As for Pietro Marcello, his work, falling within a formally audacious and sensual contemporary Italian cinematographical—often non-fiction—scene, is imbued with his profound interest for literature and art history, constantly reinventing cinematographical codes with humanism, romanticism and great artistic freedom.

As part of the 2021 Workshops and a retrospective dedicated to him, the Italian director Pietro Marcello (“Bella e Perduta”, “Martin Eden”) honored us by giving a Masterclass from Paris in live stream on Wednesday, April 21 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.

This Masterclass was broadcasted from the Usine à Gaz in Nyon. This hybrid system allowed a limited audience of professionals and students to attend the Masterclass in person.

Rediscover the Masterclass below:

Pietro Marcello is invited in partnership with the HEAD (Geneva University of Art and Design).

The wealth of his cinematographical horizons will also be the subject of a public Masterclass, true to the tradition of the Ateliers. 

Catalogue 2021: find the interview of Pietro Marcello

Copyright: Francesca Errichiello

Pietro Marcello was born in Caserta in Campania in 1976. He began by studying painting at the Naples Academy of Fine Arts. Self-taught, he cut his teeth on “participative videos” shot in the prisons where he was teaching. From 1998 to 2003, he programmed the Cinedamm film events, at the Damm centre in the Montesanto district, of which he was one of the founding members. It was in this context that he directed his first short films Carta and Scampia (2003). In 2004, he completed Il cantiere, a documentary that won the Libero Bizzarri Prize.

The following year, he directed La Baracca. His first feature-length film, Crossing the Line (Il passaggio della linea, 2007), won many accolades. But it was in 2009 with The Mouth of the Wolf (La bocca del lupo)which won awards at Turin and at the Berlinale (Forum section), that he gained international recognition. In 2011, he paid tribute to Artavazd Peleshian in The Silence of Pelesjan (Il silenzio di Pelesjan), while Lost and Beautiful (Bella e perduta, 2015), in selection at Locarno and the Grand prix du Jury at La Roche-sur-Yon, brought him a wider audience. In 2019, Martin Eden, adapted from the eponymous Jack London novel, was presented at the Venice Film Festival and met with great critical acclaim.

Moreover, the film embodies the move of Marcello’s work to fiction, while keeping a very strong link with the documentary genre. His new opus For Lucio (Per Lucio) will be presented at the 2021 Berlinale.

For Lucio, expected release 2021

Martin Eden, 2019

Ossessione, 2016

Lost and Beautiful, 2015

9×10 Novanta, (segment L’umile Italia), 2014

Venice 70, Future Reloaded, (segment Pietro Marcello), 2013

Marco Bellocchio, Venezia, 2011

The Silence of Pelesjan, 2011

Napoli 24, (segment Rettifilo), 2010

The Mouth of the Wolf, 2009

Crossing the Line, 2007

La baracca, 2005

Il cantiere, 2004

Scampia, 2003

Carta, 2003

 

Programme 2021