Yet Untitled [»Pieces of Nature«] + Rome, Open City
Mario Pfeifer + Roberto Rossellini
Mario Pfeifer + Roberto Rossellini
Fri, Jul 29, 2011
Yet Untitled [»Pieces of Nature«]
2008
Dir. Mario Pfeifer
30min, Digital Projection
With Simon Denny, Mira Partecke, Bastian Trost
Yet Untitled [»Pieces of Nature«] describes both performance and studio film production. Situated in a loose, self-reflexive narrative poised between the traditions of structural film, dance and theater, the film follows actors in what appears to be a casting process. Cast, crew and the director become actors themselves—breathing, moving, and constructing the film before our eyes.
Screens with
Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta)
1945
Dir. Roberto Rossellini
105min, 35mm
With Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, and Marcello Pagliero
An Italian war drama film set in Rome during the Nazi occupation in 1944, Rome, Open City has long been regarded as a quintessential example of neorealist film, so much so that together with Paisan and Germany, Year Zero it is known one of Rossellini's "Neorealist Trilogy." Robert Burgoyne called it "the perfect exemplar of this mode of cinematic creation [neorealism] whose established critical definition was given by André Bazin." Produced during the Nazi occupation of Rome, Rome, Open City ironically criticizes the credo of Rome being an “open city” during it’s occupation. Revolutionary at the time of it’s release, Rome, Open City would receive a special Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This special award was the first of what would become Best Foreign Language Film category.