underground caverns were the third deepest in the world and the deepest in Europe. Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Frammartino retraces that mission six decades later with a cast of locals and their livestock in his latest documentary, “Il buco” (“The Hole”). Inspiration for the film came while he was on location shooting his 2007 documentary, “Le quattro volte” (“Four Times”). Officials in the Pollino mountains, which stretch between Calabria and Basilicata, showed him what appeared to be just another sinkhole. Frammartino failed to understand their enthusiasm until they tossed a large stone into the void. It disappeared without making a sound. He was so overcome by the experience and the eerie landscape, he was haunted for years, compelling him to make his current film, one of many rooted in nature. “I was born in Milan, but my family is from Calabria. My pa...

Carlo Levi and Anna Magnani  Fondazione Carlo Levi, Rome In my ongoing quest to learn more about 20th century artist and writer, Carlo Levi , I recently discovered one of his most celebrated masterpieces,  Ritratto di Anna Magnani  (Portrait of Anna Magnani), an  oil on canvas,  which was created in 1954.  His close friendship with Anna Magnani was news to me but what I found most fascinating about this portrait is the presence of Levi’s post-1935 style, his new pictorial approach referred to by art critics as the "wavy" brushstroke. He developed this style during his political exile in Basilicata in 1935 when he spent much of his time there creating stunning portraits of the contadini (peasants) he befriended, who served as the inspiration behind his infamous novel, Christ Stopped at Eboli , which was later made into a movie by Francesco Rosi . It fascinates me because it's further proof how much of an impact that one year of exile in Basilicata had on hi...

Rotonda By Sergio Ragone The Pollino Experience portal at pollinoexperience.com  is now online. The territorial communication and promotion project aggregates the accommodation and catering facilities belonging to the "Il Borgo Ospitale" compound in Rotonda.  The portal is divided into four main sections: Food , with direct links to the catering facilities and excellent food and wine offer which enhance the area's products: red aubergine and white bean; Hospitality , the section with direct connections to the Albergo Diffuso Borgo Hotel and its facilities; Wellness , the area to discover the wellness services offered by the Eufrasia SPA; Nature , a section entirely dedicated to direct contact with nature and the environment, for those looking for a fully sustainable and ecological tourist experience. Another section, Stories , is dedicated to the history of the territory and consists of testimonies presented by the protagonists and guests of the structures. Pollino Nation...

Photo by Domenico Notarangelo I recently found a rare interview with Pier Paolo Pasolini  on location in Basilicata while he was shooting “Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo” (The Gospel According to St. Matthew). The interview was posted by Rai Teche. The journalist also interviews Alfonso Gatto, a poet who was cast as St. Andrew.  Pasolini shot in Basilicata (Barile and Matera) because of the structures and landscapes that he says reminded him of Bethlehem and Jerusalem and because of the simplicity of the people. He mentions here that the Albanian presence, which probably accounts for the closeups and casting of locals, was a factor in choosing the location of Barile. He also explains that he made the film simply because St. Matthew’s writings moved him. He left the text unchanged, deciding not to add his own interpretation or spin.  What a gift this journalist gave us. I just took a few soundbites and added subtitles to them. Click here to watch my subtitled, e...

Written by Sergio Ragone After more than a year of closures caused by the fight against Covid, Italian catering restarts from Made in Italy and from the excellence of the territory. An example of how this strategy is successful is offered to us by the newly created platform "Officine La Rossa," a hub of Lucanian food and wine excellences, which recently opened in Rotonda, a village of extraordinary beauty and home of the excellent red aubergine DOP.  The creator of the project, which makes use of the collaboration with the Lucanian Coldiretti, is Franco Bruno who presented the basic idea of the Officine as follows: "Our challenge is to welcome the many tourists who come to Rotonda every year in the Pollino Park," explained Bruno. He went on to say, "In this structure, they can taste the best of agri-food products made in Basilicata; an initiative that aims to promote the best synergies between sustainable tourism and food combined with the typical hospitality o...

Singer/Songwriter Rosmy performs at the Giornate del Cinema Lucano in Maratea My editor at  Fra Noi Magazine recently asked me to write an article about my experience traveling through Basilicata and researching my origins there. If you've followed this blog for a while, then you know that I am always happy to offer my insight into contemporary Basilicata. New School Basilicata It has been 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. I was living in New York City at the time and working at ABC News as a video editor. Seeing all that heartbreaking footage of people jumping to their deaths from the Twin Towers and then walking through the eeriness of Manhattan made me realize how precious life is and how we can literally be here one moment and gone the next. That realization led me to do something I had been putting off for years — perform a genealogical search of my maternal great-grandmother’s family in Basilicata. Of all my great-grandparents who emigrated from Italy, I ...

Poetry that crosses images and becomes cinema - By Sergio Ragone Born from an idea by Sergio Ragone and Omar Gallo, and created by the award-winning director Giuseppe Marco Albano , in collaboration with photographers Mariano Silletti, Federica Danzi, Raffaele Contini, Pierangelo Laterza and Michele Lategana, with the original music by Robert G. Pellegrino , the texts by Sergio Ragone , the voices of Omar Gallo and Andrea Ramolo (for the international version), the video "Terra lucana" is an artistic homage to Basilicata, to its natural beauty and its humanity. "We chose to make this video - Albano, Gallo and Ragone jointly declare - to try to give a new story to Basilicata. The choice of the shots of talented photographers, combined with the poetry of the words and the original music composed precisely for this work, has allowed us to overcome the usual and by now consummate narration of Lucanian places through the use of canonical images of Lucanian land...

Sergio Ragone in Matera "In the ancient heart of Basilicata, there is the future of Italy after Covid 19" - By Sergio Ragone Cinecittà Studios announced today that a new chapter of the infamous Rome film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, will open in the ancient stone city of Matera, located in the region of Basilicata. So I thought this would be a good time to share a thoughtful commentary by journalist and author Sergio Ragone whose work we have featured often throughout the years. He writes about the coronavirus pandemic and how it impacted his region and what must be done to continue the progress the Lucani have made in the past decade to build and promote Basilicata. There is an Italy that the narrative of this pandemic has cut out, useless to deny it. It is the Italy of small villages, of provincial cities, far from the red areas and from Milan that has lived, lives and suffers because of the Coronavirus. It is the Italy of small communities, o...

The story and landscape of Lucania are in the spotlight during the month of April. A rare, uncut version of Francesco Rosi ’s 1979 film "Christ Stopped at Eboli" is being shown at the Film Forum in New York City’s West Village. The screenplay was adapted from the book by Carlo Levi, a doctor, writer and painter from Torino who was exiled to the southern region of Lucania (today, Basilicata) because of his political beliefs. The year was 1935 and Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party was in power. Levi was forced into exile due to the silencing of those who spoke out against fascism.  The uncut version is divided into four parts and lasts approximately four hours. The most striking difference from the two hour version is the visual decadence. The cinematographer, Pasquale De Santis, brother of director Giuseppe De Santis (Bitter Rice) , was Rosi's longtime collaborator. It's obvious from the composition of the shots and the slow pans of the unique Lucanian landsca...

Photo from Kabir Bedi's Facebook Page A delegation of Indian filmmakers, led by actor Kabir Bedi, recently scouted locations in Italy's southern region of Basilicata. The presence of the beloved Indian actor, perhaps best known for his television drama  Sandokan,  put the spotlight on the beginning of a cinematic relationship between Basilicata and India. That partnership officially began in Maratea last year when Bollywood execs traveled to the coastal town to launch the "Namaste India" project with the Lucana Film Commission, aimed at shooting films in Italy. Click here to read our original article about Indian cinema made in Italy. The fascination with Basilicata by Indian crews perhaps began two years ago in the Sassi of Matera when television crews shot the beauty pageant  Miss India Italy . The production captured the intrigue of Indian producers who made their commitment to filmmaking in Basilicata with "Namaste India". In a Twitter post, B...

After honing her skills in Rome, she returned to her native region to conjure 3D worlds that bring history to life. Sara Lo Russo was raised in Potenza, the capital of Basilicata, where she attended college and majored in journalism. Upon graduating, she moved to Rome where she held a position as a news coordinator. Living outside the region allowed her to grow personally and professionally, but she longed to return home and cast a contemporary light upon her region. So she headed back to Potenza and partnered with engineer and 3D technician Michele Scioscia. With the help of the Lucana Film Commission, they founded Effenove, a film production and visual effects company. “We specialize in 3D computer graphics,” says Lo Russo. “For us, technology is a tool, not the end, and 3D allows us to add a different language to the way we talk about Basilicata and its stories.” Effenove literally means F9. As Lo Russo explains, “When Michele and I were trying to come up with a...

The big news in Basilicata this week is making the New York Times list of 52 places to go in 2018 . Pictured in the article with a nice write-up is Matera. While this ancient stone city is stunning and should be on everyone’s list of places to visit, there are so many other treasures across the region of Basilicata. Also referred to by its ancient name, Lucania, the region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera. While Matera gets a lot of attention for the Sassi district, the abandoned town of Craco and the beaches and Greek ruins of Metaponto, the province of Potenza has its own breathtaking spots such as the Dolomite mountains, Pollino National Park and the seaside town of Maratea, nicknamed the pearl of the Tyrrhenian. Little known, especially here in America, is a vast land of vineyards located in the province of Potenza. Many of these vineyards are located in various towns surrounding the great Monte Vulture, a dormant volcano, which houses two small lakes....