Magazzino Italian Art presented Narratable Selves: Voices and Stories from the Italian 1960s, a film program that included screenings of three films focused on the social, cultural, and political dynamics animating Italy during the years of the Italian Economic Miracle (1958–1963).
The event, curated by Marta Federici, put into dialogue artists of different generations and included the films Tommaso (1965) and Brindisi ’65 (1966) by director Cecilia Mangini (1927–2021), and Appunti del passaggio (2014–2016) by the duo Maria Iorio (1975–) and Raphaël Cuomo (1977–). Each project reflects on the industrial boom that drove the Italian economy to new production models, weaving together accounts that bring out counter-narratives and suppressed memories of the period. While Mangini’s films record the historical period in real time, Iorio and Cuomo look back from a distance of fifty years. Each film gathers and connects various personal narratives to illustrate the radical change—physically and socially—that characterized industrialization.
The event was part of an extended research project carried out by Federici and supported by the Italian Council program (12th edition, 2023) and promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture with the aim of fostering Italian contemporary art. Titled Geografie dei sé / Geographies of the Selves, the project focuses on video works and experimental films from the 20th and 21st centuries portraying the shifting territories of the Mediterranean region.
The screening was accompanied by a conversation between Federici, Iorio, and Cuomo about working creatively in archives, the responsibilities of the artist as a storyteller, and the ethical, political, and aesthetic implications of producing images.
The event took place on July 13, 2024 at 12pm at Magazzino Italian Art’s Robert Olnick Pavilion in Cold Spring, New York. Tickets were $10 and included admission to the Museum.
Cecilia Mangini’s films Tommaso (1965) and Brindisi ’65 (1966) are on loan from Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna.
Schedule
Timetable 12pm - 2.15pm
Welcome and introduction
Screenings: Tommaso (12 min.); Brindisi ’65 (15 min.)
Talk by Marta Federici
Screening Appunti del passaggio (44 min.)
Conversation between Marta Federici and
artists Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo
About Cecilia Mangini
Cecilia Mangini (Mola di Bari 1927 - Rome 2021) was a film director, photographer and screenwriter. She began her career in 1952 as a photographer and critic for the magazines “Cinema Nuovo” and “Cinema ‘60.” In 1958, she shot her first documentary, Ignoti alla Città, inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s novel Ragazzi di vita. Thanks to this work, she began a friendship and collaboration with the writer, which continued with the films Stendalì – Suonano Ancora (1960) and La Canta delle Marane (1962). The same year saw the release of All’Armi, Siam Fascisti!, a reflection on fascist culture in Italian society. In 1965, she shot one of her best-known films, Essere Donne. Produced by the PCI (Italian Communist Party) and widely appreciated and rewarded abroad, the film was prohibited from distribution in cinemas by the Ministerial Commission. From the second half of the 1960s, she worked on films that investigated the economic and social condition of her homeland, Puglia (Tommaso; Brindisi ‘65), and controversial issues such as euthanasia (La Scelta, 1967) and the homogenization perpetuated by the national education system (La Briglia sul Collo, 1972).
About Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo
Maria Iorio and Raphaël Cuomo are artists and filmmakers who have presented their work internationally in museums, institutions and film festivals, including Palazzo Grillo, Genoa; Kunsthalle Bern; Biennale de Lubumbashi 7; SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; Istituto Svizzero, Palermo; Manifesta 13 Parallèles du Sud, Marseille; Documenta 14, Athens; CiC, Cairo; Quadriennale 16, Rome; Querini Stampalia, Venice; Kunsthaus Zürich; the 54th Venice Biennale; Arsenal, Berlin; Les Complices, Zürich; Townhouse Gallery, Cairo; Alternative Film Video, Belgrade; Arkipel, Jakarta; Courtisane; DOK Leipzig; FID Marseille; Ji.hlava IDFF; Pravo Ljudski Film Festival; Torino Film Festival; and Visions du Réel, where Chronicles of That Time, their last feature film, won the Special Jury Award in 2021.
www.parallelhistories.org
www.jamiiyasinema.club
About Marta Federici
Marta Federici is a curator and independent researcher working in the curatorial department of MACTE–Contemporary Art Museum in Termoli. She co-directs the independent art space Lateral Roma (Rome, IT) and the curatorial platform LOCALES, which develops site-specific public programs aimed at activating the public sphere. She curated the solo exhibition Lascia la porta socchiusa / Leave the door ajar by Nolwenn Salaün at Almanac Inn, Turin in 2023, and the final show of the fellows of the Swiss Institute, Rome in 2022. As part of her project Geografie dei sé / Geographies of Selves, winner of the 2023 Italian Council 12 research grant, Federici has curated screenings and presentations at Museum of Civilizations, Rome; 3 137, Athens; Museo Madre, Naples (upcoming); Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Zurich (upcoming); Villa Arson, Nice (upcoming). Her texts have been published in magazines such as NERO and Flash Art, as well as in catalogues and in artists’ books.
About Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna is an internationally distinguished film archive founded in the 1960s, a full member of the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF) since 1989, and of the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) since 1991.
In the last years Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna has broadened its projects, activities and areas of distinction which include: film restoration, film collection, teaching programs, daily theatrical screenings, publishing, a globally known restoration festival - Il Cinema Ritrovato - and other festivals throughout the year, a library, non-film collections - photography, graphic design, art, and archives - the Chaplin, Pasolini, Blasetti, Renzi and Olmi archives. Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna film vaults hold a collection of over 90,000 film materials including 16mm and 35mm positives and negatives belonging to film producers, distributors and collectors, offering a representation of the whole history of cinema, from silent to sound up to the more recent years. Among others, the legendary film production companies Titanus and Cristaldi Film have deposited their collections with the Cineteca. Cineteca’s L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory has established its reputation in the world of film archives thanks to the restoration of many masterpieces by Leone, Chaplin, Pasolini, the Lumière brothers, Visconti, Murnau, Renoir, De Sica, Fellini, Rossellini and many others. Cineteca is also a partner in The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project for the restoration, dissemination, and preservation of cinema heritage from neglected countries.