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CSC – Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia at the 80th Venice Film Festival
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
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August 28, 2023

CSC - Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to premiere two restored films at the the 80th Venice Film Festival: Mario Soldati’s “La provinciale” and Luchino Visconti’s “Bellissima”
International Critics’ Week to present Liliana Cavani’s “Incontro di notte” and Angela Norelli’s “We Should All Be Futurists”
Giornate degli Autori to renew their cooperation for the training of CSC students with three masterclasses and two professional meetings
Venice Production Bridge to host the first panel of Venice Immersive dedicated to the Italian XR scene

Two major restorations, masterclasses addressed to students, films made by CSC undergraduates, and the future of immersive arts: a wide range of proposals to characterize the presence of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia at the 80th Venice International Film Festival organized by La Biennale di Venezia, representing the complexity of the Fondazione’s activities to the greatest extent possible.

The first event takes place right on Tuesday, August 29, on the Festival’s pre-opening nightdedicated to Gina Lollobrigida with the world premiere of the restored La provinciale (The Wayward Wife) directed by Mario Soldati in 1953, to be screened within Venice Classics. One of the major but lesser known performances of the star who passed away in January, the film – inspired by a short story by Alberto Moravia – was restored by CSC - Cineteca Nazionale in collaboration with the copyright holder, Compass Film. Before the screening, the opening piece for the entire night is a rarity retrieved from the archives of the Cineteca: a period presentation restored for this occasion by CSC Digital Lab. Far from being a mere trailer, the footage shows us the star in all her glory as the “queen of illustrated news magazines all over the world.” Moreover, on the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Anna Magnani, the Cineteca Nazionale also screens in Venice Classics, on Friday, September 1, the world premiere of the new restoration – made in collaboration with the copyright holder, Compass Film – of Luchino Visconti’s Bellissima (Beautiful, 1951), one of the films that best represent the art of the great actress.

On such a ‘special’ year, marked among others by the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement and the release of her latest feature, Liliana Cavani celebrates her 90th birthday, and CSC joins the celebrations for one of its most acclaimed alumni presenting her Incontro di notte, an exercise in film directing dated 1960, as a special opening event of SIC@SIC (the International Critics’ Week section dedicated to shorts) on Thursday, August 31. The short was digitized by CSC Digital Lab for this occasion within the wider project of digitization of students’ and educational films produced by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.

From a great master of cinema to a promising filmmaker: the short We Should All Be Futurists, produced by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, distributed by Première Films, and directed by CSC - Scuola Nazionale di Cinema alumna Angela Norelli, to be screened on Friday, September 1, is selected in the same section.

CSC renews its collaboration with Giornate degli Autori (an independent sidebar promoted by ANAC and 100autori, now at its 20th edition) contributing to organizing three masterclasses for the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema students attending the festival but open to the general public. Three extraordinary names involved in the initiative, such as Canadian film director and actress Monia Chokri (Aug. 31), Portuguese film director João Pedro Rodrigues, also President of the Giornate degli Autori Jury (Sept. 2), and Iranian artist, photographer, and filmmaker Shirin Neshat (Sept. 4).

On top of this, Giornate degli Autori proposes two professional meetings to guide the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema’s students attending the Venice festival to the discovery of the festivals’ world and audio-visual markets. Keynote speakers include Adrian Wootton (CEO Film London), Nevina Satta (Sardegna Film Commission director), Karel Och (Karlovy Vary festival director), and Giorgio Gosetti (Giornate degli Autori general delegate).

The CSC programme of activities at the Venice Film Festival also includes two focuses related to the new hub CSC Immersive Arts: “Italian XR Ecosystem. How To Foster The National Scene?” (Sept. 4), the first panel of Venice Immersive dedicated to the Italian XR scene, curated by CSC Immersive Arts and Venice Production Bridge, an opportunity of networking and creative exchange between professionals of immersive art in Italy; and “Veneto, il cinema e oltre. Innovazione e opportunità,” a presentation organized by the Veneto Region Department of Education, Training, Work, and Equal Opportunities .

In conclusion, the premiere of the five-episode miniseries Red Rail directed by Simone Marino as the outcome of the Lab Campari carried out by CSC - Scuola Nazionale di Cinema students to take place on Sept. 7.

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