SDIFF celebrates food and love in Italy with several shorts (cortomettraggi). Here are some fun stories about where a special dish comes from, what hot peppers can do for you, and a farmer?s ties to his earth, the life it sustains, and the need to take care of both.
The short films on the program are representative of an attempt to make cinematography relevant and of social impact. Vittorio De Seta's short films on various aspects of Sicilian life in the 1950s cast their gaze toward a culture that, as Italy enters its so-called "economic boom" period, seems to be moving toward disappearance. Training his lens on the everyday activities of agricultural workers and fishermen, De Seta offers a glimpse of a laboring portion of the population whose activities are, more often than not, unrecognized, invisible and discounted. Filming in an unobtrusive manner, De Seta foregoes commentary, voice-overs and translations of the local tongues in order to make the final footage as direct a documentation of the cultures under observation as possible. These films are an effective ?slice of life? presentation of themes dear to many film makers and commentators that have too often been manipulated to meet the needs of ideologically heavy narratives.
Uno degli ultimi (One of the Last) is film maker Paul Zinder's short on 78 year old Mauro, a Tuscan farmer who believes that "The happiness of man - of all living things - is made up of little things." Living this philosophy of life fully, Mauro enjoys continues to enjoy his life in farming in the old ways, without heavy machinery, without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, reaping and sharing the fruits of his labour. As one of the final selections for the now defunct Earth Circle Cinema, this film celebrates a life that is as simple as it is celebratory of that simplicity. A life that revels in picking olives, cherries and working the land without the mediation of the "simplification" of the technologies of mass production, lived by an old gentleman who wonders why anyone would want to live otherwise.
Giuseppe Gagliardi's shorts, Bellybutton Broth and Peperoni, are two films that delve into the mythologies and enjoyment of food. Intertwining desire, discovery and enjoyment, Gagliardi takes two popular ingredients of Italian cooking from different ends of the boot and explores their sensual and gastronomic natures. Acknowledging the fact that Italian life is closely and always directly influenced and influencing that which Italians ingest, Gagliardi also demonstrates that food constitutes a living component of culture that defines a sense of social intimacy and dialogue.
Admission: Suggested donation: $5.00
Location:
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA)
Balboa Park.
Thursday May 20 - 7:00 PM
For more information, please visit: www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com
The short films on the program are representative of an attempt to make cinematography relevant and of social impact. Vittorio De Seta's short films on various aspects of Sicilian life in the 1950s cast their gaze toward a culture that, as Italy enters its so-called "economic boom" period, seems to be moving toward disappearance. Training his lens on the everyday activities of agricultural workers and fishermen, De Seta offers a glimpse of a laboring portion of the population whose activities are, more often than not, unrecognized, invisible and discounted. Filming in an unobtrusive manner, De Seta foregoes commentary, voice-overs and translations of the local tongues in order to make the final footage as direct a documentation of the cultures under observation as possible. These films are an effective ?slice of life? presentation of themes dear to many film makers and commentators that have too often been manipulated to meet the needs of ideologically heavy narratives.
Uno degli ultimi (One of the Last) is film maker Paul Zinder's short on 78 year old Mauro, a Tuscan farmer who believes that "The happiness of man - of all living things - is made up of little things." Living this philosophy of life fully, Mauro enjoys continues to enjoy his life in farming in the old ways, without heavy machinery, without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, reaping and sharing the fruits of his labour. As one of the final selections for the now defunct Earth Circle Cinema, this film celebrates a life that is as simple as it is celebratory of that simplicity. A life that revels in picking olives, cherries and working the land without the mediation of the "simplification" of the technologies of mass production, lived by an old gentleman who wonders why anyone would want to live otherwise.
Giuseppe Gagliardi's shorts, Bellybutton Broth and Peperoni, are two films that delve into the mythologies and enjoyment of food. Intertwining desire, discovery and enjoyment, Gagliardi takes two popular ingredients of Italian cooking from different ends of the boot and explores their sensual and gastronomic natures. Acknowledging the fact that Italian life is closely and always directly influenced and influencing that which Italians ingest, Gagliardi also demonstrates that food constitutes a living component of culture that defines a sense of social intimacy and dialogue.
Admission: Suggested donation: $5.00
Location:
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA)
Balboa Park.
Thursday May 20 - 7:00 PM
For more information, please visit: www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com
