Curated by Leonardo Bigazzi
This is a programme of documentaries on contemporary art and its protagonists. This year’s program is dedicated to self-teaching artists – the so-called ‘outsiders’ – who ignore the dynamics of the global system of contemporary art. Almost always discovered by chance, sometimes even after their death, they are mostly characterized by obsessive elements, yet extremely poetic. In a world where too often the art canons are established through economic speculations, these artists’ works offer the deepest and most authentic reasons of artmaking.
The project is realized within the Estate Fiorentina 2014 organized by Comune di Firenze. In collaboration with FST-Mediateca Toscana Film Commission.
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[tab title=”INFORMATION”] NOTTI DI MEZZA ESTATE
Open-air Cinema in Piazza SS. Annunziata, Florence
July 7, 14, 21, 28
Free admission
All films are shown in original language, with subtitles in Italian
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[mini-icon icon=”time”] Monday, July 7 – 9.30 pm
Finding Vivian Maier
by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, USA 2013, 84’
With the same avidity with which she collected objects of all kinds and newspaper fragments, with her Rolleiflex always around her neck, Vivian Maier produced thousands of photographs, including numerous portraits and self-portraits However, until John Maloof bought an anonymous box at a Chicago auction filled with her old negatives, all that was known about her was that she worked as an au pair for several of the city’s prominent families. The documentary investigates the mysterious photographer’s story, starting with the astounding discovery that led to the posthumous recognition of her work in the area of street photography.
[mini-icon icon=”time”] Monday, July 14 – 9.30 pm
Turning the Art World Inside Out
by Jack Cocker, UK, 2013, 70′
Beginning with the Biennale di Venezia curated in 2013 by Massimiliano Gioni, this documentary reconstructs the history and fortunes of so-called “outsider art”: from the formation of Jean Dubuffet’s Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne till the more recent birth of institutions such as the Museum of Everything. In an attempt to define the plurality of experiences behind this lone label, the creative director of the BBC ventured into production centers, galleries and private studios to meet the fascinating protagonists of this parallel creative universe, which appears increasingly integrated into the official art system.
[mini-icon icon=”time”] Monday, July 21 – 9.30 pm
Worldstar
by Nataša von Kopp, Germany/Czech Republic, 2007, 76’
Introduction by Guido Costa, Italian gallerist of Miroslav Tichy
Miroslav Tichy never concerned himself with the things of the world, or about the belated international success garnered by his photographic work, which was produced with rudimentary cameras and largely devoted to the women of his city. Unpopular with many, due to his extravagant character and appearance, imprisoned many times for being considered a rebel under the communist regime, Nataša von Kopp filmed him as an old man at his home in Kyjov (Czech Republic), where the solitude of his existence is only interrupted by occasional visits from his few friends, or by the occasional tenacious curator or gallerist.
[mini-icon icon=”time”] Monday, July 28 – 9.30 pm
Marwencol
by Jeff Malmberg, USA 2010, 83′
Marwencol is the name of the toy-village situated in WW2 Europe which Mark Hogancamp created in the garden of his home in order to get over the psychophysical traumas he suffered after being attacked by a gang of oaves. Gulliverian creator of the romantic and cruel adventures of this small world – where Barbies and toy soldiers stand in for himself, his relatives and friends – Hogancamp is also its extraordinary photojournalist. When his pictures win a place in a New York gallery, the self-therapy generated by Marwencol shows itself to be a real art form.
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