Yuyan Wang, My views on the Darkness, 2023. Video stills. Courtesy the artist, Lo schermo dell’arte, and FRAC Bretagne
The first previews on the programme
The Focus on Guido van der Werve, the homage to Diego Marcon and the Closing Night with “Inside” by Vasilis Katsoupis with Willem Dafoe.
Other protagonists include Basma Alsharif, Wang Bing, John Menick, Rabih Mroué, Deimantas Narkevičius, Amie Siegel and Fiona Tan.
Among the documentaries: the radical architecture of Fabrizio Fiumi and the 9999 in a special event, the life of Nam June Paik, the art of Robert Irwin and Ragnar Kjartansson, the works of Katharina Grosse and Giulia Cenci and the challenges of the Stedelijk in Amsterdam.
“The Magic Mountain” by Micol Roubini in a video-installation at Strozzina, Palazzo Strozzi.
The world premiere of new works by Simon Liu, Gerard Ortín Castellví, Maryam Tafakory and Yuyan Wang produced thanks to the VISIO Production Fund.
The 16th edition of Lo Schermo dell’Arte will take place 15-19 November, 2023. The Cinema and Contemporary Art Festival directed by Silvia Lucchesi returns to Florence with a selection of recent international artists’ films and documentaries on contemporary art.
The Cinema La Compagnia in Florence will be, as every year, the heart of the Festival, serving not only as the venue for its intense programme of over 30 screenings, including world and Italian premieres in the presence of the authors, but also as a meeting place for artists, curators, and international guests.
This edition will also expand online with a streaming program on Più Compagnia, in collaboration with Mymovies.it (until November 26, 2023).
The Focus is dedicated to the twenty-year career of the Dutch director and artist Guido van der Werve (1977), an exceptional personality in the art scene – as well as a composer, chess player, marathon runner and extreme sports practitioner – van der Werve uses video and performance to confront life and its limits, in a continuous challenge with himself and research of identity.
The opening night of the Festival will present the Italian premiere of Nummer Achttien – The Breath of Life (2023), the first feature film shot by van der Werve for the cinema. The work, which the artist defines as “autofiction”, recounts van der Werve’s extraordinary rehabilitation following the serious accident he suffered in 2016, a return to life which is an opportunity to retrace the childhood of a special child, who has drawn from diversity the ability to persevere and survive.
A showcase of other works by van der Werve will form the Focus of the Festival, dedicated to the artist’s two-decade career and his innovative and experimental use of cinematic language: Nummer twee, just because I’m standing here doesn’t mean I want to (2003); Nummer zes, Steinway grand piano, wake me up to go to sleep and all the color of the rainbow (2006); Nummer acht, everything is going to be alright (2007); Nummer veertien, home (2012).
The Focus also includes Q&A with the artist as well as a lecture by him.
Also returning is VISIO-European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images, a project curated by Leonardo Bigazzi dedicated to artists under 35 who use moving images. The twelfth edition reaffirms its support for the production of new works by young artists through the VISIO Production Fund, a production fund worth 30,000 euros funded in partnership with the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Prato), Fondazione In Between Art Film (Rome), and FRAC Bretagne (Rennes).
Part of this edition of the Festival will include the world premieres of works produced with the support of the VISIO Production Fund 2022.
The Festival will also be an opportunity to introduce the new productions by Lo schermo dell’arte, as it continues its growing commitment in this field.
Opening on November 14th (until November 19th) at the Strozzina in Palazzo Strozzi, the multi-channel installation The Magic Mountain by Micol Roubini will be showcased, a project promoted by Lo schermo dell’arte and realised with the support of the Italian Council (11th edition, 2022). The video-installation, curated by Gabi Scardi and intended for the collection of the MAN in Nuoro, explores the ecosystem of Europe’s largest asbestos quarry in Balangero (TO). Before arriving in Florence, it will be presented in the exhibition The Recent curated by Tessa Giblin at the Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh.
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Bloodlines
by Amie Siegel, 2023
A subtle social portrait that, starting from the works of British portraitist George Stubbs (1724-1806), quietly moves through the interiors of aristocratic homes where these are preserved, among precious objects and pets, showing the connection between their possession and the maintenance of positions of privilege and power.
Bliss Point
by Gerard Ortín Castellví, 2023
A work made possible with the support of the VISIO Production Fund 2022
Co-produced with Fondazione In Between Art Film
A representation of the new regimes and infrastructures of food distribution, the third piece of a trilogy that transforms food consumption into moving images.
Canyon
by Heinz Schwerfel, 2023
A tale of the creation of Katharina Grosse’s (1961) permanent work for the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, a monumental work between painting and sculpture that interacts with the architecture of the space designed by Frank Gehry.
Capital
by Basma Alsharif, 2023
A satire on the colossal project of a “new Egyptian capital” planned in the 1970s, developed through an explicit reference to the “Telefoni Bianchi” of Mussolini’s propaganda cinema.
Dead Dance
by Domenico Palma, 2023
A story of the entire process of the large installation created by Giulia Cenci (1988) for the Venice Biennale in 2022, a 150 meters-long path in the Arsenale’s open spaces.
Dearest Fiona
by Fiona Tan, 2023
A film that connects different stories of everyday life: those of the Netherlands in the early 20th century, captured in rare period images, and those of the artist’s father, conveyed through the letters he sent from Australia during his studies in Amsterdam.
Diego Marcon
Tribute to the artist on the occasion of the solo exhibition Glassa at Centro Pecci (from September 30, 2023). A special selection of his works will be presented: Untitled (All Pigs Must Die) (2015); ToonsTunes (Four Pathetic Movements) (2016); Monelle (2017); Il malatino (2017), and Ludwig (2018).
Inside
by Vasilis Katsoupis, 2023
The closing night of the Festival will feature the Italian premiere of this film with psychological notes and suspenseful atmospheres, starring Willem Dafoe as an art thief who, during a failed heist, becomes trapped in a luxurious New York City penthouse. The house turns into a gilded cage, where the only interaction possible is with the valuable artworks that inhabit it. Curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, the uniqueness of this art collection, which plays a crucial role in the story, lies in its conception as a virtual exhibition within the film, with works by international artists including Maurizio Cattelan, Francesco Clemente, Petrit Halilaj, David Horvitz, Adrian Paci, Janis Rafa, Amalia Pica, Joanna Piotrowska, Egon Schiele, MASBEDO, and Alvaro Urbano, among others.
Man in Black
by Wang Bing, 2023
Xilin, one of the most important contemporary Chinese classical musicians, is the protagonist of this film: the image of his time-worn naked body intertwines with words, recounting an artistic journey and simultaneous dissent regarding the political events in his country.
Message from Mars
by John Menick, 2023
An essay film created using 3D and 2D animation techniques, archival footage, and historical documents. It reflects on humanity’s desire to colonize the planet Mars.
My Views on the Darkness
by Yuyan Wang, 2023
A work made possible with the support of the VISIO Production Fund 2022
Produced by Petit Chaos, co-produced with FRAC Bretagne
It investigates the relationship between humans and technology in a fantastical vision of humanity. It imagines the connection between its origins rooted in the history of the universe and its current digital extensions.
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
by Amanda Kim, 2023
A documentary dedicated to the figure of this artist, an absolute precursor in the relationship between art, technology, and the screen. It follows the stages of his life, from Korea to his encounter with John Cage and the Fluxus movement, and on to the United States.
Radical Landscapes
by Elettra Fiumi, 2022
Realised by the daughter of Fabrizio Fiumi, one of the founders of the Gruppo 9999, it’s an opportunity to relive the fervor of the Florentine radical architecture movement.
Ragnar Kjartansson: I’m Not An Authentic Human Being
by Louisiana Channel, 2023
The Louisiana Channel crew interviews the Icelandic artist in his Reykjavík studio, tracing his career from his early videos to large international projects.
Robert Irwin: A Desert Of Pure Feeling
by Jennifer Lane, 2022
The Californian artist Robert Irwin (1928) recounts his ephemeral light and space installations, including his latest project for the desert landscape of Marfa, Texas.
Single File
by Simon Liu, 2023
A work made possible with the support of the VISIO Production Fund 2022
Co-produced with Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci
An analysis of the changes in Hong Kong through the cognitive and cultural damage caused by widespread disinformation and censorship through smartphones, imagining new lexicons and formal experiments.
The Pixelated Revolution
by Rabih Mroué, 2012
A non-academic lecture resulting from research that gathers images of Syrian protesters found on the web to showcase new forms of political control in the smartphone era.
Twittering Soul
by Deimantas Narkevičius, 2023
A 3D feature film that stages a Lithuanian folklore story, the artist’s home country, an enchanted fable where humans and nature live in deep connection, and communication is based on archaic expressions full of symbolism.
Untitled
by Maryam Tafakory, 2023
A work made possible with the support of the VISIO Production Fund 2022
Co-produced with Seven Gravity Collection
A new stage in the artist’s research on the representation of women and the censorship of their bodies in post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, whose first chapter, Mast-del, premiered at the 55th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes.
White Balls on Walls
by Sarah Vos, 2022
A film that addresses contemporary issues in the art world, such as racial, ethnic, and gender representation within the museum context, following the work of the director of the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, Rein Wolfs, and his team in their attempt to deal with them.
