At the cinema, a docu-film recounts the life and art of Pellizza da Volpedo, with Bentivoglio's narration voice

Nexo Studios ’ new season of Great Art at the Movies kicks off Feb. 4 and 5, 2025 with PELLIZZA PITTORE DA VOLPEDO, by Francesco Fei with Fabrizio Bentivoglio, produced by Apnea Film with the participation of METS Percorsi d’Arte and premiered at the last Rome Film Festival.

The docu-film offers an intense immersion into the life and art of Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (1868-1907), one of the leading exponents of Italian pointillism, universally known for his masterpiece, The Fourth Estate.

Guided by the voice of Bentivoglio, a “narrating conscience,” the film explores not only the places where Pellizza lived and worked, but also his deep sensitivity and worldview. Through shots inspired by the colors and atmospheres of his works, the docu-film immerses the viewer in an emotional and visual journey into Pellizza’s poetics. Part of this tale will be the tragic end of the artist, who took his own life in 1907 overwhelmed by grief over the loss of his wife.

Already the director of Segantini, Return to Nature, Francesco Fei has chosen a narrative interiority that is reflected in every image, sharing the artist’s particular sensitivity to human feelings that is transformed into works in which the evocative power of nature participates in the emotion. The film opens in Pellizza’s studio in Volpedo. It is here that Fabrizio Bentivoglio will welcome the viewer by reading the painter’s touching letters.

Thanks to the collaboration with Aurora Scotti, the foremost critic and scholar of Pellizza’s art, and with the Associazione Pellizza da Volpedo, which was established to enhance the cultural heritage related to the figure and work of the painter and is the custodian of most of the documents and images related to his life, the docu-film intends to be an in-depth and historically relevant account in the field of artist biographies. At the same time, the director’s work avoids the mere listing of works and data. The “narrative consciousness” that takes voice in Bentivoglio’s interpretation intends to show Pellizza as our contemporary through the modernity of his thought and painting.

PELLIZZA PITTORE DA VOLPEDO was produced in collaboration with the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona, with the support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte - Piemonte Doc Film Fund, with the contribution of Gallerie Maspes in Milan and in collaboration with Sky Arte.

La Grande Arte al Cinema is an original and exclusive project of Nexo Studios.

For 2024, La Grande Arte al Cinema is exclusively distributed in Italy by Nexo Studios with media partners Radio Capital, Sky Arte, MYmovies and in collaboration with Abbonamento Musei.

At the cinema, a docu-film recounts the life and art of Pellizza da Volpedo, with Bentivoglio's narration voice

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