Chilean Desaparecidos in the Italian premiere of Guzmàn’s Film
Tuesday November 16, day 4 at the 51st Festival dei Popoli.
At Cinema Odeon (piazza Strozzi) screenings begin at 3 pm with the short film ‘Premier jour – La rentree’ by Fernand Melgar (Italian premiere), followed by ‘Requiem’ by Reni Mertens and Walter Marti, an homage those that have passed away, in a subtle, affecting look at cemeteries. Both films are part of the festival homage to Swiss documentary cinema.
For the short film competition, at 5 pm Jean-Claude Taki’s ‘Greek salad’ (European premiere), a flow of words (including texts by Deleuze and Daney) flit past the most surprising, unexpected images.
The next screening is ‘Content’ by Chris Petit (Italian premiere, international competition) inspired by Antye Greie’s electronic music. Based on the work of Ian Penman and narrated by Hanns Zischler, the film is a wild ride to nowhere, a hypnotic digression based on memory lost, the meaning of childhood and the impact of new technologies.
Also in the international competition, Marilia Rocha’s ‘A Falta que me faz’ (Italian premiere). The film, about a group of girls from Northeastern Brazil reaching the end of adolescence, will be shown at 7:30 pm.
At 9:30 pm, Lluís Escartín’s ‘Amanar Tamasheq’ (Italian premiere for the short film competition), about the agonies in Tuareg, a silent genocide ignored by the media and international community, followed by Patricio Guzmán’s ‘Nostalgia de la Luz’ (international competition) about the Chilean “desaparecidos,” a painful, poetic film that cuts to the core of humanity. The documentary was shot in the desert mountains of Atacama, Chile, where the most powerful telescopes in the world are located. While scientists search the cosmos for the origins of life, archaeologists scan the terrain for traces of pre-Columbian peoples. Between them, relatives of people who vanished during Pinochet’s regime hunt for the remains of their loved ones. Patricio Guzmán is a Chilean director, screenwriter, actor and photographer internationally known for directing three documentaries about Chile, Pinochet and Allende.
At Spazio Uno (via del Sole), screenings begin at 10:30 am with ‘Maye et fils,’ ‘Irma,’ ‘Cuchillo de palo’ and at 3:30 pm ‘Foreign parts.’
At 5, in homage to Canadian director Peter Mettler, the world premiere of ‘Tectonic plates’: a love story between Madeleine, a painter, and her art teacher, Jacques.
As part of the homage to Swiss documentary film, the Fernand Melgar’s short ‘Premier jour. L’apprentissage’ and ‘War Photographer’ by Christian Frei (in attendance) will be shown at 7 pm. The latter, an Oscar nominee and award-winning film, is the story of James Nachtwey, an important war photographer who documented the largest conflicts of the last twenty years: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Somalia.
At 9:30 pm the day ends with a re-screening of ‘Wiegenlieder.’
Extra events: at 12 noon, the regularly scheduled meetings with directors attending the festival (in the hall of mirrors). Before the meeting (at 11 am, Odeon Bistrò) there will be a book presentation for Angès Varda (Le mani, eds.) by Nicola Falcinella (journalist and film critic).