Moving freely between profoundly diverse languages (writing, cinema, poetry, comic art, painting, theatre), Cesare Zavattini is one of the founding fathers of Neorealism. From March 1st to 8th, with repeat screenings through the 17th, Casa del Cinema will celebrate the great intellectual and artist born in Emilia with a film series titled “Zavattini, the Poet of Italian Cinema”.
It begins with two films that arose from his partnership with Vittorio De Sica: Saturday March 1st at 6 pm, the screening will feature Umberto D., one of the absolute masterpieces of Italian cinema and one of the most brilliant examples of the Neorealist period. On Monday March 3rd, at 8 pm, it will be followed by Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan), a magical, moving and poetic fairytale, based on Zavattini’s novel “Totò il buono”.
On Tuesday March 4th at 7:30 pm, there will be a presentation, with free admission, of the documentary Un paese ci vuole. Zavattini, Luzzara e il Po by Francesco Coversano and Nene Grignaffini, which will accompany the viewer on a journey to understand the original inspiration, the source of Zavattini’s cinema, as well as the environmental emergency that seriously threatens Italy’s largest river today. The screening will be introduced by the two filmmakers.
Finally, on Saturday March 8th at 8 pm, the programme will feature Siamo donne (We, the Women), based on an idea by Cesare Zavattini: the film, one of the last remnants of Neorealism, consists of five episodes directed by five different filmmakers (Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Luigi Zampa, Gianni Franciolini, Alfredo Guarini) and stars six actresses (Ingrid Bergman, Anna Magnani, Isa Miranda, Alida Valli, Anna Amendola and Emma Danieli). The work, based on an idea by Cesare Zavattini, ranges from documentary to intimate drama to a unscrupulous malice, and is an example of cinema that knew how mirror both external reality and inner turmoil.