Country: France
Year: 2013
Duration: 65'
One of the darkest and most shameful pages of Italy’s history: the African war and the occupation of Ethiopia, seen through a sequence of archive images, most of which have never been screened before. The soldiers, the battles, the iconic representation of fascist power personified in Mussolini himself, the main architect of this pointless conflict, described back then by the media as a mission to bring civilization to barbaric communities.
Biography
film director
Yervant Gianikian
Yervant Gianikian (1942), of Armenian descent, studied architecture in Venice. After moving to Milan with Angela Ricci Lucchi, they started focusing on cinema in the mid-70s, making independent and experimental productions, including the screening-performances of “scented films” and, later on, the manual manipulation of archive footage from die-toning to slow motion and various editing combinations. Their films have been screened in some of the most prestigious festivals and museums around the world. They last participated to the Torino Film Festival in 2009 with Electric Fragments N. 6 - Diario 1989. Dancing in the Dark.
FILMOGRAFIA
Erat Sora (cm, 1975), Catalogo comparativo (cm, 1975), Cataloghi non è altro gli odori che sente (cm, 1976), Profumo (cm, 1977), Un prestigiatore una miniaturista (cm, 1978), Milleunanotte (1979), Essence d’absynthe (cm, 1981), Das Lied von der Erde - Gustav Mahler (cm, 1982), Dal polo all’equatore (1986), Frammenti (1987), Passion (cm, 1988), Uomini anni vita (1990), Diario africano (cm, 1994), Aria (cm, 1994), Prigionieri della guerra (1995), Lo specchio di Diana (mm, 1996), Nocturne (cm, 1997), Io ricordo (cm, 1997), Su tutte le vette è pace (1998), Inventario balcanico (2000), Images d’Orient - Tourisme vandale (2001), Corpi. Frammenti elettrici n. 3 (cm, 2002), Rom (Uomini). Frammenti elettrici n. 1 (cm, 2002), Oh! Uomo (2004), Ghiro Ghiro Tondo (2007), Frammenti elettrici n. 6 - Diario 1989. Dancing in the Dark (2009), Pays barbare (2013).
Angela Ricci Lucchi
Angela Ricci Lucchi (Lugo di Romagna, 1942) studied art in Austria with Oskar Kokoschka. After moving to Milan with Yarvant Gianikian, they started focusing on cinema in the mid-70s, making independent and experimental productions, including the screening-performances of “scented films” and, later on, the manual manipulation of archive footage from die-toning to slow motion and various editing combinations. Their films have been screened in some of the most prestigious festivals and museums around the world. They last participated to the Torino Film Festival in 2009 with Electric Fragments N. 6 - Diario 1989. Dancing in the Dark.
FILMOGRAFIA
Erat Sora (cm, 1975), Catalogo comparativo (cm, 1975), Cataloghi non è altro gli odori che sente (cm, 1976), Profumo (cm, 1977), Un prestigiatore una miniaturista (cm, 1978), Milleunanotte (1979), Essence d’absynthe (cm, 1981), Das Lied von der Erde - Gustav Mahler (cm, 1982), Dal polo all’equatore (1986), Frammenti (1987), Passion (cm, 1988), Uomini anni vita (1990), Diario africano (cm, 1994), Aria (cm, 1994), Prigionieri della guerra (1995), Lo specchio di Diana (mm, 1996), Nocturne (cm, 1997), Io ricordo (cm, 1997), Su tutte le vette è pace (1998), Inventario balcanico (2000), Images d’Orient - Tourisme vandale (2001), Corpi. Frammenti elettrici n. 3 (cm, 2002), Rom (Uomini). Frammenti elettrici n. 1 (cm, 2002), Oh! Uomo (2004), Ghiro Ghiro Tondo (2007), Frammenti elettrici n. 6 - Diario 1989. Dancing in the Dark (2009), Pays barbare (2013).
Declaration
film director
“We started rummaging through the film archives with our ‘analytic camera’ to find photograms from Ethiopia / Abyssinia at the time of the Italian colonization. We found a lot of private footage shot by a doctor. L’erotismo coloniale (Colonial Eroticism). Women’s naked bodies and the ‘body’ of the film. Aerial shots of the area. Bombers being loaded with mustard gas bombs, which the authorities have always denied using. Recently unearthed military footage showing the men and the means of the brutal Italian attempts at conquering Ethiopia (1935-1936).”
Cast
& Credits
REGIA, SCENEGGIATURA, MONTAGGIO
Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
MUSICA
Giovanna Marini, Keith Ullrich
INTERPRETI
Giovanna Marini (voce/voice over), Yervant Gianikian (voce/voice over), Angela Ricci Lucchi (voce/voice over)
PRODUTTORIs
Sylvie Brenet, Setge Lalou
PRODUZIONE
Les Films d’ici
DISTRIBUZIONE
Feltrinelli Editore
Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi
MUSICA
Giovanna Marini, Keith Ullrich
INTERPRETI
Giovanna Marini (voce/voice over), Yervant Gianikian (voce/voice over), Angela Ricci Lucchi (voce/voice over)
PRODUTTORIs
Sylvie Brenet, Setge Lalou
PRODUZIONE
Les Films d’ici
DISTRIBUZIONE
Feltrinelli Editore
