Magazzino opened its central outdoor gathering space to the stars—and to the visions of Italian filmmakers—for its annual Cinema in Piazza series, which started on July 20. This year’s program presented ten documentaries across two weekends in July, August and September, focusing on two groups of renowned Italian post-war artists and their contributions.
Arte Povera and Transavanguardia explored how these major movements—often seen as competitors, but here presented in dialogue—shaped the evolution of post-war and contemporary Italian art. The series also demonstrated the evolution of Magazzino itself, which from its inception has dedicated the Main Building to the core collection of Arte Povera that defines the museum, while now using the more recent Robert Olnick Pavilion to present exhibitions of a wide range of other artists and trends in Italian art.
All screenings took place in the courtyard of Magazzino’s Main Building and begin at dusk.
Tickets were $15 for general admission; and free for Amici di Magazzino and Council members.
Program
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Marinella Senatore. The School of Narrative Dance, Napoli
Domenico Palma (2020, 12 min.)
This short film focuses on The School of Narrative Dance, which provides an educational system based on emancipation, inclusion, and self-cultivation. The school has worked in more than 15 countries and involved some five million people, including activists, amateur and professional workers, dancers, choreographers, actors, and poets in an atmosphere of shared knowledge. The film is narrated by the school’s founder, Marinella Senatore.
Arte Povera. Notes for History
Andrea Bettinetti (2023, 90 min.)
The documentary sheds light on how Arte Povera has profoundly influenced the development of contemporary art and how its values continue to be as relevant and inspirational to modern society as at its inception.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Carlo Scarpa: Timeless Masterpieces
Domenico Palma (2024, 8 min.)
This short film, produced by Magazzino Italian Art and narrated by Marino Barovier, highlights the exceptional journey of Carlo Scarpa in Murano over nearly twenty years of collaboration, between 1926 and 1942, with the two most prestigious glassmakers of the period. The film was made on the occasion of the current exhibition at Magazzino’s Robert Olnick Pavilion, Carlo Scarpa: Timeless Masterpieces, which presents 56 glassworks from The Olnick Spanu Collection of 20th Century Murano glass.
Pino
Walter Fasano (2020, 60 min.)
This film tells the story of how the Pascali Museum in Polignano a Mare bought and exhibited Five Bristle Worms and a Cocoon, a work by Pascali—who was local to the town— made before he died at the pinnacle of his career.
Luciano Fabro
Giampaolo Penco (1997, 57 min.)
This 1997 documentary about Luciano Fabro is interwoven with archival footage from the artist’s childhood, visits to his studio, and conversations between Fabro and his students. Also included is footage of the artist installing his work at the Venice Biennale and the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, ending with a walkthrough of Fabro’s retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 1996–97.
Saturday, August 31, 2024
ABOrismi. Portraits and Self-Portrait
Nunzio Massimo Nifosì (2022, 7 min.)
This short film is a brief, brilliant, and dadaist tribute to one of the most renowned historians, curators, and art critics of the past fifty years, Achille Bonito Oliva.
Aldo Rossi Design
Francesca Molteni, Mattia Colombo (2022, 41 min.)
Twenty-five years after Aldo Rossi's death, the film explores the architect’s legacy in the history of design, the ties between design, objects, and architecture, his relationship with industry, the technicians, and the factories where his designs are manufactured.
Mimmo Paladino. The Language of Signs
Nunzio Massimo Nifosì (2022, 60 min.)
This film follows the course of Italian sculptor and painter Mimmo Paladino’s career, looking at his works from engraving to collages and his interests in cinema and theater.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
The Power of the Archive. Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Francesca Molteni (2018, 35 min.)
This film is a plunge into the Fondazione Renzo Piano archives in Genoa, looking at the genesis of several major Renzo Piano projects, including the Palais de Justice and the Centre Pompidou in Paris; the Manhattanville campus at Columbia University; and the Morgan Library and the New York Times Building in New York.
Ettore Spalletti
Alessandra Galletta (2019, 90 min.)
The documentary reveals the daily life of Ettore Spalletti, methodical, contemplative, and almost motionless in the places where he lived and which inspired him such as Pescara, his house in Spoltore, his studio in Cappelle sul Tavo, the mountains, the sea and the sky of Abruzzo; it also spotlights his public image through the numerous exhibitions presented in leading international galleries and museums.
About Artecinema
Artecinema is an international contemporary art film festival curated by Laura Trisorio and established in Naples in 1996 with the objective of introducing the general public to the various expressions of contemporary art through a selection of documentaries dedicated to the leading artists, architects, and photographers on the international scene. Biographies, interviews, and narratives assembled with archival material allow the audience to delve into the world of art and observe artists at work in their ateliers, behind the scenes of important projects and international exhibitions.
Some thirty documentaries - divided into three sections: art and environs, architecture and design, and photography – are screened during the festival. The selection of films is sought out the world over through directors, artists, and producers who are invited to personally present the films which are of the highest quality, have not been widely distributed, and are not easily accessible.
Each October the inaugural night of the festival is held at the Teatro San Carlo and the Teatro Augusteo is the setting for the following days.
Artecinema works together with international institutions and provides an opportunity for a learning experience as well as social gathering and cultural exchange.
