The new international archive film event Cinema Rediscovered (28 – 31 July 2016) taking place in cinemas in and around Bristol, UK including Watershed and Curzon Clevedon Arts was inspired by Italy’s pioneering Il Cinema Ritrovato, which recently celebrated its 30th edition in Bologna, attracting a record number of delegates and some 100,000 admissions.
Il Cinema Ritrovato’s Director Gian Luca Farinelli stated “We’re delighted to hear about this new British offspring of Il Cinema Ritrovato on our 30th anniversary year. We’re very happy this is happening in Bristol, a city which already has a strong reputation of presenting the history of film”. As part of a series of satellite events, Farinelli has curated three programmes for Cinema Rediscovered and will attend this first edition with festival co-ordinator Guy Borlée.
Recently restored by Cineteca di Bologna and Istituto Luce – Cinecittà at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and following its Cannes Classics anniversary outing earlier this year where it won the Palme D’Or in 1965, Signore & Signori (The Birds, the Bees and the Italians) is a darkly humoured send-up by one of Italy’s most prolific directors Pietro Germi set in the small northern Italian town of Treviso. Farinelli commented on his choice: “As well as being extremely funny, Signore & Signori brilliantly captures the absurd rules and contradictions of Italian provincial life. It’s a great film to enjoy in a cinema setting and an excellent introduction to Pietro Germi’s work whose films were hugely popular in Italy, yet is often overlooked in the history of Italian cinema.”
Farinelli has also curated In Search of Colour, a historic programme of striking shorts restored by Cineteca Di Bologna’s L’Immagine Ritrovata lab celebrating the debut of colour film; from Pochoir, which employed elaborate stencils to add precise colour detail to two-tone prints to Kinemacolor, the first successful colour motion picture process. Patented in England, its life was brief (1908-1914) but produced a series of spectacular gems of early cinema that restoration today brings back to life. Context is key to these films, and with accompaniment from the pianist John Sweeney, and with an introduction from festival director and film expert Farinelli, there can be no better way to approach this historic collection and get some insights into Cineteca di Bologna’s extraordinary restoration work including the World Cinema Project founded by Martin Scorsese.
The last selection is the striking debut feature by the 26 year old Marco Bellocchio, I pugni in tasca (Fist in the Pocket) which anticipated the imminent youth rebellion and social upheaval in Italy and wider afield whilst offering a challenge to the traditional conception of Italian family values. Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator says: “Both Germi and Bellocchio have long been overshadowed by the internationally renowned Italian directors such as Fellini and Antonioni. This is such a great opportunity to present and reappraise our appreciation of Italian cinema. “
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