LUIGI DI GIANNI
OCTOBER 1 | 16.00
Kinemax Gorizia
Director Luigi Di Gianni
The cinematic and anthropological journey of Luigi Di Gianni (Naples, 1926 – Rome, 2019) represents one of the most original and rigorous trajectories in Italian documentary filmmaking. Although at the beginning of his career the director dreamed of fiction films, stories drawn from the crime pages and adaptations of Kafka’s anguished works, fate led him to radically redefine the relationship between the camera and the ethnographic investigation of popular traditions. Through his films, Di Gianni gives voice and dignity to all those marginalised lives that official history tended to forget. (Mila Lazić, curator)
LUCANIAN MAGIC
1958, 19’
Inspired by the work of the renowned anthropologist and historian of religions Ernesto de Martino, Luigi Di Gianni sets out to trace surviving forms of magical practices in Lucania. His documentary debut, Lucanian Magic, is an investigative film exploring the magical-religious reality, traditions and rituals of the peasant population in the Italian region of Basilicata. Shot in black and white without sound, the film relies primarily on the expressive power of images. The voice-over, the ritual laments performed by prefiche (translator’s note: women who traditionally performed ritual wailing and mourning), and the music of the jaw harp were added only during the editing process.
The short film received the Grand Prize in the documentary category at the 19th Venice Film Festival.
DANGER IN VALSINNI
1959, 13’
“Valsinni, a land long marked by constant devastation, yields little and offers no certainty to those who work it, whose labour is often seemingly futile and constantly threatened. Especially when the forces of nature run wild, the mountains split open and the slopes collapse all around. This is the story of a peasant family that loses its head of household while engaged in hard and thankless labour.”
A portrait that highlights human humility in the face of the power of nature.
THE WOMEN OF BAGNARA
1959, 10’
The women of Bagnara Calabra, a town in the region of Calabria in southern Italy, were fearless workers, known for their imposing, almost sculpted physiques, as well as their pride and physical strength. While men were mainly engaged in fishing and maritime trade, women played a crucial role in the local economy. They undertook extremely strenuous work building retaining walls and defending the land, carrying heavy rocks and stones on their heads from the sea inland.
The film is an ode to the women of Calabria.
GRACE AND NUMBERS
1961, 15’
An intense film about the cult of the souls in Purgatory, deeply rooted in Neapolitan tradition, takes Di Gianni into the underground spaces of the hypogeum beneath the Church of Saint Augustine. Ancient beliefs and an eerie atmosphere intertwine with magic and superstition. The sacred and the profane, the Catholic and the pagan, coexist peacefully here within the same cultural tradition.
In this film, Di Gianni for the first time places short testimonies alongside the language of images. The film received an award at the 1963 Bergamo Festival of Auteur Cinema.
THE OLIVE-PICKING SEASON
1967, 13’
A social critique and a powerful portrayal of the exploitation of women picking olives in the Reggio Calabria area of southern Italy. The emigration of men to northern Italy and abroad led to the depopulation of villages, leaving women to shoulder the entire burden of supporting and caring for their families.
Their living conditions are harsh: without trade-union protection or medical care, they are left to exhausting labour. As a result, their bodies quickly weaken, become ill and age prematurely.