A dive into the collections of Eye the Filmmuseum 

Italian silent cinema at the intersection of the arts

Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam 

December 20th and 21st, 2018

This two-day workshop will bring together researchers and people from the archives of different nationalities, in order to explore and comment on the film and non-film collections related to Italian silent cinema, held at the Eye Filmmuseum. These discussions will explore the close relationship that Italian cinema has with other arts. We will work on a corpus of films selected by researchers and the Eye, but also on advertising material that will highlight the richness and inventiveness of the decorative arts and graphics of this period, as well as the international influence this cinema has experienced. The goal is to rediscover this cinema, through a confrontation with several disciplinary fields with which it dialogues, including painting, sculpture, music, opera, theatre, dance, photography, and literature. This workshop will also serve as a basis to open research tracks on e.g. the Film d’Arte Italiana and Italian comedians, as a prologue of a symposium to be held in Paris in December 2019. The exchanges will be animated by a sincere endeavour to decompartmentalize and will emphasize aesthetic questions, offering a renewal on the entire period studied.

Program:

THURSDAY DECEMBER 20^TH: 35mm & digital screenings

9H-13H

9H Introduction Giovanna Fossati, Céline Gailleurd

Slot 1: mixed program (Ivo Blom, Elif Rongen)

Sunrise on the Eternal City of Rome (Zonsopgang over de eeuwige stad Rome, unknown company, ca. 1910-1920). 8 min.

Acqua miracolosa/ Le acque miracolose (Rodolfi, Ambrosio 1914). 10 min.

L’orfanella riconoscente (Cines 1911). 8 min.

Lucrezia Borgia (Lo Savio, Film d’Arte Italiana 1912). 33 min.

Coffee break

Slot 2: mixed program (Ivo Blom, Elif Rongen)

Kri Kri e il tango (Cines 1913) 5 min

La vita e la morte (Caserini, 1917) 7,5 min. short fragment, drama with Leda Gys

Amore bendato (Illuminati, Celio 1913). 35 min. drama with Leda Gys

Panne d’auto (Negroni, Celio 1912). 15 min. short comedy with Francesca Bertini

Lunch

14H-17H30

Slot 3: Film d’Arte Italiana and historical film (Andrea Meneghelli, Olivier Bohler, Marion Polirsztok) 90 minutes

Tea break

Slot 4: Non-fiction (Luca Mazzei) 90 minutes

FRIDAY December 21st: digital screenings

9H – 13H

Slot 1: Comedy (Emmanuel Dreux, Laurent Guido) 90 minutes

Coffee break

Slot 2: Dance (Elisa Uffreduzzi) 90 minutes

Lunch

14H-17H30

Slot 4: Melodrama (Stella Dagna, Céline Gailleurd) 90 minutes

Tea break

Slot 5: Presentation by Soeluh van den Berg & Ivo Blom, visit to the collections of the EYE Filmmuseum

The workshop will take place at the EYE Collection Center. This new building (2016) not only has a small auditorium at disposal, but also contains all of the original films (apart from nitrate prints) and film-related materials (posters, photos, brochures, etc.), as well as the museum’s library. It is also where you can find the famous Desmet Collection, recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage. This collection holds numerous unique prints of formerly lost Italian silent films, such as Cajus Julius Caesar with Amleto Novelli, Fior di male with Lyda Borelli and Sangue bleu with Francesca Bertini, innovative comedies, sensational crime films, and picturesque travelogues – now all splendidly restored, including their colours. It also contains a rich poster collection (Italian top designers such as Metlicovitz), photos, programs, distribution brochures, and a vast business archive.

Organizers of the workshop: Céline Gailleurd (Université Paris VIII, Paris), Ivo Blom (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), Elif Rongen (EYE Filmmuseum).

PARTICIPANTS

Ekin Asar (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Soeluh van den Berg (Eye Filmmuseum), Ansje van Beusekom (Universiteit Utrecht), Ivo Blom (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Olivier Bohler (Université Paris 8), Rob Byrne (President, San Francisco Silent Film Festival), Daniela Curro (CSC – Cineteca Nazionale), Stella Dagna (Museo Nazionale del Cinema), Lexie Davis (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Piet Dircx (Eye Filmmuseum), Emmanuel Dreux (Université Paris 8), Giovanna Fossati (Eye Filmmuseum), Céline Gailleurd (Université Paris 8), Laurent Guido (Université de Lille), Frank Kessler (Universiteit Utrecht), Nico de Klerk (Universiteit Utrecht), Eef Masson (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Luca Mazzei (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”), Andrea Meneghelli (Cineteca di Bologna), Mark-Paul Meyer (Eye Filmmuseum), Asli Ozgen Tuncer (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Christian Olesen (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Marion Polirsztok (Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle), Elif Rongen (Eye Filmmuseum), Annette Schulz (Eye Filmmuseum), Marcello Seregni (Cineteca Italiana, Milano), Elisa Uffreduzzi (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”).

ADDRESS

The Auditorium of the EYE Collection Centre is situated at Asterweg 26, 1031 HP Amsterdam.

For more information: https://www.eyefilm.nl/en/collection/about-the-collection/collection-centre.

Tel. EYE: +31.20.5891.400.

PARTNERS

This workshop is part of the research project LE CINÉMA MUET ITALIEN À LA CROISÉE DES ARTS, led by Céline Gailleurd, and a joint project of EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam (Amsterdam), Cineteca di Bologna, Museo Nazionale del Cinema (Turin), Cineteca Nazionale (Rome), Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam), Université Paris 8, Laboratoire ESTCA (Esthétique, Sciences et Technologies du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel), Université Paris Lumières, ENS Louis-Lumière.