On November 25, the film "Artemisia Gentileschi. Warrior Painter."

The docufilm Artemisia Gentileschi. Pittrice Guerriera: the film’s release date was chosen because it coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a worldwide anniversary established by the UN General Assembly. The film, produced by Delta Star Pictures, is directed by Jordan River, written by Jordan River and Michela Albanese, and stars actress Angela Curri (who starred in Braccialetti rossi 3, La mafia uccide solo d’estate 2, Raffaello, il principe delle arti. The film was advised by three art historians, Adriana Capriotti, Alessandra Masu and Simon Gillespie.

The film starts in 1618, when Artemisia Gentileschi, at the age of twenty-three, is the first woman to be admitted to a drawing academy. The documentary traces the entire life of the artist, who later became a symbol of world feminism for her character and strenuous defense of her professional dignity, which emerge from her correspondence with collectors and personalities of the time, including Galileo Galilei. Artemisia’s fame is also due to the violence she suffered at the hands of a colleague, Agostino Tassi, an affair from which a trial was born that Artemisia overcame with strength of character: thanks to painting, Artemisia was able to leave behind even the scandal that the episode provoked and was able to find the road to redemption both as a woman and as an artist, producing masterpieces capable of touching the hearts and souls of those who contemplate them four centuries later.

Filmed in very high definition, the work takes viewers on a journey through Artemisia’s masterpieces, now preserved in the world’s most important museums as well as in private collections. “The work,” explains director Jordan River, “is not intended to be reduced to a mere biographical account, which also already possesses potential characteristics, but is intended to be a work (also didactic, precisely to provide the useful tools even to the viewer of all levels of knowledge) capable of immersing us in the power of ’art on an emotional level and understand what lives in the soul of an artist at times burdened by those everyday circumstances that life can sometimes reserve for a woman. A woman who loves to paint, but who is in an era in which this is only allowed to men. Artemisia’s works are in fact not common to all other artists, because in those canvases that the brushes have touched with colors, those same colors represent a state of mind imprinted in that era, in that instant, by that inner energy. And in those hues there is, yes, all the force of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro, but there is equally the instant in which that light gave birth to a thought, as a new force and counterbalance to the materiality of the world, an ’impermanent materiality’ that can be overcome thanks to the spiritual power of which art is the artificer.”

“I wanted to make this work to also tell about the inner dimension of an artist, even, in this case, a woman,” the director further states, “In art documentaries the spiritual dimension is almost absent. I think that a ’mature’ painter, when he makes masterpieces, does not limit himself to how to give color and beautify the drawing rooms of royalty, but also, and above all, expresses an inner vision of human existence. I think that Artemisia’s life and her works can today make us immerse ourselves in the power of art on an emotional level and understand what lives in the soul of an artist at times burdened by those daily circumstances that life can sometimes reserve for a human being.”

Thus, the film is also a way to address the issue of gender inequality, and violence against women is, unfortunately, still a problem of truly enormous global proportions. While today there is at least a tentative effort in the recognition of gender equality, in the 17th century, for example, women could not even attend an art workshop. This common sentiment had become sedimented in the mindset until a young woman named Artemisia (daughter of the painter Orazio Gentileschi), after being herself a victim of rape violence, decided to rebel. And thanks to her talent, in 1618, at the age of 23, Artemisia Gentileschi was thus the first woman to be admitted to a drawing academy, becoming, likewise, the first Italian woman artist to have an international career.

Artemisia Gentileschi. Pittrice Guerriera has already been screened at a number of international festivals, also winning important awards (Best Documentary at the XXIV Terra di Siena International Film Festival 2020; Best Docudrama award at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival 2020, USA; International Festival Visioni dal Mondo - Panorama Italiano 2020; finalist at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards 2020, USA) and is in competition for the David di Donatello Award 2021. It was also scheduled to be released theatrically, but due to the closure of cinemas due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to reach audiences with maximum security, the distribution, in addition to Italy and more than 15 countries (including the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan), decided to go direct to platforms with Chili and Amazon Prime Video, on the symbolic date of November 25 to celebrate the global anniversary established by the United Nations General Assembly. To watch the film, one can follow all the updates and direct links to the platforms that will be posted from time to time on the film portal at www.artemisiagentileschi-warriorpainter.com.

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On November 25, the film "Artemisia Gentileschi. Warrior Painter."

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.