Coming soon, a documentary on Pellizza da Volpedo, starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio

On Oct. 17, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at MAXXI in Rome, the first screening of the documentary Pellizza Pittore da Volpedo, directed by Francesco Fei and starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio, will be held as part of the 19th edition of the Rome Film Festival. The documentary, selected in the Free Style Arts section, is a tribute to the famous painter Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (1868-1907), best known for his work The Fourth Estate, which became an icon of the struggle for workers’ rights.

Produced by Apnea Film and METS Percorsi d’Arte, in collaboration with the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona and with the support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte and Gallerie Maspes Milano, the film explores Pellizza’s life and work, dwelling not only on his famous painting but also on his other lesser-known works and his troubled life. The narration is entrusted to Fabrizio Bentivoglio, who lends his voice and interpretation to the artist, reading excerpts from his unpublished writings and revealing the most intimate and tormented aspects of the Piedmontese painter.

Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, who was born and lived in a small town in the Alessandria area, was one of the leading exponents of Italian pointillism, an artistic movement that aimed to break down light into pure colors. Despite his short life, marked by personal tragedies and an untimely death in 1907, Pellizza left a profound imprint on Italian art.

In the documentary, Francesco Fei guides the viewer through the places where Pellizza lived and worked, and thanks to the camera’s ability to literally enter inside his paintings, the psychological depths and complex techniques the artist used to depict the rural world, a central theme of his artistic production, are revealed.

Pellizza Pittore da Volpedo is a work that aims to restore a complex portrait of the artist through his pictorial production and writings. Francesco Fei’s direction offers a view of the rural world that Pellizza loved and represented with a technique that stood out for its modernity and emotional depth. The documentary seeks to reveal the inner suffering that led Pellizza to a tragic and inexplicable end, highlighting his ability to fight pain through art. Through a fusion of images, words and music, Fei takes the viewer on a journey through the places that inspired Pellizza, showing the hidden beauty of the Piedmont countryside and the influence these landscapes had on his works. The footage alternates between shots of real places and details of his paintings, creating a visual and emotional connection between the artist’s inner world and his pictorial representation.

The documentary is part of a larger project to celebrate and explore the figure of Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, promoted by METS Percorsi d’Arte and GAM in Milan. The journey began last August 17 with an exhibition at the painter’s studio in Volpedo, entitled The Charm of Nature. Pellizza da Volpedo’s Rediscovered Landscapes, and will continue with other initiatives in the coming months. Then, from November 1, 2024 to April 6, 2025, the Novara Castle will host an exhibition entitled Landscapes. Reality Impression Symbol. From Migliara to Pellizza da Volpedo, which will present about 80 masterpieces, exploring the evolution of landscape painting between Piedmont and Lombardy from the 19th to the 20th century. The path of celebrations will end in the fall of 2025 in Milan with a major monographic exhibition, to be held at GAM (Galleria d’Arte Moderna), where The Fourth Estate, the masterpiece that best represents the artist’s social and political message, is housed.

After the preview on Oct. 17, the documentary will be screened again at MAXXI on Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. and on Oct. 20 at 9:30 a.m. at the Giulio Cesare Hall, reserved for accredited visitors. Theatrical distribution is scheduled for 2025, thanks to Nexo Studios, which will be responsible for bringing the work to the general public, offering the opportunity to discover or rediscover the figure of Pellizza da Volpedo.

Coming soon, a documentary on Pellizza da Volpedo, starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio

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